Paris: Americans Jack Sock and Ryan Harrison rallied from a set down in a tight doubles rubber to ensure the United States became the first team to advance to the Davis Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Belgium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sock and Harrison failed to break serve until the fourth set yet managed to see off doubles specialists Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 5-7 7-6(1) 7-6(3) 6-4 to wrap up the tie in the fewest possible matches for the Americans.
The US duo overcame some nervous moments but were able to win key points in the two tiebreakers to secure victory.
In the opening set, Sock’s serve was broken in the 11th game as the Belgians forged an early advantage in a match they needed to win to retain any hope of reaching a third straight Davis Cup final.
The situation appeared even bleaker for the Americans in the second set when they fell 15-40 down while serving at 5-5, but this time Sock staved off two break points and the hosts won the ensuing tiebreaker and never looked back.
The US were set on their way to victory when John Isner and Sam Querrey won their opening singles matches on Friday and they will face either Croatia or Kazakhstan in the semi-finals in September.
In other quarter-final ties, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff and Tim Puetz pulled off a shock 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-7(4) 7-5 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez to give Germany a 2-1 lead in Valencia.
Germany raced into a two-set lead but with world number one Rafael Nadal roaring on his teammates, Spain fought back to force a fifth set at a packed Plaza de Toros arena.
Spain squandered five break points in the eighth game of the decider and they ultimately paid the price when Marc Lopez, drafted in to replace an injured Pablo Carreno Busta, was broken three games later.
Germany pounced on their chance and served out to win the marathon in four hours and 23 minutes.
Holders France took a 2-1 lead in their tie with Italy as Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut comfortably beat Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-3 6-1.
In Varazdin, Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic overcame Kazakhstan’s Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-7(2) 6-4 6-4 6-2 to hand hosts Croatia a 2-1 lead.
