Australia, Serbia close in on finals
PARIS:Former champions Australia and Serbia took commanding 2-0 leads after the first day of qualifying for the revamped Davis Cup finals on Friday.
Alex De Minaur and John Millman both eased to straight-set victories in Adelaide as Lleyton Hewitt’s Australia dominated Bosnia, while Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic claimed wins for Serbia against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
Hewitt has been critical of the new Davis Cup format, slamming Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, whose investment group has led the changes. The Australia captain earlier this week said it was like him “coming out asking to change things for the Champions League”, but saw his team have little trouble.
Millman, who stunned Roger Federer at last year’s US Open, brushed aside Bosnian number one Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2, before rising star De Minaur beat Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) to claim his first Davis Cup win.
“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,” said the 19-year-old De Minaur.
Hewitt’s decision to leave out Nick Kyrgios was vindicated, as Millman also claimed his maiden point after making his debut in the 2017 semi-final loss to Belgium. “Week in, week out on the ATP Tour, you can’t emulate what it’s like to play in the green and gold and play for your country,” said Millman.
Serbia also moved to within one win of qualification despite the absence of Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, as Lajovic saw off world number 593 Sanjar Fayziev 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, before Krajinovic’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin.
JAPAN PULL LEVEL
Elsewhere, Taro Daniel drew Japan level at 1-1 with China in Guangzhou by beating Zhang Ze, after Yoshihito Nishioka’s shock loss to Li Zhe.
Rubbers are now played in a best-of-three-set format, replacing the long-used best-of-five, with the reverse singles matches to now be played on Saturday after the doubles, shortening the ties by one day to two.
The 12 winners in qualifying this weekend will join automatic qualifiers Croatia, France, United States, Spain, Argentina and Britain in November’s finals in Madrid.