DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS TIED AT 1-1, FEDERER HAS SWISS ON BRINK OF 2016 WORLD GROUP BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 18th September 2015

DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS TIED AT 1-1, FEDERER HAS SWISS ON BRINK OF 2016 WORLD GROUP BY RICKY DIMON

epa04936528 Switzerland's Davis Cup Team player Marco Chiudinelli (L-R), Stan Wawrinka, and Roger Federer chat prior the first single match of the Davis Cup World Group Play-off round match between Switzerland and Netherlands, at the Palexpo, in Geneva, Switzerland, 18 September 2015. EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI |

Days two and three will decide each of the Davis Cup World Group semifinals, as both ties are deadlocked at 1-1 following Friday’s singles action. Visiting nations Australia and Argentina both bounced back from early deficits to win the second rubbers at the expense of Great Britain and Belgium, respectively.

In Glasgow, Scotland, Andy Murray put the host Brits in front with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 rout of 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis. A much more competitive affair saw Bernard Tomic hold off Dan Evans 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 6-4. Tomic twice failed to serve out the match–once in the third set and again in the fourth–before finally getting the job done with a love hold in the 10th game of set four.

“It isn’t my decision,” Murray said when asked about Great Britain’s doubles lineup for Saturday against the Australian duo of Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt. “It’s up to the captain to decide that. Obviously now I have the option to be picked because that match was quick. We’ll talk about it this evening.”

Playing at home in Brussels, Belgium got off to a quick start when David Goffin defeated Federico Delbonis 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-3. Argentina responded thanks to Leonardo Mayer’s 7-6(5), 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-3 win over Steve Darcis.

David Goffin of Belgium serves a ball during a Davis Cup World Group Play-off round match between Belgium and Argentina, in Brussels, Belgium, 18 September 2015. The Davis Cup World Group Play-off round match Belgium vs Argentina will take place from 18 to 20 September 2015. EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE

“It was a tough one,” Goffin assured. “The atmosphere was amazing here. It’s tough to stay focused. At the end, I won in three sets so I’m happy the way I won today. I kept my level really high to finish the match. I’m really happy.”

Elsewhere around the world, eight playoff ties are taking place as 16 teams are vying for spots in the 2016 World Group.

Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, and the rest of the Swiss team are on the brink of a return trip to Davis Cup’s highest level thanks to a pair of victories over the Netherlands on Friday in Geneva. But it was not easy–at least not for Wawrinka. The world No. 4 outlast Thiemo De Bakker 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 after three hours and nine minutes. Federer then powered past Jesse Huta Galung 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

“We knew he had potential and could be dangerous,” Federer said of De Bakker after watching the first rubber, “but he changed his game up and served and volleyed a lot–which was not maybe to be expected because he also likes to stay at the baseline. I think he did as well as he could, probably should have won at the end, but Stan got a sniff and showed why he’s a top four player.”

In Uzbekistan, the host country is tied 1-1 with the United States. In a back-and-forth thriller to open the proceedings, Denis Istomin was unable to serve out the match in the fourth set then came back from 5-3 down in the fifth to beat American Steve Johnson 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-5. Jack Sock tied things up by making much more routine work of Farrukh Dustov 7-5, 6-3, 6-2

“I knew I had to kind of buckle down and try and try and get us a win,” Sock commented. “I was able to do it, thankfully in three sets–get in and get out.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Andy Murray, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, David Goffin, Davis Cup 2015, Federico Delbonis, Great Britain, Leonardo Mayer, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, sports news, Stan Wawrinka, Steve Darcis, Switzerland, Tennis, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Uzbekistan

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ankurrawal2011 says:

September 18, 2015 at 7:44 pm

RT @TennisNewsOne: DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS TIED AT 1-1, FEDERER HAS SWISS ON BRINK OF 2016 WORLD GROUP BY RICKY DIMON http://t.co/lSxh60NG5b #…