The Czech Republic wasted little time wrapping up their Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against Japan after the defending champions eased to a straight sets victory in the doubles rubber on Saturday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead here.
After battling to singles wins on Friday, Radek Stepanek and Lukas Rosol paired up for a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Tatsuma Ito and Yasutaka Uchiyama at the Ariake Coliseum to set up a last four encounter against either Germany or France.
In a match that lasted two hours and 20 minutes, the Czech pairing won all three sets with a break of serve in the 10th game against the error-prone Japanese to remain on course for a third straight Davis Cup title and fourth overall.
Kazakhstan, meanwhile, are on the cusp of a major upset as they head into Sunday’s crunch clashes with a 2-1 lead over their fancied opponents.
After Roger Federer had levelled for Swiss with their second match on Friday, the Kazakh pairing of Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov completed a memorable doubles victory over the dream team of Stanislas Wawrinka and Federer 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6).
Murray wins
Great Britain launched a comeback by winning both the rubbers against Italy to take a 2-1 lead against the hosts in Naples on Saturday.
After Andy Murray swept aside Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to level the tie, the doubles pairing of Colin Fleming and Murray eased past Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolleli 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 5-7.
In Nancy, France pulled won the doubles rubber to pull one back against visitors Germany.
After the Germans had bagged the first day honours taking a 0-2 lead, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra defeated Andre Beegeman and Tobias Kamke 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5.
Quarterfinal results: At Tokyo: Japan trail Czech Republic 0-3 (Tatsuma Ito/ Yasutaka lt to Radek Stepanek/ Lukas Rosol 4-6, 4-6, 4-6); At Naples: Italy trails Great Britain 1-2 (Andreas Seppi lt to Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-3; Simone Bolleli/ Fabio Fognini lt to Colin Fleming/ Andy Murray 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 5-7); At Geneva: Switzerland trails Kazakhstan 1-2 (Stanislas Wawrinka/ Roger Federer lt to Andrey Golubev/ Aleksandr Nedovyesov 4-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-7 (6-8)); At Nancy: France trails Germany 1-2 (Julien Benneteau/ Michael Llodra bt Andre Begeman/ Tobias Kamke 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5).