Heather Watson powered Great Britain to a 1-0 lead in their final best-of-three Fed Cup match with Turkey in Estonia.
Watson, ranked 72nd in the world, registered a 6-0 6-1 victory over 163rd-ranked Ipek Soylu in one hour and 3 minutes.
Great Britain are top of Group C after successive 3-0 victories over Portugal and Latvia.
Victory will guarantee their place in Saturday’s promotion play-offs, where they would face the winners of Pool B.
British number one Johanna Konta is next in action when she takes on world number 86 Cagla Buyukakcay in the second singles match.
Unlike the men’s team competition, the Davis Cup, which has a World Group of 16 nations, the Fed Cup divides its top teams into two groups of eight – World Group I and World Group II.
The 91 nations outside the top tiers are divided into three regional zones and Britain have one chance per year to escape – a format that hugely frustrated former captain Judy Murray.
The Europe/Africa Group I event, which this year takes place in Estonia, has 14 teams divided into groups, with Poland, Croatia, Britain and Serbia the seeded nations.
Four group winners will progress to promotion play-offs on Saturday, and two nations will then qualify for World Group II play-offs in April – which could see Britain given a home Fed Cup tie for the first time since 1993.
They fell at the same stage in 2012 and 2013 – away ties in Sweden and Argentina – under the captaincy of Judy Murray.
| FED CUP EUROPE/AFRICA GROUP I | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| GROUP A | GROUP B | GROUP C | GROUP D |
| Poland | Croatia | Great Britain | Serbia |
| Georgia | Hungary | Turkey | Israel |
| Austria | Bosnia/Herzegovina | Latvia | Bulgaria |
| Portugal | Estonia | ||
Top seed Karlovic to play defending champion Estrella Burgos on Thursday
Third seed Paolo Lorenzi continued his solid form in Quito on Thursday at the Ecuador Open, moving into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Matthew Ebden.
The Italian required just a single break of serve in each set and didn’t face any break points. Lorenzi has reached at least the quarter-finals in all three of his appearances in Quito, with his best result being a semi-final finish last year.
Next up for Lorenzi is Rajeev Ram, who reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final on clay by defeating Nicolas Kicker 7-6(5), 6-3. The third seed leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 1-0, prevailing on the indoor courts of Vienna in October 2015.
Dimitrov to play Janowicz on Thursday
Nikoloz Basilashvili caused the first major upset at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open, shocking top seed Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals on Thursday.
The Georgian player required just a single break of serve in each set. Basilashvili landed 77 per cent of his first serves and saved all three break points against him to wrap up the win in one hour and 18 minutes.
“I think I played really well on the important points and kept focus all the way through the match today,” said Basilashvili. “This is very special and one of the best wins of my career, if not the best one. It will give me a lot of confidence for the upcoming matches.”
Basilashvili picks up his second victory over a Top 10 player, having defeated Tomas Berdych this past October in Vienna. Last July, he became the first Georgian to reach an ATP World Tour final in Kitzbuhel (l. Lorenzi).
Next up for him is eighth seed Martin Klizan, who came alive in the latter stages of his second-round match with qualifier Daniel Brands to prevail 7-6(3), 6-2. Klizan racked up 12 break points to keep the German on defense throughout the contest.
Fifth seed Gilles Muller continued his outstanding season with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Mikhail Youzhny. Muller ran through the final three games of the match to advance into the last eight, where he’ll play fourth seed and defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Muller 4-1, including a win in the 2016 Sofia semi-finals.
Ninth seed Viktor Troicki scraped through a tight 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) match over Robin Haase. Last year’s finalist in Sofia now awaits the winner between third seed Grigor Dimitrov and former Top 15 player Jerzy Janowicz.
The 19 year old made the semi-finals in Montpellier last year on his main draw debut
Alexander Zverev was severely tested in a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 triumph over Aljaz Bedene before booking his quarter-final place at the Open Sud de France on Thursday.
