Davis Cup Tennis 2016: Saturday Scores and Results, Updated Round 1 Schedule
Andy Murray and his brother Jamie Murray cruised to a win over Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama, handing Great Britain a 2-1 lead in their Round 1 Davis Cup tie against Japan on Saturday.
The defending champions were never troubled by the Japanese duo, who couldn't even muster a single break chance over the course of three sets, losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
USA moved into a 2-1 lead over Australia to kick off Day 2, as Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Lleyton Hewitt and John Peers 3-2 in a scintillating doubles match. The American brothers sprung into a two-set lead early on, before an Aussie backlash took it to a final set decider. However, the USA team emerged victorious to chalk up a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Elsewhere, Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrey Golubev recorded a shock win over Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic.
Here's a look at the full results from Saturday's doubles:
| GB 2-1 Japan | Andy Murray/Jamie Murray | 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 | Yoshihito Nishioka/Yasutaka Uchiyama |
| Kazakhstan 2-1 Serbia | Aleksandr Nedovyesov/Andrey Golubev | 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5 | Novak Djokovic/Nenad Zimonjic |
| Italy 3-0 Switzerland | Andreas Seppi/Simone Bolelli | 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 | Marco Chiudinelli/Henri Laaksonen |
| Poland 1-2 Argentina | Lukasz Kubot/Marcin Matkowski | 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 | Carlos Berlocq/Renzo Olivo |
| Germany 1-2 Czech Republic | Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek | 7-6 (7), 7-5, 6-4 | Philipp Kohlschreiber/Philipp Petzschner |
| USA 2-1 Australia | Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan | 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 | Lleyton Hewitt/John Peers |
| Croatia 2-1 Belgium | Ivan Dodig/Franko Skugor | 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1 | Ruben Bemelmans/David Goffin |
| France 3-0 Canada | Richard Gasquet/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 7-6 (4), 6-1, 7/6 (4) | Philip Bester/Vasek Pospisil |
Here’s a look at the rest of the Round 1 fixtures:
| Australia vs. USA | Bernard Tomic vs. John Isner |
| Samuel Groth vs. Jack Sock | |
| Great Britain vs. Japan | Andy Murray vs. Kei Nishikori |
| Daniel Evans vs. Taro Daniel | |
| Serbia vs. Kazakhstan | Novak Djokovic vs. Mikhail Kukushkin |
| Viktor Troicki vs. Aleksandr Nedovyesov | |
| Poland vs. Argentina | Michal Przysiezny vs. Leonardo Mayer |
| Hubert Hurkacz vs. Guido Pella | |
| Germany vs. Czech Republic | Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Tomas Berdych |
| Alexander Zverev vs. Lukas Rosol | |
| Belgium vs. Croatia | David Goffin vs. Marin Cilic |
| Kimmer Coppejans vs. Borna Coric |
Great Britain Edge Ahead of Japan
The Murray brothers needed less than two hours to beat the Japanese pair of Nishioka and Uchiyama, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Japan couldn't muster a single break chance, and the defending champions needed just a single break point to put away the first set, finding the breakthrough in the eighth game. An immediate break of serve followed in the second set, and it was smooth sailing for the Brits from that point onwards.
Per BBC Sport, Andy Murray thinks he and his brother make a fantastic doubles team, thanks to years of experience playing alongside: “We know each other's games extremely well - so that helps. When the ball goes into a certain part of the court I know what shot he will hit and vice-versa. My strengths and his strengths make a decent team. It was a good win today.”
Japan decided to rest star player Kei Nishikori, who will play Sunday's rubber against Andy Murray. The decision to play the Scot could backfire, as Nishokori will be well-rested for the fourth rubber, but Murray didn't waste too much energy on Saturday and will enter the match as the favourite.
Chris Jones of the London Evening Standard likes his chances:
If Nishikori can cause an upset against Murray, the final rubber will come down to Dan Evans and Taro Daniel.
Kazakhstan Shock Serbia
Djokovic and his Serbian team-mates are dangerously close to getting knocked out of the tournament after Saturday's doubles action, as the unheralded Kazakh pair of Nedovyesov and Golubev needed just three sets to beat the World no. 1 and his partner Zimonjic, winning 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
Serbia seemed to be on their way to a routine win when they grabbed the first break of the match in the fifth game of the first set, but the visitors won the next four games in a row. Kazakhstan targeted Zimonjic, who at one point committed three successive double faults and couldn't hold up his end of the bargain.
Tennis blogger Ricky Dimon couldn't believe what he saw from the Serbs:
With no breaks in the second set, the two teams squared off in a tie-break, and once again, Kazakhstan came through when it mattered the most.
The final set was yet another thriller, as the Kazakhs saved a break point in the 11th game before targeting Zimonjic once more, grabbing a shock win and the lead heading into Sunday's single matches.
Djokovic is expected to beat Mikhail Kukushkin rather easily in the fourth rubber, but the final match between Viktor Troicki and Nedovyesov will prove tricky for Serbia. No one expected Troicki to lose to Kukushkin on Friday, and with his confidence at an all-time low, he needs to turn things around in a hurry.
Brilliant Bryans Spoil Hewitt's Party
Australia’s favourite son Hewitt was only supposed to be the nation’s last resort—an option if all else fails. But Nick Kyrgios’ illness and Sam Groth’s inconsistency on Friday saw the 35-year-old take centre stage and try to fire the Aussies back into Davis Cup business.
Hewitt emerged on to the Kooyong stage with Eminem’s "Without Me" blaring out of the sound system ("guess who’s back?"), but the Bryan brothers were in no mood to honour the two-time Grand Slam winner’s return for retirement.
Instead, the Americans want on the rampage in the early exchanges, racing into a 4-1 lead without breaking a sweat and eventually taking the opener 6-3.
Australia were a little more solid in the second set, but two late breaks gave the Bryans a routine 6-3 triumph. However, that woke the beast.
Hewitt and Peers suddenly looked a different proposition in the third set, as they were matching their opponents blow for blow. The 6-4 set win was followed by another 6-4 in the fourth to set up a tense finale.
However, the Bryans didn’t read Hewitt’s script, and when they raced into a 4-1 lead, the Australians had a mountain to climb. And it was one they simply couldn’t scale, as USA made it 2-1 overall with their third 6-3 set win of the day.
Still, it was a valiant effort from Hewitt and Peers, and the latter tweeted after that match that he was incredibly disappointed not to cross the line:
Just the singles matches remain for Australia to turn the tie on its head, although Hewitt is likely to give up his place for Sam Groth to take on Jack Sock in what could be a decider.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
