Herbert/Mahut comfortably beat Krajinovic/Zimonjic in Lille, which set up Jo-Wilfred Tsonga to put France through to the Final by beating Dusan Lajovic (though Jo-Willy did lose the opening set 6-2). The match finished 3-1 as Tsonga-Lajovic took long enough for the Sunday crowd to be thought sated. The other Semi in Brussels went the distance, as Peers/Thompson beat Bemelmans/De Greef very straightforwardly in the doubles, only for David Goffin to play exceptionally in beating a seemingly committed Nick Kyrgios in four in the top string rubber. Lleyton Hewitt then subbed in Jordan Thompson for John Millman in the deciding singles, but this didn't work as Steve Darcis beat Thompson comfortably 3-0 to take Belgium to another Final. Which reflects massively positively on David Goffin, as their only world class player.
France will host the Final. Probably not in Lille.
It was also the World Group play-offs last weekend, and the big news is that Argentina have gone from winning the Cup to being relegated from the World Group in less than 12 months, beaten 3-1 in Astana by Kazakhstan. Quite a number of leading Argentine players were missing (naming no names) prompting Diego Schwartzman to comment "We've got to let some time pass and think what each one of us could have done better... those of us who came here and those who didn't" Even so, with Schwartzman and Pella for singles and Gonzalez and Molteni for doubles the Argentine team were all higher ranked than their Kazakh counterparts. It should have been enough, even on a quickish hard court, but it wasn't.
Other play-off results were wins for:-
Croatia in Colombia with Marin Cilic playing a major parts as he won three rubbers;
Switzerland coming from behind on the final day to beat Belarus in Biel despite no Federer or the injured Wawrinka;
Netherlands fighting back from 0-2 down after day one to relegate a Berdych-less Czech Republic in Den Haag (despite Tomas' absence the Czech's were still comfortably the higher ranked team so this was a distinct shock);
Germany with no Zverevs getting past Portugal 3-2 (really 3-1 but then losing a dead rubber) in Lisbon, coming back from 2-1 down in both the doubles and the top string singles;
Nishikori-less Japan beating Brazil 3-1 in Osaka, the key match being a 3-2 win for Go Soeda over Thiago Monteiro in the second rubber;
Hungary pulling off a significant surprise by beating a very young but very talented Russian team (Rublev, Khachanov, Medvedev) 3-1 in Budapest, which would have gone down well with the crowd. Marton Fucsovics was the hero, posting 3 points to the total (of 3!);
and Canada beating India 3-2 (but really 3-1) in Edmonton, Denis Shapovalov recording two singles wins including grinding out a 3-2 over Yuki Bhambri on day one after he had blown a two set lead.
France will host the Final. Probably not in Lille.
It was also the World Group play-offs last weekend, and the big news is that Argentina have gone from winning the Cup to being relegated from the World Group in less than 12 months, beaten 3-1 in Astana by Kazakhstan. Quite a number of leading Argentine players were missing (naming no names) prompting Diego Schwartzman to comment "We've got to let some time pass and think what each one of us could have done better... those of us who came here and those who didn't" Even so, with Schwartzman and Pella for singles and Gonzalez and Molteni for doubles the Argentine team were all higher ranked than their Kazakh counterparts. It should have been enough, even on a quickish hard court, but it wasn't.
Other play-off results were wins for:-
Croatia in Colombia with Marin Cilic playing a major parts as he won three rubbers;
Switzerland coming from behind on the final day to beat Belarus in Biel despite no Federer or the injured Wawrinka;
Netherlands fighting back from 0-2 down after day one to relegate a Berdych-less Czech Republic in Den Haag (despite Tomas' absence the Czech's were still comfortably the higher ranked team so this was a distinct shock);
Germany with no Zverevs getting past Portugal 3-2 (really 3-1 but then losing a dead rubber) in Lisbon, coming back from 2-1 down in both the doubles and the top string singles;
Nishikori-less Japan beating Brazil 3-1 in Osaka, the key match being a 3-2 win for Go Soeda over Thiago Monteiro in the second rubber;
Hungary pulling off a significant surprise by beating a very young but very talented Russian team (Rublev, Khachanov, Medvedev) 3-1 in Budapest, which would have gone down well with the crowd. Marton Fucsovics was the hero, posting 3 points to the total (of 3!);
and Canada beating India 3-2 (but really 3-1) in Edmonton, Denis Shapovalov recording two singles wins including grinding out a 3-2 over Yuki Bhambri on day one after he had blown a two set lead.
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