The #NextGenATP teenager fired 10 aces, alongside 10 double faults, and needed two hours en route to victory in his first encounter against the Brit. Zverev won 75 per cent of points on first serve and saved 11/15 break chances.
The top-ranked German reached the semi-finals last year in Montpellier on his main draw debut. To replicate that run the World No. 21 will need to beat Jeremy Chardy in the final eight. The Frenchman was victorious in their only previous meeting back in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.
Reigning champion Richard Gasquet is safely through to the quarter-finals, having defeated World No. 50 Malek Jaziri 7-5, 6-2. Gasquet, on a nine-match winning streak in Montpellier, will play qualifier Kenny De Schepper in the next round.
Another #NextGenATP star Daniil Medvedev progressed at the Open Sud de France. The 20 year old, playing at a career-high ranking of No. 63 this week, converted all four break points to edge past eighth seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3.
The towering Russian has earned a match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has reached his third ATP World Tour quarter-final in as many tournaments. The No.2 Frenchman, making his first appearance in Montpellier since 2010, dispatched countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-1, 6-2 without facing a break point in just 44 minutes.
2013 finalist Benoit Paire toppled fifth seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-6(5) to set a contest with Marin Cilic’s conqueror Dustin Brown.
Rafael Nadal fans must be counting down the days.
With Nadal’s left wrist looking healthy – see 2017 Australian Open – and the Spaniard back in fighting form, his legion of supporters surely cannot wait until the left-hander slides on red dirt again.
The 30 year old has taken multiple tour-level titles on all surfaces since turning pro in 2001, but nowhere has his game been as dominant as it has been on clay. As the European clay-court season approaches, it’s worth reminding ourselves of Nadal’s most impressive numbers, found in the FedEx ATP Performance Zone.
More: View Best Career Clay-Court Records In FedEx ATP Performance Zone
Nadal has won almost 92 per cent of the matches he’s played on clay, a win-loss record of 365-34, tops in the Open Era. Other players have won more matches, including Spaniard Manuel Orantes (501) and Austrian Thomas Muster (422), but Nadal owns the best winning percentage on clay.
The Mallorca native has also captured 49 clay-court tour-level titles, tying him with Argentine Guillermo Vilas for the most clay-court crowns in the Open Era. Nadal could break that record as soon as April when he plays at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, and goes for his 10th Monte-Carlo crown.
That would mark the first event Nadal has won 10 times. He’s also won Roland Garros and the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell nine times.
“It has been a very important week for me… The victory here confirms that I am better and I am very happy, no? It’s a very, very emotional week for me, very important event,” Nadal said last April after winning his ninth Monte-Carlo title. “Probably Monte-Carlo is one of the most important places in my career without any doubt. Win again here after three years is something so special for me. So very happy for that.”
No other active players have come close to achieving Nadal’s mastery on clay, but Swede Bjorn Borg nears Nadal in the all-time ranks in the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. Borg finished his career with 30 tour-level titles and a winning percentage of 86. The right-hander went 251-41 on clay.
American Ivan Lendl, who now coaches one of Nadal’s rivals, Andy Murray, ranks third on the all-time list in terms of winning percentage. Lendl won 81 per cent of his clay-court battles, 327-76. The 6’2” right-hander secured 28 tour-level titles on clay, more than a quarter of his career total, 94.
The only active player with a winning percentage worthy of the Top 10 in the FedEx ATP Performance Zone is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian boasts a 176-43 record on clay, giving him a winning percentage of 80, just behind Lendl on the all-time list.
Djokovic trails Nadal in clay-court titles by a wide margin, though. The right-hander has won 13 career clay-court crowns. He will try to repeat as Roland Garros champion in June.
“I’m very proud, very thrilled, obviously,” Djokovic said after winning the Roland Garros title last year. “It’s hard for me to reflect on what has happened before and what’s going to happen after. I’m just so overwhelmed with having this trophy next to me that I’m just trying to enjoy this moment.”
