CROATIA 0, FRANCE 1

Venue: Kresimir Cosic Hall, Zadar, CRO (hard – indoor)

Richard Gasquet gave France an early lead in the Davis Cup semi-finals as he defeated Croatia’s #NextGen star Borna Coric 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-1. Marin Cilic will look to level the tie for the hosts when he faces Lucas Pouille in Friday’s second rubber in Zadar.

The 30-year-old Gasquet notched his 12^th Davis Cup singles win as he struck 27 winners and benefitted from 37 unforced errors from the 19-year-old Coric, who is playing in just his eighth Davis Cup tie. The teenager was the hero for his country in July’s quarter-finals, when he defeated Jack Sock over four sets in the deciding fifth rubber to give Croatia victory over the United States.

World No. 17 Gasquet is looking to lead France to its second Davis Cup final in three years. France finished runner-up to Switzerland two years ago, but is a nine-time winner of the ITF men’s team competition, most recently in 2001.

Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic were irresistible on Friday, winning all six sets played against Slovakia to put Australia a match away from remaining in the Davis Cup World Group in 2017. #NextGen star Kyrgios opener the tie with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Andrej Martin, while Tomic helped the Aussies to a 2-0 lead by dismissing Jozef Kovalik 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4.

Even without Kei Nishikori, who was rested by captain Minoru Ueda, Japan was able to race to a 2-0 lead in their tie against Ukraine. Taro Daniel edged Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-1 in the first rubber before #NextGen player Yoshihito Nishioka beat Illya Marchenko 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

Uzbekistan, hosting Switzerland on outdoor clay in Tashkent, is aiming to reach the World Group for the first time. Denis Istomin helped the home team to an early lead by beating Antoine Bellier 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, but Henri Laaksonen equalised for the Swiss by routing Sanjar Fayziev 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Feliciano Lopez was a late Spanish substitution for Rafael Nadal in the first rubber of their away tie against India. Lopez beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 on an outdoor hard court in New Delhi to give the visitors an early lead. David Ferrer put the visitor a match away from promotion by downing Saketh Myneni 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.

Jan-Lennard Struff earned his first live-rubber singles win and helped the Germans move ahead 1-0 against Poland in Berlin. Struff outlasted Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(8), 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Florian Mayer would double the hosts’ lead by beating Hubert Hurkacz 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5.

David Goffin made a quick start in the Belgium-Brazil tie by downing Thiago Monteiro 6-2, 6-2, 6-0. Steve Darcis then topped Thomaz Bellucci 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 to put the Belgians up 2-0.

Frank Dancevic helped Canada to a quick start against Chile by taking down Christian Garin 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 on a fast indoor court in Halifax. Vasek Pospisil doubled the home team’s lead by seeing off Nicolas Jarry 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3.

Andy Murray will put his 14-match Davis Cup winning streak on the line against Juan Martin del Potro, as the Brits hosts the Argentines for their semi-final tie on an indoor hard court in Glasgow this weekend. Leon Smith, the captain of the home team, has selected Kyle Edmund to the other singles slot. The #NextGen star will take on Argentinian No. 1 Guido Pella in the second match of the day.

The first rubber pits the World No. 2 Murray against del Potro, who is putting together a remarkable campaign after coming back from left wrist surgery. The pair most recently played in the final of the Rio Olympics, with Murray taking gold.

“It will be a very tough match. We obviously had a great battle in Rio. It was four hours, lots of ups and downs, a lot of momentum shifts and was mentally and physically a very draining match,” Murray told DavisCup.com. “I think both of us were pretty tired afterwards, and emotional. I think that showed in how we were right after the final point. It will be another intense atmosphere here and I’m looking forward to it.”

Del Potro has not played singles in Davis Cup since 2012, but holds a 12-4 record. All four of his losses have come on indoor courts. Murray is 29-2 when representing his country in singles.

Edmund narrowly lost to Pella in their most recent meeting and is eager to make amends in front of his home crowd.

“I’m obviously excited whoever I was going to play in the Davis Cup, it’s always an honour to represent your country. I’ve enjoyed the last two ties I’ve played in and had great experiences from it,” the Brit told DavisCup.com. “In terms of playing Pella, I lost 7-5 in the third set [in Indian Wells]. It was a close match. I’m sure he has improved since then. I’ve definitely improved since then, got a lot of experience and I feel my game has improved. I think what I have been doing the last few months and the run I’ve got on, it’s just trying to replicate that.”

