France moved to the brink of the Davis Cup Final 8 after surging into a 2-0 lead over Croatia on the opening day of their qualifier in Osijek.
Debutant Corentin Moutet set the tone by defeating home hope Dino Prizmic 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 before Arthur Rinderknech produced a composed 6-2, 6-4 win against 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic. The 10-time winners now need just one more victory from Saturday’s remaining rubbers to seal progress.
Elsewhere, Argentina dominated in Groningen, winning both singles matches to leave hosts the Netherlands facing elimination. Tomas Etcheverry beat Jesper De Jong 6-4, 6-4, while Francisco Cerundolo overpowered Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(1), 6-1. Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis admitted his team “can’t afford any bad matches tomorrow” as they look to stay alive.
Austria stunned Hungary in Debrecen with Jurij Rodionov upsetting Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 before Lukas Neumayer edged Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) to establish a commanding lead.
In Tokyo, Germany took control against Japan thanks to Jan-Lennard Struff’s battling three-set win over Yoshihito Nishioka and Yannick Hanfmann’s straight-sets success against Shintaro Mochizuki.
The United States levelled their tie with the Czech Republic in Delray Beach after Taylor Fritz responded to Jiri Lehecka’s opening win over Frances Tiafoe by defeating Jakub Mensik 6-4, 6-3.
Other ties get underway on Saturday, including Spain against Denmark in Marbella and Australia’s home clash with Belgium. Holders Italy are already guaranteed their place in November’s finals in Bologna, where they will be joined by the seven weekend winners.
