Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig put Croatia 2-1 ahead in the Davis Cup semifinal against France by upsetting top-ranked doubles pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (6), 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3 Saturday. Cilic, who won his singles Friday, replaced Marin Draganja and it proved to be an inspired choice. Herbert, the more inexperienced of France's doubles pairing, sent his volley into the net to hand Croatia an unexpected victory at the Kresimir Cosic Hall in Zadar. Richard Gasquet now must beat Cilic in the first of Sunday's reverse singles to keep France alive. Gasquet leads the 2014 US Open champion 2-1 in their career head-to-heads. Pouille is then scheduled to face Borna Coric in what could be Sunday's deciding rubber. The winner plays Britain or Argentina in the final. Andy and Jamie Murray kept Great Britain's hopes of retaining the Davis Cup title alive as the brothers defeated Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro and Leonardo Mayer in four sets in the doubles rubber of their semifinal in Glasgow Saturday. Leading 2-0 from Friday's singles, Argentina captain Daniel Orsanic selected Del Potro alongside Mayer instead of his usual partner Federico Delbonis as they looked to wrap up victory early. However, the tactic failed to pay off as world No. 2 Andy and his older brother Jamie secured a thrilling 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in just under three hours on the hard court of the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Argentina is looking to reach its fourth final in 10 years but will have to wait until Sunday's reverse singles rubbers to try and claim the point it needs for a place in the final. Kyle Edmund looks likely to face Del Potro in the decisive rubber as Great Britain attempt to defend the competition it won in Ghent last year, with Andy Murray favorite to defeat Guido Pella in the first reverse singles Sunday. Nadal helps Spain Return to World Group Tennis star Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez clinched the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie for Spain with a hard-fought doubles win over India in New Delhi Saturday. Nadal and Lopez, who won the doubles gold at the recent Rio Olympics, helped Spain take an unassailable 3-0 lead to enter the elite group after a two-year gap. World number four Nadal shrugged off early rustiness as the Spanish pair served past the Indian duo of Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 23 minutes. Nadal missed the opening singles match on Friday following a reported stomach ache as Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer put Spain in firm control of the tie with their respective wins. The 'dead' reverse singles will be played Sunday. Australia stays in World Group John Peers and Sam Groth clinched the Davis Cup World Group playoff tie for Australia with a doubles win over Slovakia in Sydney Saturday. Peers and Groth were taken to four sets by the Slovak pair of Andrej Martin and Igor Zelenay after holding a match point in the third set. The duo went on to secure Australia's World Group status 3-0 in the 2017 Davis Cup competition with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/2) victory in two hours and 21 minutes. The ‘dead' reverse singles will be played Sunday. Japan blanks Ukraine In Tokyo, Kei Nishikori teamed up with Yuichi Sugita in a dominant doubles victory as Japan completed a 3-0 defeat of Ukraine. The world No. 5 looked sharp as the Japanese pair ran out easy 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 winners over Artem Smirnov and Sergiy Stakhovsky in Osaka to give the home side an unassailable lead in the World Group playoff with only two rubbers remaining. Nishikori sat out Friday's opening singles following his exertions over the summer as Taro Daniel and Yoshihito Nishioka put Japan in firm control of the tie. But his presence was felt in the doubles as the Japanese ran riot, giving Sugita the perfect present ahead of his 28th birthday Sunday, when the final two matches will now be abbreviated dead rubbers. Kiwis wrap up Pakistan New Zealand took an unassailable lead over Pakistan Saturday to retain its berth in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I when Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell won their doubles in straight sets. Venus and Daniell beat Aqeel Khan and Mohammad Abid Ali Khan Akbar 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 to give New Zealand a 3-0 lead after Jose Statham and Finn Tearney won the opening singles Friday, also in straight sets. The result means New Zealand remain in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 next year while Pakistan is relegated to Group 2 next year. With New Zealand having wrapped up the tie in three games, the reverse singles Sunday will be the best of three sets. — Agencies
