Playing without stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, defending champion Switzerland slumped to a first-round loss to Belgium in the Davis Cup on Sunday, while Andy Murray scored the decisive point to lift Britain past the United States and Novak Djokovic led Serbia to victory over Croatia.
After Federer and Wawrinka led Switzerland to their first Davis Cup title last year, the two top-10 players decided not to play this year, leaving Switzerland with a diminished team – and chances – against Belgium.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the reverse singles on Sunday, Henri Laaksonen, ranked No.344, managed to keep the Swiss alive by beating Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-3 3-6 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 in the first match to level the tie at 2-all.
The 21st-ranked David Goffin then shook off a back injury to beat No.321 Adrien Bossel 6-4 6-0 6-4 and send Belgium into the quarterfinals. Goffin made light work of the contest, hitting 15 aces and breaking Bossel’s serve five times.
It was just the ninth time since 1972 that the defending champions had fallen in the first round the following year.
Elsewhere, Andy Murray beat John Isner 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to clinch Britain’s first-round victory over the United States, jumping up and down with his jubilant teammates in a celebration huddle after the match in Glasgow, Scotland.
It was the second straight year that Britain has ousted the Americans at this stage in the World Group.
Britain won the last of their nine Davis Cup titles in 1936, and haven’t reached the semifinals since 1981.
Britain next host France, who closed out their first-round tie against Germany with a victory in the doubles on Saturday, giving them an unassailable 3-0 lead. The Germans won the dead rubbers on Sunday to make the final score 3-2.
Serbia won both reverse singles on Sunday for a 5-0 victory against Croatia. Djokovic won the opening singles match against Mate Delic on Friday, then teamed with Nenad Zimonjic to clinch the tie with a doubles victory on Saturday.
Serbia will play either Argentina or Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer defeated Joao Souza in the longest Davis Cup singles match ever on Sunday, converting his 11th match point to win 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 5-7 15-13 and keep the hosts’ hopes alive by levelling the tie at 2-all.
Mayer needed 6 hours, 42 minutes to beat Souza, which topped the previous longest singles match – John McEnroe’s win over Mats Wilander in 1982, which lasted 6 hours, 22 minutes.
The decisive match between Federico Delbonis and Thomaz Bellucci was suspended because of darkness after Delbonis won the first set 6-3 and was set to resume Monday.
In Vancouver, Canada, Vasek Pospisil beat Go Soeda 7-5 6-3 6-4 in the decisive singles match to give the hosts a 3-2 victory and set up a quarterfinal against Belgium.
