The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsGreat Britain will play Serbia after beating Japan 3-1, after a marathon victory from Andy Murray against World Number 6, Kei Nishikori. On Friday, new father Murray beat the Japanese number 2 Taro Daniel. The Scotsman beat the World Number 87 6-1 6-3 6-1, before Kei Nishikori restored parity beating Dan Evans 6-3 7-5 7-6(3). There was some doubt as to who would play alongside Jamie Murray in the doubles, but it was the talisman of Great Britain that took on the challenge of Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama, with Great Britain winning 6-3 6-2 6-4. Then, in the tie of the round, it was World Number 2 vs 6, and it was the former than came out on top in a match that lasted 4 hours and 54 minutes, giving Great Britain an unassailable lead.
This means Great Britain will play Serbia after Novak Djokovic played an even longer match against the Kazakhstan number 1, Mikhail Kukushkin, with the Serb winning after 4 hours and 57 minutes 6-7(6) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 6-2. It was a match Djokovic had to win after Kukushkin shocked Viktor Troicki to win 7-5 6-2 6-4, and that Kazakhstani pair of Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov beat Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 7-6(3) 7-5, to give Kazakhstan the lead. After Djokovic levelled proceedings the match came down to Viktor Troicki against Aleksandr Nedovyesov, with the 23rd ranked Serbian winning 6-2 6-3 6-4.
Elsewhere, Italy whitewashed a Switzerland team who were without both Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, as the Italians played Andreas Seppi, Paolo Lorenzi, Simone Bolleli and Marco Cecchinato against the Swiss team with a highest ranking in either doubles or singles of 146, lower than any Italian team member, so the match was only ever going to go one way, and Italy will progress to beat a tough and well matched Argentinian team, who beat Poland 3-2.
Both Leonardo Mayer and Guido Pella won their opening singles rubbers in straight sets before the doubles pair of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski, ranked 28 and 15 respectively, gave Poland some hope, winning the doubles rubber 6-3 6-4 6-4, before Leonardo Mayer settled the tie coming back from a set down to send Argentina through to the Quarter Finals.
Canada were left with a tough task to beat France in the Guadeloupe Islands after the withdrawal of Milos Raonic through injury, and as such, were also whitewashed 5-0, after Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon won the singles rubbers, before Tsonga and Gasquet won the doubles, before Gasquet and Tsonga finished the job, all without losing a set in any of the 5 rubbers. France have the option of fielding a strong team in any Davis Cup match they play, as the lowest ranked player they fielded in this tie was Gilles Simon, currently 19h, and will be very tough opposition for the Czech Republican team in the next round.
The Czechs beat Germany 3-2 in an enthralling tie that went to the wire, after the first round were Philliip Kohlschreiber beat Lukasz Rosol 3-6 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-3. World Number 7 Tomas Berdych was made to work equally hard against rising talent Alexander Zverev, eventually winning after 4 hours and 20 minutes, 6-7(6) 6-1 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4, but this clearly affected the Czech number 1 had to retire after he lost the first two sets to Philip Kohlschreiber, following his doubles win with Radek Stephanek, meaning that with the score at 2-2, Lukasz Rosol and Alexander Zverev, who had both lost in 5 sets in their first rubbers, would decide the outcome of the tie, and it was Rosol that came out on top, winning 6-2 6-3 6-1.
The last quarter final will be made up by the United States, following their 3-1 win against Australia, and Croatia. The Americans had a tough match, when Bernard Tomic leveled, beating Jack Sock in 4 sets, after John Isner beat Sam Groth in straight sets. With the tie level the doubles could prove decisive, and any team with Lleyton Hewitt has a chance, and the Hewitt partnered John Peers, two time grand slam runner up, against arguably the best doubles pairing of all time, the Bryan brothers. As usual, Lleyton Hewitt took the game to 5 sets, coming back from 2 sets down, but eventually the Bryans won 6-3 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3. John Isner completed the victory, beating Bernard Tomic in 4 sets.
In comparison, their opponents, Croatia went all the way and required a decider between Kimmer Coppejeans and Borna Coric, which was won by the young 19 year old from Zagreb. Croatia are blessed with a solid all round team, with former US Open Champion Marin Cilic and World Number 7 doubles player, Ivan Dodig, and former French open winner, where he helped beat the Bryan brothers, which he will have to do all over again to reach the semi finals. The tie was very finely poised throughout, as Cilic gave Croatia the lead with a straight sets win over Coppejans, before David Goffin beat Borna Coric 6-3 6-2 2-6 3-6 6-3. Dodig and Franko Skugor beat Rueben Belemans and Goffin in straight sets to restore Croatia’s lead, before Goffin levelled again, with an impressive win over Cilic, 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-5. The fate of the tie then weighed on the young Croatian, who handled the pressure with aplomb to beat Koppejans 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2, and ensure Croatia progress to play the USA in the quarter finals, and could be dark horses in this years competition.
The quarter finals will be held on the weekend beginning 15th July, the week after Wimbledon, and the draw is as follows;
Serbia vs Great Britain
Italy vs Argentina
Czech Republic vs France
USA vs Croatia