In the other semi-final tie, France will look to take down home team Croatia on an indoor hard court in Zadar. The French are without Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga due to injuries, while Croatian No. 2 Borna Coric admitted to feeling less than 100 per cent due to problems with his knee. The #NextGen star will play the first rubber against French No. 1 Richard Gasquet.

“My preparations for the tie have been less than ideal because my knee flared up after the Olympic Games in Rio,” Coric told DavisCup.com. “I made the most of the last few days and we will see how it goes. I have never played against Gasquet so I have some homework to do in order to come up with the right game-plan.”

Top Croatian Marin Cilic will contest the second rubber against rising star Lucas Pouille, who is coming off a quarter-final showing at the US Open.

World Group Playoffs: Nadal To Lead Spaniards; Nishikori Gets A Day Off

In World Group play-off action, Rafael Nadal made the trip to India in an attempt to help Spain return to the World Group for the first time since 2014. He will face Indian No. 2 Ramkumar Ramanathan in the opening rubber, while David Ferrer will play Saketh Myneni in the second rubber. Nadal has not lost a Davis Cup singles match since falling in straight sets to Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 12 years ago. He is 21-0 since.

Kei Nishikori, the top Japanese player in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will not play on Day 1 of the home team’s play-off tie against Ukraine. Instead, Taro Daniel will play Artem Smirnov while #NextGen player Yoshihito Nishioka will face Illya Marchenko, who lost to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka at the US Open.

Elsewhere, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic will both feature on Day 1 for Australia against Slovakia. The Swiss, sans Wawrinka and Roger Federer, are in Tashkent to take on Uzbekistan. David Goffin and the Belgians host Thomaz Bellucci and Brazil in Ostend. Frank Dancevic and Vasek Pospisil look to fend off Chile in Halifax, Canada. Russia faces Kazakhstan in Mosow, and Germany hosts Poland in Berlin.

Tecnifibre player Constant Lestienne is inspired by Gael Monfils, but seems to have naturally picked up his penchant for flashy hitting. The World No. 183 hit the Hot Shot of the week so far on Wednesday night at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Szczecin, Poland.

With second seed Inigo Cervantes of Spain serving at 3-4 in the opening set of their second-round clash, a strong backhand return from Lestienne set up an easy smash. It appeared he would drive the ball for a winner, but the Frenchman faked out his opponent and instead hit a delicate drop shot. The crowd roared their approval as Lestienne waved his arms to get them even more involved in the match.

“I don’t know where I learned that shot from, but it’s a shot I like to do. When I see an easy ball coming, my mind automatically wants to make a Hot Shot. I’ve tried this one at practice many times,” said Lestienne. “But the best player at these shots is Gael Monfils. I want to do all the same shots as him.”

Lestienne went on the win match, 6-4, 7-6(5). The victory gave him the first Top 100 win of his career. He will play seventh seed Albert Montanes of Spain on Friday for a place in the semi-finals. 

Casper Ruud decided to forgo this year’s US Open junior events in order to play his first ATP Challenger Tour tournament. Less than two weeks later, the Norwegian teenager has already graduated to the ATP World Tour.

The 17 year old will make his ATP World Tour main draw debut later this month after receiving a wild card into the Chengdu Open, held from 26 September to 2 October. Ruud’s father, Christian Ruud, competed on the ATP World Tour throughout the ‘90s, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 39 in October 1995.

“You have to take it day by day and I’m just trying my best every day and working hard,” said Casper. “Anything can happen, but I’m going to stay humble and just try to work every day.”

The teenager came through qualifying to win last week’s $75,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Seville, Spain. He became the fourth youngest player to win an ATP Challenger Tour event in their debut, joining prestigious champions including Michael Chang, Richard Gasquet and Jonathan Stark. Ruud is also the youngest ATP Challenger Tour winner since Alexander Zverev in 2014.

“Given his recent Challenger, it was an easy decision to give him the coveted wild card,” said Tournament Director Nick Freyer. “He was outside the top 1000 in the [Emirates] ATP Rankings at the start of the year, but his results have taken him to a career high ranking of 274 this week. [It’s] outstanding by any measure, especially so given his young age.”

Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Pablo Carreno Busta are among the top players competing in the inaugural edition of the Chengdu Open.