Davis Cup Tennis 2017: Final Scores and Results from Round 1 Bracket
Spain and Belgium booked their spots in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup World Group on Sunday, beating Croatia and Germany, respectively.
The Spaniards needed all five rubbers to advance, as Roberto Bautista Agut beat Franko Skugor and Pablo Carreno Busta battered Nikola Mektic.
Meanwhile, Belgium's Steve Darcis shocked Alexander Zverev in Frankfurt, Germany, to confirm progression.
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Great Britain took the win over Canada in bizarre fashion, as youngster Denis Shapovalov defaulted to Kyle Edmund after accidentally hitting the umpire in the face with a ball.
Argentina and Italy are tied at 2-2 after bad weather affected play. The deciding rubber will now take place on Monday.
Here's a look at Sunday's results and the final scores from the opening round of the Davis Cup World Group:
| Carlos Berlocq vs. Paolo Lorenzi | 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Guido Pella vs. Andreas Seppi | TBD on Monday |
| Steve Darcis vs. Alexander Zverev | 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (8) |
| Ruben Bemelmans vs. Mischa Zverev | 7-5, 6-1 |
| Jiri Vesely vs. Sam Groth | 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 |
| Jordan Thompson vs. Jan Satral | 7-6 (5), 6-2 |
| Sam Querrey vs. Adrien Bossel | 6-3, 7-5 |
| Steven Johnson vs. Antoine Bellier | 6-4, 6-3 |
| Nicolas Mahut vs. Yoshihito Nishioka | 6-1, 1-1* (Retired) |
| Yasutaka Uchiyama vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Vasek Pospisil vs. Daniel Evans | 7-6 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) |
| Denis Shapovalov vs. Kyle Edmund | 3-6, 4-6, 1-2* (Default) |
| Dusan Lajovic vs. Konstantin Kravchuk | 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 |
| Nenad Zimonjic vs. Daniil Medvedev | Walkover |
| Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Franko Skugor | 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (6) |
| Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Nikola Mektic | 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-4 |
To access the full Davis Cup bracket, click here.
Recap
Croatia knew they were in for a difficult challenge on the final day of their clash with Spain, as both their singles players were clear underdogs. Bautista Agut wasted little time against Skugor, running out to a quick 3-0 lead and dropping just a single game in the first set.
Big-serving Skugor put up plenty of resistance in the second set and forced a tiebreak, which he won, but his resolve cracked in the third, as he seemed to tire with every single rally.
Bautista Agut simply served out the set after finding a break, and he tried the same approach in the fourth set. Skugor tied things up at 5-5, but he wasted precious energy and couldn't recover in time for the tiebreak.
The result meant a deciding rubber, and per the Davis Cup's official Twitter account, Mektic was a clear underdog:
Carreno Busta struggled in the opening set but won the tiebreak, and Mektic's belief in the upset seemed to break at that point. The Spaniard dominated the rest of the way, sending his nation to the quarter-finals.
Germany and Belgium got things started on Sunday, as Darcis shocked Zverev in Frankfurt to send the Belgians through to the next round.
Zverev started on fire, grabbing two breaks in the first three games with powerful, attacking tennis.
Per Tennis Magazin, the youngster's serve was clicking as well:
Darcis started to find his range toward the end of the set, but Zverev's form still seemed ominous, and the German once again opened up a lead at the start of the second set. The Belgian levelled things at 4-4, however, and pushed his advantage to grab the set and tie things up.
Suddenly, Zverev was reeling, and the experienced Darcis grabbed all the momentum. Frankfurt was as loud as the Davis Cup gets, and the more experienced Belgian was clearly more comfortable in the conditions.
Darcis took the third set comfortably and forced a tiebreak in the fourth, despite pressure from Zverev. In that decider, his young opponent saved three match points but couldn't deal with a fourth, as the Belgians took the shock win.
Here's a look at the celebrations, via Tennis Magazin:
Here's what Darcis told John Bonney of the Davis Cup's official website: "You never know in Davis Cup. We said it would be an easy match for Germany. That's why we love the Davis Cup as we have surprises and we had one today."
Argentina and Italy battled it out to become Belgium's opponents in the quarter-finals, but dreadful weather conditions in Buenos Aires, Argentina, meant the first rubber was delayed, per Live Tennis:
Carlos Berlocq and Paolo Lorenzi eventually made their way on to the court to start their match, but eight games into the first set, the clouds opened up again.
Lorenzi took the first set and seemed to deal with the heavy surface better in the second, as well. But Berlocq fought back to tie things up after the second set and grabbed an early break in the third, despite requiring treatment on his left leg.
At one point, the Italian could barely lift his racket, and the home favourite stormed to a win in the third set. But at a crucial time, the rain returned once again, giving Lorenzi a lifeline. Berlocq eventually finished the job, but with the light fading fast, the final rubber will be played on Monday.
In Canada, Vasek Pospisil needed four sets to beat Dan Evans and force a deciding rubber. That set up the most bizarre ending of the day, as Shapovalov, who was already down two sets, fired a shot into the crowd in frustration.
As shared by Stuart Fraser of The Times, he hit a different target, however:
It was clearly not intentional, but the umpire was left with a black eye, and the match had to be defaulted. It's a harsh lesson for the teenager, who was visibly shaken by the incident.
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