Japan won the series 3-2.
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The United States had a 2-1 lead going into Sunday’s reverse singles after Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey held their serve throughout a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Istomin and Farrukh Dustov in the doubles a day earlier.
But Darcis found his best tennis in the tiebreaker. The nation will look to exact revenge against the Brits after Andy Murray led them past Australia 3-2 on Sunday.
Belgium’s Steve Darcis is taking over Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in Friday’s second singles match. Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek beat favorites Paes and Rohan Bopanna 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 to give the Czechs the edge. “I’m obviously delighted to get through”. The star Swiss pair have also been nominated for Saturday’s doubles and it would be no surprise to see the duo, both ranked inside the world’s top four, wrap up the tie in two days.
The 15th-ranked Goffin thrilled the crowd at this capital’s 8,000-capacity Forest National arena, the venue for Belgium’s first semi-final tie in 16 years, with his solid performance against the 65th-ranked Argentine, EFE reported on Friday.
Goffin moved meticulously past last-minute substitute Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, saving all four break points he faced and cracking 38 winners.
“It’s important to have the first point for our country”, Nadal said. For me, it’s really big.
Murray’s triumph completed an incredible journey for Smith and the numerous players who have taken Britain from the brink of the low-point of the competition to the showpiece occasion, against Belgium away from home on November 27-29. Facing an opponent ranked 434 places below him, No. 2 Federer eased to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jesse Huta Galung in the second singles.
At Geneva, Federer cruised and Stan Wawrinka labored in lifting Switzerland to a 2-0 lead over the Netherlands in its World Group playoff.
“We said before that it would be a very long weekend, and that was the case”, said a happy Darcis. “It was a great moment for us all”.
So Argentina still have never won the coveted Davis Cup, but it is rather hard with only one player up to the standard of the opposition as in this case. “I was a little tight at the beginning, but he was too”.
Belgium last reached the final of the Davis Cup in 1904 – which was the first ever Davis Cup – where they lost to the British Isles.
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This story has been corrected to show that Poland, not Slovakia, has advanced to World Group next year.
