The doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock lifted the United States’ Davis Cup team to a 2-1 victory over Great Britain on Wednesday in Glasgow, Scotland.
Ram and Sock rallied to beat Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in 2 hours, 49 minutes, during the decisive third match.
The sides split the earlier two singles matches, with Tommy Paul edging Daniel Evans 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 before Cameron Norrie got past Taylor Fritz 2-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5.
U.S. captain Bob Bryan said, “The crowd was great, and we’re just happy to get through. We’ve got some more tough times ahead, and I expect Team GB is going to do the business in their matches.”
The group stage is taking place from Tuesday through Sunday in four cities across Europe. The top two teams in each round-robin group will advance to the knockout stage in Malaga, Spain, Nov. 22-27.
Half of the teams opened play on Tuesday, and the remaining teams got underway on Wednesday.
In other Wednesday action, Spain swept Serbia 3-0 in Group B at Valencia, Spain. Albert Ramos-Vinolas slipped past Laslo Djere 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 before Roberto Bautista Agut sealed the hosts’ win by topping Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). In a meaningless doubles match, Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez topped Nikola Cacic and Dusan Lajovic 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2.
In Group C, a doubles victory sent Germany to a 2-1 win over France.
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz downed Nicolas Mahut and Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (1). Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff won the singles opener 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 over Benjamin Bonzi before France’s Adrian Mannarino leveled the series with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Oscar Otte.
Italy cruised to a 3-0 home win over Crotia in Bologna. After Lozenzo Musetti topped Borna Gojo 6-4, 6-2, Matteo Berrettini came from behind to beat Borna Coric 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1. In doubles, Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini defeated Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
On Thursday, Croatia faces Sweden in Group A, Serbia meets South Korea in Group B, France squares off with Australia in Group C and the United States opposes Kazakhstan in Group D.
–Field Level Media
