(Zhuhai) The United States secured its place in the Davis Cup quarterfinals by beating Slovakia 3-0 on Friday. The victory also sent Germany into the quarterfinals.
Mackenzie McDonald capitalized on four of her six break points to win 6-4, 6-3 over Lukas Klein. In his Davis Cup debut, Brandon Nakashima hit eight aces to defeat Jozef Kovalik 6-3, 6-3.
The matches were played on indoor hard courts in Zhuhai, China, and the two singles wins sealed the outcome ahead of the doubles match, which the United States also won.
Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram – who lost the men’s doubles final at the Paris Olympics last month – beat Klein and Norbert Gombos 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 10-1.
The Spanish joined them when Carlos Alcaraz beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-3. Veteran Roberto Bautista Agut had won the first singles against Arthur Fils 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Valencia.
PHOTO EVA MANEZ, REUTERS
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz
The Spanish victory also allowed the Australians to move up to Group B.
Italy kept their title defence alive by beating Belgium 2-1 in Bologna. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori won the deciding doubles.
After two rounds in Group A, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands will fight for the two places on Sunday. Italy will face the Netherlands and Belgium will face Brazil.
Great Britain missed a chance to qualify as they lost 2-1 to Argentina. Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Francisco Cerundolo claimed singles victories over Dan Evans and Jack Draper.
Britain won the doubles, but the match was already decided.
Four groups of four countries play in four cities to qualify for the quarter-finals in Malaga, Spain, in November. The two highest-ranked countries from each group will advance.