De Minaur, Millman Earn Australia 2-0 Lead In Adelaide
De Minaur, Millman Earn Australia 2-0 Lead In Adelaide
Italy, Serbia also own 2-0 advantages in Davis Cup qualifying round
AUSTRALIA 2, BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA 0
Venue: Memorial Drive Tennis Club, Adelaide, Australia
Surface: Hard, Outdoors
Alex de Minaur and John Millman both claimed their first Davis Cup victories to give Australia a 2-0 lead in its Davis Cup qualifying round tie against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday. Bidding to reach the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, to be held 18-24 November in Madrid, Millman won 70 per cent of first-serve points (21/30) to defeat Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2, before De Minaur doubled Australia’s advantage after 87 minutes, beating Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6(0).
“It’s a dream come true for me, and I’m so happy I finally was able to get a win for my country in Davis Cup,” De Minaur told DavisCup.com. “I think it’s amazing that we had John Millman come out and get his first win, as well.”
On Saturday, John Peers and Jordan Thompson will have the opportunity to confirm Australia’s spot in Madrid when they meet Mirza Basic and Tomislav Brkic. Peers will be making his first appearance since reaching the Australian Open doubles final alongside Henri Kontinen (l. to Herbert/Mahut) last month.
INDIA 0, ITALY 2
Venue: Calcutta South Club, Kolkata, India
Surface: Grass, Outdoors
Italy made a strong start to its Davis Cup qualifying round tie against India, earning a 2-0 lead following straight-sets wins for Andreas Seppi and Matteo Berrettini. Seppi fired 23 winners to defeat 2018 Newport finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-2, while Berrettini needed just 57 minutes to beat Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4, 6-3. Simone Bolelli and Marco Cecchinato can confirm Italy’s place in Madrid with victory over Pune champions Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan on Saturday.
UZBEKISTAN 0, SERBIA 2
Venue: Saxovat Sport Servis Sport Complex, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Surface: Hard, Indoors
Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic handed Serbia a 2-0 advantage heading into Saturday in Tashkent. Lajovic dropped only nine points behind his first serve (36/45) to defeat Sanjar Fayziev 7-6(4), 6-3, before Krajinovic converted each of his three break-point chances to beat Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-4 in 61 minutes. Nikola Milojevic and Viktor Troicki can clinch victory for the visiting nation when they face Fayziev and Istomin in the third rubber doubles match on Saturday.
CHINA 1, JAPAN 1
Venue: Guangdong Olympic Sports Center Tennis Center, Guangzhou, China
Surface: Hard, Outdoors
China and Japan will head into Saturday tied at 1-1 after splitting the opening two singles rubbers in Guangzhou on Friday. Zhe Li earned China a 1-0 lead, beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-2 after one hour and 32 minutes, before Taro Daniel levelled the tie after overcoming Ze Zhang 7-6(3), 6-4.