Austria Keeps Slim Hopes Alive; Serbia Back On Track

© Getty ImagesOliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer won the doubles rubber for Austria.

AUSTRIA 1 FRANCE 2
Vienna, Austria; Clay, Indoor

Austria is still alive in its Davis Cup first-round clash with last year's runner-up France after Oliver Marach and 2010 Wimbledon doubles champion Jurgen Melzer defeated Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Saturday’s doubles rubber in Vienna.

The host nation had been left reeling after the first day’s play, which saw Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon record straight-sets wins over Melzer and Stefan Koubek, respectively, to give nine-time Davis Cup champion France a 2-0 lead.

If Austria is to turn the tie around and reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1995, it will need to come from 0-2 down for the first time in its 77-year history in the competition. World No. 10 Melzer will face Simon in the first of the reverse singles on Sunday, with Koubek to face Chardy in the potentially deciding fifth rubber.

“It was a tough day for us to swallow yesterday,” admitted Melzer. “But we went out there today with a goal and we achieved that goal, keeping us alive in the tie. I will now go out there tomorrow and fight. I served well today and that’s one of the big things I have to do well tomorrow.”

Watch Melzer-Marach Interview

SERBIA 2 INDIA 1
Novi Sad, Serbia; Hard, Indoor

Defending Davis Cup champion Serbia got its campaign back on track as Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic came from a set down to defeat Indian duo Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(10) in three hours and 12 minutes.

“We were in a tight spot after dropping the first set and had to raise our game considerably to win the match,” said Zimonjic. “We were a bit lucky to save that set point [in the tie-break] when we hit some impossible shots and we are glad that we are ahead in the tie.”

Serbia now leads the first-round tie 2-1 going into Sunday’s reverse singles having closed Friday at 1-1 after a testing day, which saw Viktor Troicki overcome Bopanna in five sets before Devvarman defeated Janko Tipsarevic in straight sets.

In 2010, Serbia became the 13th nation to win the coveted Davis Cup trophy with victory over France in the final in Belgrade. Troicki, who defeated Michael Llodra in the deciding fifth rubber of last year’s final, will have the chance to earn Serbia a quarter-final clash away to Sweden when he faces Devvarman in the first of the reverse singles on Sunday.

ARGENTINA 3 ROMANIA 0
Buenos Aires, Argentina; Clay, Outdoor

Argentina retained its near perfection when playing on clay in the Davis Cup by dismissing Romania 3-0 in Buenos Aires to reach the quarter-finals. Following wins for David Nalbandian and Juan Monaco on Friday, Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank clinched the tie by beating last week’s Acapulco champions Victor Hanescu and Horia Tecau 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 in two hours and 50 minutes.

“First of all, I’m really happy for us, because we could give Argentina the victory, and I’m also happy to be part of the team,” said Chela. “I felt very good on court. Eduardo is a very good player, who has a strong serve. And I think I played very good tennis.”

Argentina, a three-time Davis Cup runner-up, has won 16 of its past 17 clay-court ties in the ITF men’s team competition and has not lost a clay-court tie on home soil since 1998 (against Slovak Republic).

CROATIA 1 GERMANY 2
Zagreb, Croatia; Hard, Indoor

In the third five-set match of the weekend in Zagreb, Christopher Kas and 2010 Wimbledon doubles champion Philipp Petzschner gave Germany a 2-1 lead over Croatia after they defeated Ivan Dodig and Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 29 minutes. After seven hours and 50 minutes of play on Friday, the honours were even with Marin Cilic beating Florian Mayer and Philipp Kohlschreiber defeating Dodig.

During the match a serve by Karlovic was recorded at 251 kph (155.96 mph) as the fastest in history. That topped the serve recorded at 249.4 kph hit by Andy Roddick during the Davis Cup semi-finals in 2004. Karlovic tweeted after the match: "So close..." and "But 251kmh record serve felt good".

With all to play for on Sunday, Cilic will face Kohlschreiber in the first of the reverse singles before Dodig takes on Mayer.