Gasquet Avoids Deep Hole For Defending Champion France
Gasquet Avoids Deep Hole For Defending Champion France
FRANCE 1, NETHERLANDS 1
Venue: Halle Olympique, Albertville, FRA (hard – indoor)
Frenchman Richard Gasquet, competing in his 23rd Davis Cup singles rubber, drew France level at 1-1 against the Netherlands with a 6-4, 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5 win against Robin Haase. Gasquet hit 37 winners, including 21 from his backhand, to avoid an 0-2 start for France, the defending Davis Cup champions.
Earlier in the day, because of injuries to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (knee) and Lucas Pouille (neck), Davis Cup debutant Adrian Mannarino opened play for the 10-time champions. The 29-year-old, who was training in Malta on Thursday morning, was beaten by World No. 369 Thiemo de Bakker 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3.
“I’ve been playing well the whole week,” de Bakker said. “I was a bit lucky in the first set – he probably deserved that one a bit more than me. But I kept hanging in there and in the second and third [sets] I really played well.
“I’ve played most of the guys in this [French] team and I know I can beat them. The chances are small, I know. They have better players, but anything can happen. The pressure is on them.”
BELGIUM 2, HUNGARY 0
Venue: Country Hall du Sart-Tilman, Liège, BEL (hard – indoor)
Last year’s finalist Belgium began its 2018 Davis Cup season in style as Ruben Bemelmans beat Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 to take a 1-0 lead in front of a partisan crowd in Liège. Bemelmans, ranked No. 120, was playing his first singles rubber since the 2015 final.
World No. 7 David Goffin wasted no time picking up his 17th win in his past 18 Davis Cup singles matches with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 win against No. 227 Attila Balazs. The Nitto ATP Finals runner-up dropped just five points on serve in the match and put Belgium one match win away from the quarter-finals.
SERBIA 0, USA 1
Venue: Sportski Centar Cair, Nis, SRB (clay – indoor)
Sam Querrey began the United States’ bid for a first win against Serbia with a confident 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win against No. 88 Laslo Djere. The World No. 12 won an impressive 91 per cent of points behind his first serve to give the USA a 1-0 lead in southern Serbia, where a number of USA fans have come to support their country.
“It’s great. The fact that a group of people travelled this far for the Davis Cup and are doing their best to compete with the Serbian fans means a lot to us,” Querrey said.
His countryman John Isner is battling Dusan Lajovic in the second singles rubber. The USA is looking to reach the quarter-finals for a third consecutive year.
CROATIA 1, CANADA 1
Venue: Sportska Dvorana Gradski Vrt, Osijek, CRO (clay – indoor)
Croatia’s Borna Coric defeated Vasek Pospisil 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to give the home nation a 1-0 lead. Coric had an 83 per cent success rate on points behind his first serve, and came from a set down to beat No. 85 Pospisil in just under two and a half hours.
#NextGenATP star Denis Shapovalov recorded his fifth win in Davis Cup to defeat Viktor Galovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The Canadian levelled the tie in Osijek with four breaks of serve, winning in under two hours.