In the absence of Marton Focsovics, the Hungarian Davis Cup squad was one of the weakest among all 24 teams that have competed around the world this weekend, losing 5-0 against Germany in Frankfurt. Alexander Zverev and Philipp Kohlschreiber scored singles wins on Friday and everything was over after the doubles clash that Jan-Lennard Struff and Tim Puetz won 6-2, 6-3 over Peter Nagy and Gabor Borsos.
The Germans lost the serve once although that couldnt make any difference, dominating on the return to break the Hungarians five times from 14 chances and bring the win home in 70 minutes. The tie was still on, with Alexander Zverev defeating Gabor Borsos 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour, firing nine aces and dropping only seven points on serve, never facing a break point.
Borsos fought well but he suffered one break in each set to hit the exit door against the strongest rival he ever met. Just like on Friday, Philipp Kohlschreiber struggled against the much lower-ranked player, overpowering Davis Cup debutant David Szintai 6-7(5) 6-3 10-5 to complete a perfect win for Germany.
The 15-year-old Jerome Kym got a chance to make the Davis Cup debut for Switzerland against Russia and she seized the opportunity with both hands, sharing the court with Henri Laaksonen to beat Evgeny Donskoy and Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in just under two hours, delivering the first point for their country.
The opening two sets were decided with a single break and the Russians fought back from 4-2 down in the decider to set up a tie break that the Swiss pair won 7-1 to prolong the tie. Laaksonen fought well against Daniil Medvedev on Friday and he made Karen Khachanov run for his money before the better-ranked player prevailed 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in two hours and 43 minutes to send Russia over the finish line and grab the Madrid ticket.
Karen created no less than 17 break points although he converted only two, the crucial one in the ninth game of the deciding set that saw no less than 13 deuces and seven break chances for the Paris Masters champion. Khachanov wasted two set points in the opener that he eventually lost in the tie break, standing two points away from the defeat in the second set tie break that he won 8-6 to send the match into a decider where he played on a higher level to complete the weekend with the second win.
The clash between Austria and Chile went down to the wire and it was Christian Garin who took down the 19-year-old Jurij Rodionov 6-2, 6-1 to seal the deal for Chile that scored the best Davis Cup result since 2010 when they played in the quarter-final of the World Group.
The Netherlands stole an away win in the Czech Republic, with Robin Haase beating the 17-year-old debutant Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to bring the third point for his country and the place at Davis Cup finals in November.
Canada will be in Madrid as well after a thrilling 3-2 win in Slovakia, with youngsters Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime scoring deciding wins in the fourth and fifth rubbers to send their country over the top. With no room for errors after the doubles loss, Shapovalov took down Martin Klizan 7-6, 6-4 to level the overall score and it was an 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime who toppled Norbert Gombos 6-3, 6-4 to push Canada over the top, celebrating a massive win with their fans and hoping Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil will join the action in November.
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