Davis Cup SFs: Kyrgios fightback levels tie

Two Davis Cup semifinals, both perfectly poised after the opening day of action. Nick Kyrgios fought back to level the tie against Belgium, while France struggled on home soil against a weak Serbian side.

Kyrgios wins epic to level tie

Nick Kyrgios battled back from a set down to beat Steve Darcis and level the Davis Cup semifinal between Australia and Belgium. The Aussie, up against a tough competitor in the world No.70, was forced to fight all the way during the 6-3 4-6 6-7(5) 6-1 6-2 win.

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After storming through the opening set, Darcis fought back in the second and third to leave Australia staring down the barrel of a 0-2 opening day scoreline. However Kyrgios rallied, producing some sublime shotmaking to silence the Brussels crowd and level the tie at 1-1.

“Lleyton helped me a lot and I had a lot of doubts being two sets to one down but he was in my face telling me to believe,” Kyrgios said after sealing one of the best victories of his Davis Cup career.

In the day’s first match, world No.12 David Goffin was pushed all the way by Davis Cup debutante John Millman. The Aussie world No.184, a late inclusion in the team, grabbed the first set before the match seemed to swing in Goffin’s favour at 4-4 in the second.

The Belgian won a tight ten minute game, saving a raft of break points, before going on to sweep to the 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3 7-5 win.

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“It hurts a lot because I really wanted to do a job for my country, and for the boys” Millman said after the match. “When you are playing for yourself you take it pretty hard, but when your’e playing for your country you take it even harder.

France toil to level tie on Day One

This was supposed to be easy for France. Missing Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic, the Serb’s were expected to be swept aside on French soil by a team including Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. They weren’t.

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Lucas Pouille suffered a shock loss in the opening match, beaten 6-1 3-6 7-6(7) 7-6(5) by world No.80 Dusan Lajovic. The Frenchman struggled throughout, making a total of 70 unforced errors in the match.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga levelled the tie as he returned to the Davis Cup fold with a 7-6(2) 6-2 6-3 win over Laslo Djere.