Djokovic and Murray shine, remain on course for Davis Cup quarter-final encounter
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray sprinted t hrough t heir Davis Cup openers to edge Serbia and defending champions Great Britain closer to a dream quarterfinal showdown.
But their teams are still facing a weekend long battle to set up that July duel after Kazakhstan and Japan fought back to level their respective first round ties on Friday.
World No.1 Djokovic showed no signs of the eye infection which brought his run of 17 successive finals to an end in Dubai last week as he brushed past Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in Belgrade.
Djokovic, who led Serbia to the 2010 Davis Cup title, required treatment on his left shoulder although it did not prevent him from securing an easy win over his 200thranked opponent.
“The shoulder is nothing and the eye infection is behind me so I am looking forward to playing the doubles,” said Djokovic.
Mikhail Kukushkin, the world No.79, stunned 23rd-ranked Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 to level the tie at 1-1 as Kazakhstan kept alive their hopes of a fourth successive quarter-final appearance.
Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic were due to take on Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov in the doubles yesterday.
Serbia could face Great Britain in the quarter-finals and Murray did his best to keep that clash on track when he saw off Japan’s world No.87 Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in just 90 minutes in Birmingham.
But world No.6 Kei Nishikori then avenged one of the worst defeats of his career as he defeated Dan Evans 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) to bring his country level at 1-1.
Nishikori suffered a miserable straight sets loss to Evans in the pair’s only previous meeting in the US Open first round in 2013.
Murray was playing for the first time since losing to Djokovic in last month’s Australian Open final, opting instead to spend time with new daughter Sophia, born on Feb 7, and wife Kim Sears.
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic gave Croatia a winning start in Liege, seeing off Kimmer Coppejans 7-5, 6-3, 7-5, before David Goffin levelled by seeing off teenager Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 6-3.
In Pesaro, Paolo Lorenzi won the longest tie-break in Davis Cup World Group history to give Italy the lead over 2014 champions Switzerland, who are without Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
Lorenzo defeated 34-year-old Marco Chiudinelli, ranked at a lowly 146, in five sets, 7-6 (16/14), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 7-5 in a rubber that last 15 minutes short of five hours. That became 2-0 when Andreas Seppi edged out Henri Laaksonen 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3.
Guido Pella defeated Michal Przysiezny 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to give Argentina, runners-up three times since 2006, an early lead. Leonardo Mayer made it 2-0 when he beat world No.602 Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
In Guadeloupe, Yannick Noah’s first match in his second spell as France captain got off to a winning start when Gael Monfils eased past Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 and Gilles Simon beat Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 for a 2-0 lead over Canada.