GREAT BRITAIN 2, UZBEKISTAN 1
Glasgow, Great Britain (Indoor hard)

After splitting the honours in Friday singles play, Great Britain took a 2-1 lead over Uzbekistan with a four-set victory in doubles on Saturday. Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray were one point from a two-set deficit at 4-6, 6-6 (7/8) against Sanjar Fayziev and Denis Istomin, before winning three straight points and cruising to a 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-2, 6-3 win.

Inglot and Murray fired 13 aces and saved four of five break points during the two hour, 54-minute contest. The 2015 champion moves one point from victory ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles, with Cameron Norrie scheduled to face Istomin to clinch the tie.

JAPAN 3, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 0
Osaka, Japan (Outdoor hard)

After earning a 2-0 lead on Friday, Japan confirmed victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Osaka. Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama added to Taro Daniel and Yoshihito Nishioka’s straight-sets wins with a three-set triumph of their own, defeating Tomislav Brkic and Nerman Fatic 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

SERBIA 3, INDIA 0
Kraljevo, Serbia (Indoor clay)

Serbia matched Japan’s success, completing a 3-0 sweep of its own to overcome India. Nikola Milojevic and Danilo Petrovic landed 31 winners to edge Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(4).

AUSTRIA 2, AUSTRALIA 1
Graz, Austria (Outdoor clay)

Lleyton Hewitt and John Peers kept Australia’s hopes of an away win alive in Graz, beating Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. The Australian duo won 86 per cent of first-serve points (63/73) and saved three of four break points in the three-hour, 12-minute third rubber.

HUNGARY 2, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
Budapest, Hungary (Outdoor clay)

Hungary moved 2-1 ahead of the Czech Republic in Budapest after Gabor Borsos and Peter Nagy came from two sets down to beat Roman Jebavy and Lukas Rosol. Borsos and Nagy needed three hours and 16 minutes to complete a stunning comeback victory at home, edging the Czech pairing 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

SWITZERLAND 1, SWEDEN 2
Biel, Switzerland (Indoor hard)

Sweden also takes a 2-1 advantage into Sunday’s reverse singles encounters following Markus Eriksson and Robert Lindstedt’s 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Antoine Bellier and Luca Margaroli. Eriksson and Lindstedt held each of their 13 service games, saving all three break points they faced en route to victory.

ARGENTINA 3, COLOMBIA 0
San Juan, Argentina (Indoor clay)

Argentina turned up the drama meter to complete a 3-0 rout of Colombia on Saturday. One day after Guido Pella needed five sets to claim the second singles rubber, Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos also went the distance. The duo defeated Alejandro Gomez and Cristian Rodriguez 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 4-6, 6-4 in four hours and three minutes. They turned aside 10 of 12 break points faced to give the South American nation the unassailable victory.

CANADA 2, NETHERLANDS 1
Toronto, Canada (Indoor hard)

It was the end of an era. Former doubles No. 1 Daniel Nestor played his final professional match, teaming with Vasek Pospisil in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Matwe Middelkoop and Jean-Julien Rojer. Having represented Canada for 25 years in Davis Cup, Nestor was contesting his 46 doubles rubber.

Middelkoop and Rojer kept the Dutch hopes alive with the two-hour and 34-minute victory. They denied five of six break chances, while striking 41 total winners. The European nation will turn to Robin Haase to extend the tie to a deciding rubber. He faces Milos Raonic in what will be their first meeting in five years.

FRANCE 3, SPAIN 0
Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille, FRA (Indoor hard)

After establishing a 2-0 lead in singles on Friday, defending champion France booked its place in a second straight Davis Cup final on Saturday in Lille.

Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut fired 27 winners to overcome Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez 6-0, 6-4, 7-6(7) at the Stade Pierre Mauroy. The Frenchmen won 81 per cent of first-serve points throughout the two-hour, three-minute contest to reach their fourth final in nine years and 19th championship match overall.

The 10-time champion narrows its head-to-head deficit against Spain to 3-6 and will face Croatia or the United States in the final, to be held from 23-25 November.

CROATIA 2, UNITED STATES 1
Venue: Sportski centar Visnjik, Zadar – (Outdoor clay)

Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison kept the United States’ hopes of a first Davis Cup trophy since 2007 alive, defeating Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-5, 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(5) in Zadar.

With Croatia bidding to earn an unassailable 3-0 lead after winning both singles matches on Friday, Bryan and Harrison started well, edging the first two sets to take control of the third rubber. But Dodig and Pavic responded well with home support at the Sportski centar Visnjik, levelling the match at two sets all with impressive serving.

The Americans were not to be denied however, clinching victory after four hours and 43 minutes in a fifth-set tie-break to push the tie into a live third day of action. Bryan, who improves to 27-5 in Davis Cup doubles, and Harrison saved eight of 13 break points and landed 68 winners en route to victory.

The United States are attempting to defeat Croatia for the first time in five Davis Cup meetings. Croatia has overcome the 32-time champion in each of their four previous clashes between 2003 and 2016.

Did You Know?
Mike Bryan has now won five-set Davis Cup doubles rubbers with three different partners; Bob Bryan, Mardy Fish and Ryan Harrison.

It has been a year of firsts for Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. With a maiden Grand Slam final appearance and a first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy under their belts, the Colombians have every reason to believe 2018 could be the year they finally make their Nitto ATP Finals debut in London.

Cabal and Farah, competing in their eighth season as a partnership, have lifted 11 titles from 26 tour-level finals as a team, but have never qualified for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. But, this season, that run appears likely to come to an end. Currently sitting in second place in the ATP Doubles Race to London, Cabal and Farah look set to book their spot at The O2 in London after a stellar season.

The Colombian duo began the year in top form, reaching its first Grand Slam final without dropping a set before falling to Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. A second final appearance followed in their next event, at the Argentina Open in February, signalling their intent early in the season.

Back-to-back quarter-final exits at Masters 1000 events in Miami and Monte-Carlo soon followed, with a run to the final four in Madrid proving their consistency at the top events before finally making their breakthrough in Rome.

Cabal and Farah captured the biggest title of their careers in the Italian capital, navigating three Match Tie-breaks in four matches. The sixth seeds overcame top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the quarter-finals and Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the semi-finals, before edging past surprise finalists Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa.

“This is the title we have been looking for, for a long time,” said Cabal in Rome. “We’ve been working hard for it. Hard work pays off in the end and we’re really happy about it. This keeps us motivated.”

“It’s an amazing feeling,” added Farah in Rome. “We played in a couple of finals this year and weren’t able to win the title… We’ve been working for this and to win [one of] the biggest titles on the ATP World Tour, this is something you remember for the rest of your life.”

Cabal and Farah were eliminated in the quarter-finals and the Round of 16 at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, respectively, before recapturing their best form in America. After a narrow opening-match loss at the Rogers Cup, Cabal and Farah reached their second Masters 1000 final of the season at the Western & Southern Open. The seventh seeds did not drop a set en route to the final, which they led by a set, before falling to Murray and Soares in a Match Tie-break.

Cabal and Farah continued to impress at the US Open, reaching the semi-finals for the first time. The long-time partnership were the only team to take a set off eventual champions Mike Bryan and Jack Sock.

Consistency and a series of first-time achievements already this season have opened up a 1,980-point gap for Cabal and Farah over ninth-placed Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the ATP Doubles Race to London. And, if the Colombians do make it to The 02 in November, they will be keen to end their season with another first-time achievement; a maiden Nitto ATP Finals trophy.