FAVORITE Russia Tennis Federation opened its Davis Cup finals campaign with a resounding victory over Ecuador, Britain began with a win against France and Italy eased into the quarterfinals with a win over Colombia on Saturday.
But 28-time champion Australia is facing almost certain elimination despite beating Hungary 2-1.
Novak Djokovic’s Serbia was beaten 2-1 by Germany in Group F as the world No. 1 lost a thrilling doubles decider, meaning they must wait until Sunday’s final round-robin matches before knowing whether they progress.
The Russians beat Ecuador 3-0 in Madrid to move level with holders Spain whom they face on Sunday to decide who will emerge as winners of Group A.
World No. 5 Andrey Rublev beat Roberto Quiroz 6-3 4-6 6-1 before US Open champion Daniil Medvedev crushed world No. 149 Emilio Gomez for the loss of two games.
Rublev then teamed up with Aslan Karatsev to beat Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in three sets.
Italy, which beat the US in their opening Group E tie, won both their singles matches against Colombia in Turin with victories for Lorenzo Sonego and Jannik Sinner.
Britain was given a fast start against France in Group C with Dan Evans beating Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-4.
Cameron Norrie then defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-2 7-6(8) after coming back from 1-4 down in an absorbing tiebreak.
