SERBIA 0, USA 3
Venue: Sportski Centar Cair, Nis, SRB (clay – indoor)

The United States moved into the quarter-finals for the third consecutive year after Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson clinched the tie with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory against Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic. 

“It feels great. I’ve got to thank my partner. He played great the whole time,” Harrison said on court after the win. “I felt like early on I was struggling to get a little bit of rhythm but he was super-positive the whole time and picked me up a lot. I felt like after the first set we really got a rhythm going and go USA, and thanks to my partner for pulling me through.”

It wasn’t all easy for the Americans, who lost at least one set in each of their three victories. And the Serbians got off to a quick start on Saturday, winning eight of 12 points on their opponents’ second serve to help claim the first set. But Harrison and Johnson would earn 14 break points over the next three sets, converting on four of those opportunities to secure the win.

“It’s tough. It’s Davis Cup, so there’s nerves, always. They came out and played great, credit to them,” Johnson said. “We buckled down, played a great second, third and fourth and we’re glad to win.”

The USA is now 159-4 when holding a 2-0 advantage in Davis Cup play after triumphing over Serbia for the first time (1-2).

CROATIA 2, CANADA 1
Venue: Sportska Dvorana Gradski Vrt, Osijek, CRO (clay – indoor)

It appeared that Canada was on the verge of earning the crucial doubles point in Croatia on Saturday. Daniel Nestor, a 91-time tour-level doubles champion and his partner, Vasek Pospisil, led Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig by two sets and 4-1 in the third set.

But the home team did not go away, winning the final five games of the third set to claw back into the match before storming on to defeat the Canadians 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. 

“It was incredibly tough,” Cilic said according to DavisCup.com. “They started well and we weren’t connecting [with] each other at the beginning. But the energy in the fourth and fifth set was just incredible.”

Cilic and Dodig lost just six points on serve in the final two sets, moving Croatia to within one reverse singles victory of the second round. Last year, Croatia lost 3-2 in the opening round against Spain. Canada seeks its first second-round appearance since 2015.

FRANCE 2, NETHERLANDS 1
Venue: Halle Olympique, Albertville, FRA (hard – indoor)

The defending champion, France, was surprised on Friday when World No. 369 Thiemo de Bakker shocked Adrian Mannarino to give the Dutch an early lead in the opening round.

But doubles stalwarts Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut gave France the 2-1 lead on Saturday with a 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(2) triumph in three hours, 22 minutes over Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer at Halle Olympique in Albertville, France.

It was destined to be a high-level rubber with three of the players on the court (Herbert, Mahut, Rojer) in the Top 13 of the ATP Doubles Rankings. And Haase/Rojer were within two points of forcing a fifth set as they served at 5-4, 30/15 in the fourth, but the Frenchmen broke back before cruising through the ensuing tie-break.

Haase, his country’s top-ranked singles player at No. 42, was no stranger to the doubles court, either. He joined another Dutchman, Matwe Middelkoop, to defeat Herbert and Gilles Simon to win the Tata Open Maharashtra in January.

Mannarino will look to clinch the tie in Sunday’s first match against Haase. The Frenchman owns a 2-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

BELGIUM 2, HUNGARY 1
Venue: Country Hall du Sart-Tilman, Liège, BEL (hard – indoor)

The defending finalist, Belgium, nearly pulled off an epic comeback on Saturday in the doubles rubber at Country Hall du Sart-Tilman to clinch the opening-round tie.

But the Hungarians proved their resolve as Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics defeated Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 4-6, 7-5 in a four-hour, 10-minute battle.

Hungary held a two-set lead and was ahead by a break, 3-2, in the third set. But the Belgians immediately broke back, clawing back into the rubber. And while Balazs and Fucsovics also lost an early break advantage in the fifth set, they managed to break once more at 6-5 in the decider to keep their country’s hopes alive heading into Sunday.

David Goffin, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up who has won 17 of his past 18 Davis Cup singles rubbers, will play Fucsovics in an attempt to clinch the tie for Belgium.

AUSTRALIA 1, GERMANY 2
Venue: Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane, AUS (hard- outdoor)

After a change of nomination, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff teamed up with Tim Puetz to move his nation one point away from a place in the quarter-finals after beating Australia’s Matt Ebden and John Peers 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-4.

Struff, who lost in three sets to Nick Kyrgios on Friday, replaced Peter Gojowczyk in the third rubber and it proved to be a masterstroke from captain Michael Kohlmann as the visitors won a dramatic, five-set encounter.

