BRISBANE — Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff won a thrilling doubles clash to give Germany a 2-1 lead after the second day of their World Group Davis Cup tie against Australia in Brisbane Saturday.
The German duo silenced the big crowd at Pat Rafter Arena as they overcame John Peers and Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 in just over three-and-a-quarter hours.
The Germans made a late switch to their doubles team, bringing in Struff for Peter Gojowcyzk.
The tie will now hinge on Sunday's first reverse singles between Kyrgios and world No. 5 Alexander Zverev.
If Kyrgios can level the tie, the decider will likely be between Struff, the world No. 58, and 18-year-old Alex de Minaur, ranked 81 places below the German.
Italy leads against Japan
Italy took the lead against Japan Saturday after the second day of their Davis Cup World Group clash as Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini won the doubles in style.
The Italian duo thrashed Yasutaka Uchiyama and New Zealand-born Ben McLachlan 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 in the compact Morioka Takaya Arena.
The victory gave Italy a 2-1 lead as the showdown heads into the final day.
On Sunday, world No. 22 Fognini will take on Yuichi Sugita, ranked 41 in the world, who has led the Japanese squad after a wrist injury sidelined Kei Nishikori.
The final match on Sunday will pit Japan's Taro Daniel, ranked a lowly 100 in the world in singles, against veteran Andreas Seppi.
France, Netherlands split singles
Holder France ran into a spot of bother as it split the opening day's singles matches to finish locked at 1-1 with Netherlands in the first round of their Davis Cup World Group tie after being hit by injuries Friday.
French No. 1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had been ruled out of the tie with a knee problem and Lucas Pouille, who was scheduled to play the first singles rubber, pulled out injured Friday.
That meant world No. 25 Adrian Mannarino had to step in at the 11th hour and he ended up being outclassed 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 by world No. 369 Thiemo De Bakker.
Richard Gasquet drew France level with a 6-4 7-6(3) 3-6 7-5 win against Robin Haase.
Pouille, who gave France the winning point against Belgium in the 2017 final last November, pulled out suffering from a stiff neck.
Belgium got off to a commanding start in Liege against Hungary as Ruben Bemelmans and David Goffin won the opening singles.
Switzerland, without Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, was 2-0 down against Kazakhstan in Astana.
Britain, without the services of Andy Murray who led them to the title in 2015, was surprisingly tied at 1-1 with Spain. World No. 114 Cameron Norrie upset Roberto Bautista Agut, 23rd in the ATP rankings, in a five-set thriller.
Serbia was on the brink of being eliminated after falling 2-0 behind against the United States. Sam Querrey and John Isner won their singles against Laslo Djere and Dusan Lajovic respectively. — Agencies
