Davis Cup: Australia, Serbia, Italy, Kazakhstan and Japan set Madrid berth

2010 Davis Cup champions Serbia is through to the final stage of the competition after a hard-fought 3-2 win over Uzbekistan in Tashkent. Trailing 2-0 after the opening day, the home team erased the deficit when Denis Istomin and Sanjar Fayziev defeated Nikola Milojevic and Viktor Troicki 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, followed by Istomins singles 6-3, 6-4 win over Dusan Lajovic to send the tie into a deciding rubber between Filip Krajinovic and Sanjar Fayziev.

After a lot of problems, the better-ranked player prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to seal the deal and send Serbia to Madrid at the end of November. In Adelaide, Australia toppled Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-0, with John Peers and Jordan Thompson defeating Mirza Basic and Tomislav Brkic 7-5, 6-1.

In the dead rubber, Alexei Popyrin defeated Nerman Fatic 6-1, 7-6 to secure the win on his Davis Cup debut and cement the triumph for the home nation. In Kolkata on grass, Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna managed to reduce the deficit against Italy with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Matteo Berrettini and Simone Bolelli before Andreas Seppi delivered another great performance to topple Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-1, 6-4 in 62 minutes to send Italy over the top and book the Madrid ticket.

Andreas never faced a break point and he was all over Prajnesh on the return, creating 14 chances and converting three to bring the match home in no time at all. Kazakhstan scored a crucial 3-1 win over Portugal thanks to Mikhail Kukushkin who ousted Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-1.

The Portuguese was far from his best and he couldnt stay in touch with the rival after winning the doubles rubber with Gastao Elias that kept Portugal alive before that third singles rubber. In the end, China and Japan played the most interesting Davis Cup qualifiers tie so far, with the home team leading 2-1 after the doubles match before Japan performed a great comeback to steal the win and earn Madrid spot, even without Kei Nishikori.

Yoshihito Nishioka lost just two games against a former junior no 1. Yibing Wu before taro Daniel prevailed against Zhe Li 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in almost three hours to deliver the third point for Japan despite cramps that barely allowed him to walk when the match was over.

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