Thiem Leads Austria To Commanding Davis Cup Lead

AUSTRIA 2, AUSTRALIA 0
Graz, Austria (Outdoor clay)

Austria heads into the weekend with a comfortable 2-0 lead in its playoff match against Australia after two convincing wins on Friday. No. 8 Dominic Thiem led the home nation with a dominating 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win against Aussie Jordan Thompson. Thiem hit 23 winners and limited Thompson to just five in the 95-minute victory.

Thiem’s countryman Dennis Novak, No. 133 in the ATP Rankings, was just as impressive during a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win against #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, who is playing at a career-high No. 38 in the ATP Rankings after reaching the third round of the US Open (l. to Cilic).

JAPAN 2, BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA 0
Osaka, Japan (Outdoor hard)

Taro Daniel and Yoshihito Nishioka delivered straight-sets wins to give the home nation a commanding 2-0 lead. Daniel beat Tomislav Brkic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(3), and Nishioka dismissed Mirza Basic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

SWITZERLAND 1, SWEDEN 1
Biel, Switzerland (Indoor hard)

Sweden’s 6-0 head-to-head record against Switzerland could be in jeopardy this weekend. The two countries split Friday’s singles matches, as Sweden’s Markus Eriksson outlasted Marc-Andrea Huesler 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(10), 6-4, and Swiss Henri Laaksonen beat Jonathan Mridha 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3.

SERBIA 2, INDIA 0
Kraljevo, Serbia (Indoor clay)

Serbia is within a match of winning a tie on clay for the first time since 2013. The home country leads India 2-0 after Laslo Djere beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-2, and Dusan Lajovic swept Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.