Pouille sends France into Davis Cup semis
GENOA: Lucas Pouille sent France into the Davis Cup semi-finals on the strength of his four-set defeat of Italy’s Fabio Fognini in Genoa yesterday.
Pouille battled past the Italian No.1 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 to give France an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five series in the quarter-finals.
Yesterday’s redundant second reverse singles will not be played, organisers announced.
The title-holders will face either Spain or Germany in the last four tie in September.
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert had cruised to a straight-sets victory over Fognini and Simone Bolelli in the doubles on Saturday to put France in control.
Pouille had clinched France’s first point on Friday with a five-set success over Andreas Seppi with Fognini levelling in a bad-tempered four-set affair against Jeremy Chardy.
It’s the third straight year that France have reached the semi-finals.
In Nashville, the United States became the first country to punch their ticket to the semi-finals on Saturday following a doubles win by Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison.
The pair had to work for the victory on the hardcourts which gave the Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead and a berth in the semis for the first time since 2012.
Sock and Harrison needed three hours to dispatch Belgian debutants Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in four sets 5-7, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in front of a crowd of 5,000 at the Curb Event Center in Nashville.
The Belgian side was missing their top two players David Goffin and Steve Darcis which left the squad without a player ranked in the top 100 in the world.
The Americans will face either Kazakhstan or Croatia in the final four in September.
In Valencia, Rafael Nadal kept Spain’s hopes alive by beating Alexander Zverez yesterday in the fourth rubber of their quarter-final against Germany.
Nadal’s 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win in Valencia draws the tie level at 2-2, with Spanish world No.33 David Ferrer up against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the fifth and decisive match.
Two breaks in each set were enough for Nadal to seal an impressively comfortable victory over Zverev in what was only the 31-year-old’s second outing since returning from a hip injury.
Nadal was forced to retire at the Australian Open in January but, back on his favoured clay, the 16-time grand slam champion showed little sign of rust against Zverev, whom he has now beaten four times out of four.
It was also the 24th consecutive match Nadal has won in DavisCup.
He beat Kohlschreiber in straight sets on Friday after Zverev had overcome Ferrer. Germany then took a 2-1 lead when Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff won the doubles rubber against Spain’s Feliciano and Marc Lopez.
In Varazdin, Croatia held a 2-1 lead over Kazakhstan with Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic beating Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the doubles rubber on the indoor claycourt at Varazdin Arena on Saturday.