Pouille, Fognini Win On Day One

ITALY 1, FRANCE 1
Venue: Valletta Cambiaso ASD, Genoa, ITA (clay – outdoor)

Lucas Pouille withstood a strong comeback effort to beat Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1 in Genoa.

The World No. 11 began well, breaking six times en route to a two-set lead, but Seppi fought back in front of his home fans to force a decider. Not to be denied, Pouille re-established control and raced to victory in the fifth set to secure defending champion France a 1-0 lead.

“The emotions are the maximum,” Pouille told DavisCup.com. “It’s great to win that type of match. I was two sets up, he came back; that was so tough for me in the fourth set. I tried to fight as hard as possible and in the end I decided to be more aggressive and I was very happy at the finish.”

Fabio Fognini levelled the tie at 1-1 going into Saturday’s doubles rubber, coming from a set down to beat Jeremy Chardy 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

The Italian won 70 per cent of points behind his first serve in the three-hour, 31-minute encounter to improve to 15-2 in Davis Cup singles rubbers on clay. Simone Bolelli and Paolo Lorenzi are scheduled to meet Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Saturday.

CROATIA 1, KAZAKHSTAN 0
Venue: Varazdin Arena, Varazdin, CRO (clay – indoor)

Marin Cilic began Croatia’s bid for a second Davis Cup World Group semi-finals appearance in three years with a dominant 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win over Dmitry Popko.

The World No. 3 looked in fine form throughout the one-hour, 41-minute contest hitting 32 winners past the Kazakh to seal the first rubber in emphatic style. Cilic, who led Croatia to the Davis Cup final in 2016 (l. to Argentina), improves his Davis Cup singles record to 25-10.

Kazakh No. 1 Mikhail Kukushkin upset in-form Borna Coric 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 to end Day One with the teams tied at 1-1. Kukushkin broke the BNP Paribas Open semi-finalist on five occasions on his way to victory after three hours and 32 minutes. Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic are slated to meet Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the third rubber doubles on Saturday