Australian Open champion and 18-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer has accepted Andy Murray’s invitation to play in Scotland for the first time.
The 35-year-old Swiss will take part in Andy Murray Live, the world number one’s charity exhibition event at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro in November.
“He’s just extremely popular,” said Murray, 29. “He’s one of the best players that’s ever played the game.
“It’s not just how much he’s won, but the way he plays and carries himself.”
Federer accepted Murray’s invitation after he agreed to play at the Swiss star’s own charity event in April after scheduled participation at tournaments in Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami.
Murray added: “I saw a little video where he was wearing a kilt when he was announcing that I was going to play in his event over in Switzerland.
“He’s returning the favour in November. It’s really good he’s doing it.
“He said a few years ago he wants to go to places he’s not been. It’s great.”
Murray’s first exhibition in Glasgow sold out in 48 hours and raised £300,000 for children’s charities.
Australian Open junior champion Oliver Anderson has been provisionally suspended over claims of match-fixing in his native Australia.
Anderson, 18, has not been found guilty but will be suspended from professional tennis until the conclusion of the Tennis Integrity Unit’s investigation.
Victoria Police says the charges relate to a match at the Traralgon Challenger tournament in Victoria last October.
He will also appear before magistrates on 2 March.
Anderson, now ranked 1083 in the world, beat Uzbekistan’s Jurabek Karimov to claim the Australian Open boys’ singles title in January 2016.
During his suspension, which the TIU says is not a determination of the player’s guilt or innocence of corruption, Anderson will not be allowed to compete or attend any tournament or event organised or sanctioned by the tennis governing bodies.
Anderson, who is from Brisbane, was first named by the Age newspaper in Melbourne in January 2017.
A statement from Victoria Police at the time said: “Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit detectives and bookmakers assisted with the investigation.
“The Queensland man was charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome.”
In the match at the centre of the allegations, Anderson lost the first set against Harrison Lombe after being broken at 4-4 before going on to win the next two sets.
Anderson then lost to John-Patrick Smith in the second round of the second-tier event in Latrobe City.
Last year, an investigation by the BBC and BuzzFeed alleged that the TIU failed to act on suspicions that 16 players, who over the last decade have been ranked in the world’s top 50, had been involved in match-fixing.
Judy Murray and speakers from women’s sport and sport media launch She Rallies – a plan to boost women’s tennis across the UK.
Heather Watson gave Great Britain a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three Fed Cup match with Latvia in Estonia.
Watson, the world number 72, beat 307th-ranked Diana Marcinkevica 6-3 6-0 in 61 minutes in the day’s first match.
World number 10 Johanna Konta plays 35th-ranked Jelena Ostapenko, before Jocelyn Rae and Laura Robson play Marcinkevia and Ostapenko.
Great Britain beat Portugal 3-0 on Wednesday, and face Turkey in their final group match on Friday.
Unlike the men’s team competition, the Davis Cup, which has a World Group of 16 nations, the Fed Cup divides its top teams into two groups of eight – World Group I and World Group II.
The 91 nations outside the top tiers are divided into three regional zones and Britain have one chance per year to escape – a format that hugely frustrated former captain Judy Murray.
The Europe/Africa Group I event, which this year takes place in Estonia, has 14 teams divided into groups, with Poland, Croatia, Britain and Serbia the seeded nations.
Four group winners will progress to promotion play-offs on Saturday, and two nations will then qualify for World Group II play-offs in April – which could see Britain given a home Fed Cup tie for the first time since 1993.
They fell at the same stage in 2012 and 2013 – away ties in Sweden and Argentina – under the captaincy of Judy Murray.
| FED CUP EUROPE/AFRICA GROUP I | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| GROUP A | GROUP B | GROUP C | GROUP D |
| Poland | Croatia | Great Britain | Serbia |
| Georgia | Hungary | Turkey | Israel |
| Austria | Bosnia/Herzegovina | Latvia | Bulgaria |
| Portugal | Estonia | ||