Italy Tennis Davis Cup

GERMANY 0, FRANCE 3
Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, GER (hard – indoor)

Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, who was making his Davis Cup debut, gave nine-time former titlist France an unassailable 3-0 lead against Germany. Benneteau and Mahut beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker and Andre Begemann 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 49 minutes.

France will next meet Great Britain or United States in the quarter-finals.

SERBIA 3, CROATIA 0
Kraljevo Sports Centre, Kraljevo, SRB (hard – indoor)

Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic proved to be too dominant as Serbia vaulted into the World Group quarter-finals, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead against Croatia on Saturday. Djokovic and Zimonjic needed less than two hours to turn aside the Croatian duo of Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. Champions in 2010, Serbia will face either Argentina or Brazil.

"It doesn't happen often that we seal the deal in just two days, " said Djokovic. "We did everything right from the first to the last point. We didn't face any break points and we dominated the match. I'm glad because I haven't played with Nenad in a long time. We played at a high level and that's something that gives us confidence for the next one."

Zimonjic improved to 28-15 in Davis Cup doubles rubbers, while Djokovic secured his 30th match win overall in the team competition. Croatia, who were without the services of injured US Open champion Marin Cilic, will contest the World Group Play-offs for a third straight year.

KAZAKHSTAN 1, ITALY 2
National Tennis Centre, Astana, KAZ (hard – indoor)

Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini improved to 5-1 as a team in Davis Cup play as they helped 1976 champion Italy take a 2-1 lead against Kazakhstan.

“I think me and Fabio played a very good match today, " said Bolelli. "Mentally it was very tough to play against these two guys, but in the end, we managed to come through and win.

“We had five or six match points, it was unbelievable. Golubev played unbelievable and with everything that happened on court, that was a tough moment. But we fought with our heart to get through."

Australian Open champions Bolelli and Fognini hit 47 winners, and converted three of their 10 break point opportunities, to defeat Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-7(13), 6-4 in three hours and 18 minutes.