Great Britain secured their spot in the Davis Cup Finals with a 3-0 win over Ecuador in London Sunday, while U.S. Open finalist Alexander Zverev helped Germany reach the quarterfinals.
Henry Patten and Neal Skupski wrapped up the victory for Britain with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Diego Hidalgo and Gonzalo Escobar, consolidating the work done in the singles the day before by Toby Samuel in his debut and Arthur Fery.
Top-ranked doubles player Patten and his partner Skupski, the world No. 3, secured a sole break of serve in the first set to take control against their 91st- and 93rd-ranked opponents.
In the second set, the British duo took the lead in the ninth game, before promptly serving out the match for the 10-time Davis Cup champions.
“We’re feeling great,” Patten said on court.
“We’re very happy to get it done in the first match.”
Earlier Saturday in the British capital, 23-year-old Samuel overcame Andres Andrade and Wimbledon semifinalist Fery defeated Alvaro Guillen Meza to set up the victory.
Germany’s Zverev then led his country into the Finals. The world No. 2 beat 103rd-ranked Croatian Dino Prizmic 6-2, 6-4 to take Germany one step closer to a first Davis Cup title since 1993.
Zverev broke his 21-year-old opponent three times, without facing a break point himself, to win in 77 minutes in Halle.
Zverev had got the Germans off to a winning start against Croatia on Saturday with a straight-sets win against Matej Dodig.
Prizmic hit back instantly for the visiting Croatians but Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz’s win in the doubles rubber tipped the tie back in Germany’s favor.
Spain also stand on the brink of a return to the Finals as they lead hosts Chile 2-0 in Santiago following Daniel Merida and Rafael Jodar’s victories in Saturday’s singles rubbers.
Jaume Munar and Pedro Martinez will meet Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo in the first of three possible matches on Sunday.
The winners of that final tie will join three-time defending champions and Finals hosts Italy, as well as Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Austria and Canada in the Davis Cup Finals, which will run from Nov. 24-29 in Bologna.
