Davis Cup: Serbia, Australia score victories

Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki won the doubles to give Serbia an insurmountable lead in the Davis Cup first-round match against Russia.

The pair beat Konstantin Kravchuk and Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 6-4 on Saturday.

Serbia secured the tie 3-0 ahead of the reverse singles on Sunday and will play either Croatia or Spain in the quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic, playing his first match since losing in the second round of the Australian Open, and Troicki gave Serbia a 2-0 lead with singles victories on Friday.

Australia romps to victory at Kooyong

Captain Lleyton Hewitt called on his doubles pairing John Peers and Sam Groth to make an statement and they responded with an emphatic victory to seal the Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic at Kooyong.

Following the singles success of Nick Kyrgios and debutant Jordan Thompson on Friday, Peers and Groth crushed Jiri Vesely and Jan Satral 6-3 6-2 6-2 on Saturday to give Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Australia are now set to host a World Group quarterfinal match-up on the weekend of 7-9 April against the USA, who hold a 2-0 lead over an undermanned Swiss outfit.

Hewitt said he wanted his doubles pair to deliver against the inexperienced Czech duo, who had never played together.

“I kept testing them to go out there and make a real statement and they did that right from the start,” Hewitt said. “They hardly put a foot wrong; the boys played extremely well, that was high quality.”

Fresh from winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title with Finland’s Henri Kontinen, Peers and the big-serving Groth were a class above their opponents. In the third set the Australians didn’t lose a point on serve.

The Czech team were rocked by injury on Thursday with veteran Radek Stepanek, who has won 18 doubles titles on the ATP tour, suffering an unspecified issue.

Belgium leads Germany 2-1

Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore defeated German brothers Mischa and Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6(4) 4-6 4-6 6-3 to give Belgium a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup first-round tie.

The first brothers to play together for Germany in the competition saved 15 of the 18 break points they faced but were unable to prevent Bemelmans and De Loore winning in three hours and 13 minutes.

The 19-year-old Alexander Zverev, who levelled the tie 1-1 on Friday, was nominated alongside his older brother in place of Jan-Lennard Struff, who has a stomach bug.

Germany needs to win both of Sunday’s reverse singles to preserve its unbeaten record against Belgium.

The younger Zverev was due to play Steve Darcis before German No. 1 Philipp Kohlschreiber faces Arthur De Greef.

Britain on the brink

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Great Britain took a 2-1 lead over hosts Canada after a four-set win in the doubles rubber.

Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot combined to beat Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 7-6(1) 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 6-3.

On Sunday, Dan Evans could seal victory for Britain if he beats Pospisil in the opening reverse singles rubber, while a Pospisil victory would set the stage for a live fifth rubber between Kyle Edmund and Canadian teen Denis Shapovalov, the Wimbledon junior champion.