The Davis Cup quarterfinals are set after an action packed weekend. The teams still left in the competition are: Great Britain, Czech Republic, France, Argentina, Serbia, Italy, USA and Croatia.
Great Britain - Serbia
Great Britain got their title defence off to a perfect start, but it took a lot of sweat and effort. In the opening tie, Andy Murray cruised past Taro Daniel, while Dan Evans fell to Kei Nishikori in the second rubber. The doubles went to the Murray Brothers in straight sets. The biggest match of the tie didn't disappoint as Nishikori came from two sets down to pull it back, but unfortunately for the Japanese he faded away handing the British the tie, 3-1.
Serbia, who had Novak Djokovic drafted in, were firm favourites, but the tie didn't go as planned. In the opening rubber Djokovic got Serbia off to the perfect start, whilst Viktor Troicki fell to Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets to make it 1-1. In the doubles rubber, Serbia's Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic were stunned, losing in straight sets. On the final day, Djokovic got through a 5-set thriller to level at 2-2. Troicki helped Serbia to get over the line as he defeated Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
Italy - Argentina
Switzerland were without Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka for their first round tie. Italy's Paolo Lorenzi needed five sets to defeat Marco Chiudinelli, while Andreas Seppi got through in four against Henri Laaksonen. Simone Bolelli and Seppi cruised through their doubles match against Chiudinelli and Laaksonen. Marco Cecchinato was drafted in the final day and as he won his dead rubber match against Adrien Bossel. Paolo Lorenzi defeated Antoine Bellier to win the tie 5-0.
Poland entertained Argentina in a thrilling tie. Guido Pella got the Argentines off to a great start defeating Michal Przysiezny in straights. Leonardo Mayer also won in straights against Hubert Hurkacz. The doubles went the way of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski before Mayer put the tie to bed at 3-1 with a win against Przysiezny. Hurkacz won the final rubber against Renzo Olivo.
France - Czech Republic
France headed into the tie fielding their strongest possible team, while Canada were missing Milos Raonic and Daniel Nestor. Gael Monfils got the French off to a great start with a straight sets win over Frank Dancevic. Gilles Simon came through against Vasek Pospisil, before Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sealed the deal against Philip Bester and Pospisil. The dead rubber matches also went the way of the French.
Germany and Czech Republic went down to the wire, with the fifth rubber being mightily important. Philipp Kohlschreiber got the better of Lukas Rosol in five sets in the opening rubber, while Tomas Berdych defeated Alexander Zverev in his first live rubber in five sets also. Berdych and Radek Stepanek comfortably took the doubles rubber to put the Czech's in front. With Kohlschreiber two sets up, Berdych retired to give Germany the rubber. Rosol put Czech Republic into the last eight with a straight sets win.
USA - Croatia
USA faced Australia in Kooyong on grass. The opening rubber went to the away team, with John Isner putting away Sam Groth in the battle of the big servers. Bernard Tomic then took down Jack Sock in four sets to level the tie. The Bryan Brothers came through a thriller, when Lleyton Hewitt and John Peers fought back from two sets down to lose. John Isner fought off Tomic to put the USA into the final eight for the first time since 2013.
Croatia and Belgium came into the tie with their strongest teams. In the first rubber, Marin Cilic eased past Kimmer Coppejans to put the Croats ahead. In the second rubber, David Goffin won a thrilling match against Borna Coric in five sets. The doubles went to Ivan Dodig and Franko Skugor in straight sets as expected. Goffin needed four sets to down Cilic and level the tie, but Coppejans couldn't overcome teen sensation Coric as he lost in straights.
The Davis Cup quarterfinals will take place on July 15th-17th.