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Davis Cup Roundup: Sweden beats Nicolas Massus Chile - sensation in Japan perfectly

Nicolas Massu has suffered a bitter defeat as captain of the Chilean Davis Cup team . Ecuador, on the other hand, celebrates the first victory in the Davis Cup world group since 1985.

by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Mar 07, 2020, 11:45 pm

Chile had competed abroad in Stockholm without the suspended Nicolas Jarry and the top 30 man Cristian Garin. After a 1-1 draw on Friday, experienced Robert Lindstedt and Markus Eriksson won 2-1 over Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo, and Mikael Ymer then closed the bag.

The 21-year-old defeated Tabilo, who is 106 places behind Ymer (No. 67) in the ranking, with 3: 6, 7: 5, 6: 3. This is Captain Robin Söderling's team represented for the first time at the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid in November. It was the eighth victory in the last nine country comparisons for the Swedes.

"Experience helped us because I was in this situation a lot," said 42-year-old Lindstedt. "Today it felt like Venus, Jupiter and Mars were all in line. If you play matches like this, it will be even more difficult to end your career." Lindstedt is currently the second oldest player in the ATP double ranking, behind the 45-year-old Leander Paes.

Ecuador with historic victory over Japan in the final

Ecuador is also celebrating a premiere. The South Americans are attending the Davis Cup final for the first time, they qualified with a dry 3-0 victory in Japan. Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo gave the sensation the decisive third point in the doubles. They defeated Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7: 6, 6: 3 and solved before empty ranks in Kobe for the flawless away win.

Most recently, Ecuador won an encounter in the world group 35 years ago, when Argentina were beaten 4-1. Of course, another format was used in the 80s.

Already in the morning (CET) John Millman fixed with a victory over three tie-break sets against Thiago Monteiro for the final ticket for Australia after John Peers and James Duckworth lost in the doubles and made the encounter exciting again. Millman already caused a ecstasy in Adelaide on Friday with a brilliant comeback.

Croatia also went into Saturday with a 2-0 lead, but had to admit defeat in doubles. Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna shortened for India in Zagreb before Marin Cilic played just one game against Sumit Nagal and closed the bag.

The Italians, who saved South Korea 4-0, were completely harmless. In Cagliari, the home side did not give a single sentence, Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini scored the decisive point in doubles.

Defending champions Spain, Canada, Great Britain and Russia were the remaining semi-finalists of 2019, France and ATP Cup winners Serbia were each already wildly qualified for the final before the qualifying round.

The results at a glance:

by Lukas Zahrer

Saturday
Mar 07, 2020, 09:00 pm
last edit: Mar 07, 2020, 11:45 pm