Davis Cup Tennis 2017: Quarterfinals Dates, Schedule, Live Stream and Prediction
The 2017 Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals will begin on Friday, as Australia host the United States and Great Britain take on France.
Belgium will welcome Italy, who knocked out top seed Argentina, and Spain head to Serbia. Here's a look at the schedules for the upcoming ties, along with live-stream information:
| Friday, April 7 | Singles Rubbers 1 & 2 |
| Saturday, April 8 | Doubles |
| Sunday, April 9 | Singles Rubbers 3 & 4 |
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Australia vs. USA | Australia advance | Seven Network (AUS), Tennis Channel (U.S.) |
| France vs. Great Britain | France advance | BeIN Sports (FRA), BBC (GB) |
| Belgium vs. Italy | Belgium advance | VRT/RTBF (BEL), Super Tennis (ITA) |
| Serbia vs. Spain | Serbia advance | RTS (SRB), TVE (ESP) |
Live-stream links
The battle between France and Britain should be a good one, representing a renewal of one of the Davis Cup's best rivalries. The competition's official Twitter account shared some of the stats behind the tie:
The British team took a major hit when star Andy Murray pulled out due to injury. Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot make up the team that has travelled to France.
France also have plenty of absentees, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet all not selected. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, one of the team's top doubles specialist, will also not play.
France are the favourites, with Lucas Pouille and Gilles Simon the superior singles players on paper and Nicolas Mahut throwing his weight around in the doubles. The matches will be played on clay, which should also favour the hosts.
As reported by BBC Sport, Leon Smith still likes his team's chances:
"In Dan and Kyle we have two top-50 singles players who are improving all the time on the tour and both with games capable of upsetting higher-ranked opponents.
Jamie and Dom once again combine as our doubles team and will draw much confidence after performing so well recently to win key rubbers against Serbia and Canada.
"
Australia will be without Bernard Tomic, who also didn't feature in the win over the Czech Republic. The 24-year-old is in a massive slump, highlighted by his shock loss against Darian King in Memphis, Tennessee, in February―the latter sits well outside the top 100.
Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson will spearhead the Australian challenge in the singles, with the former carrying solid form into the tie. Thompson did well in the win over the Czech Republic, and captain Lleyton Hewitt is backing the youngster, per TennisAustralia:
Jack Sock, John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson have travelled to Australia, and the head-to-head between Sock and Kyrgios may well decide the entire tie.
Novak Djokovic will play for Serbia after missing the Miami Open, and the extra rest should do the World No. 2 a lot of good.
Per Live Tennis, the Djoker spoke about the chance of representing his country:
With Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut not playing, Serbia have a big advantage in the singles.
David Goffin and Steve Darcis lead the Belgian selection that caused quite a shock with their deep run in the tournament in 2015. Fabio Fognini has struggled with injury of late and might not even play for Italy, leaving the Belgians as the slight favourites.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