Puetz and Struff hit 55 winners and made just 12 unforced errors in the third rubber, which lasted nearly three and a half hours, to give Alexander Zverev the chance to book Germany’s spot in the last eight when he meets Nick Kyrgios in Sunday’s first match.

Kyrgios leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Zverev 3-1 after getting the better of the No. 5 in three of their four matches on the ATP World Tour in 2017. The Australian, with the pressure of keeping the tie alive in Brisbane on Sunday, appeared confident as he prepared to take on a familiar rival.

“We played juniors together, we grew up together,” said Kyrgios. “We’re good mates so ranking goes out the window with us. I don’t mind playing him. We both know what we bring. I had some luck against him last year and that’s all it is. I know how to play against him, he knows how to play against me.”

JAPAN 1, ITALY 2
Venue: Morioka Takaya Arena, Morioka, JPN (hard – indoor)

After a five-set win on Friday, Fabio Fognini was drafted in to play a crucial third rubber alongside Simone Bolelli before the duo scored an important four-set win over Ben Mclachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-5.

Italian captain Corrado Barrazzutti’s decision to include Fognini was a risk, as the Italian number one was originally scheduled to rest ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles rubbers, but the decision proved successful, on the day, with Italy now just a point away from a fifth appearance in the quarter-finals in the past six years.

Fognini will need to recover quickly after nine sets of play in the first two days, as he plays the first reverse singles match on Sunday against a rested Yuichi Sugita. No. 41 Sugita won Japan’s only point of the tie so far, in five sets on Friday, and will need to win a second against Fognini to force the tie into a fifth, decisive rubber.

FRANCE 1, NETHERLANDS 1
Venue: Halle Olympique, Albertville, FRA (hard – indoor)

Frenchman Richard Gasquet, competing in his 23^rd 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 17^th 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.

The busiest month on the 2018 ATP World Tour calendar begins Monday. February will see 12 tournaments contested in 10 countries on four continents… and you can watch it all on TennisTV.com.

Three ATP World Tour 250 tournaments begin next week in Sofia, Marseille and Quito. Playing on home soil, World No. 4 and defending champion Grigor Dimitrov leads the Sofia field, which also includes Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gilles Muller. Nitto ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin will be the top seed in Montpellier, where Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet will also compete. Flamboyant Frenchman Gael Monfils, Pablo Carreno Busta and Albert Ramos-Vinolas head to Quito, where players will battle at an elevation above 9,000 feet.

The following week marks the first ATP World Tour 500 event of the season in Rotterdam, where Dimitrov, Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, defending champion Tsonga and Nick Kyrgios will be in action. The New York Open, a new 250 indoor tournament (Kei Nishikori, Kevin Anderson, Hyeon Chung), and the Argentina Open, Argentina’s 250 clay-court tournament in Buenos Aires (Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Monfils), are also part of a busy week.

Watch and enjoy an action-packed month of official ATP World Tour streaming on Tennis TV, which in 2018 will deliver increased live coverage of more than 260* matches from 12 tournaments in February.

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From 19 February the Rio Open presented by Claro, a 500 event in Rio de Janeiro, featuring Australian Open finalist Cilic and defending champion Thiem, highlights another busy week, which also includes 250 tournaments in Marseille (David Goffin, Wawrinka, Tsonga and Lucas Pouille) and Delray Beach. The long-running Delray Beach Open boasts one of its strongest-ever fields with Juan Martin del Potro, Jack Sock, US Open finalist Anderson, Sam Querrey, Milos Raonic, Kyrgios, Chung and Denis Shapovalov all playing.

The highlight of the month could come at the very end, with concurrent 500 events in Acapulco and Dubai set to determine who goes into Indian Wells as World No. 1. Rafael Nadal must reach at least the semi-finals in Acapulco to stop Roger Federer from reclaiming top spot for the first time in more than five years. Federer is weighing a decision to accept a wild card into Dubai. If he does play he is guaranteed to rise to No. 1 if he wins the title, regardless of what Nadal does in Acapulco.

Joining Nadal in Acapulco are Zverev, Thiem, Cilic, del Potro, Anderson and Querrey. Dimitrov leads the field in Dubai, where Pouille, Roberto Bautista Agut and Gasquet will also compete. The week of February 26 also sees the indoor clay 250 tournament in Sao Paulo, where defending champion Pablo Cuevas will be joined by Monfils, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Fabio Fognini.

Click here for the full tournament schedule in February. All matches are available to watch on demand, all year-round on a range of devices, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Xbox One.

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