The United States and Kazakhstan coasted into the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup with 3-0 victories over Serbia and Switzerland respectively on Saturday.
The U.S. needed just the three rubbers to advance, Steve Johnson and Ryan Harrison beating Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic in Nis.
A partisan crowd at Sportski Centar Cair were left disappointed after Johnson and Harrison prevailed 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 7-5 6-4 following singles wins for Sam Querrey and John Isner on Friday.
🇷🇸0️⃣🆚3️⃣🇺🇸 @ryanharrison92 & @SJohnson_89 seal USA's place in the #DavisCup quarterfinals with a 67(3) 62 75 64 victory over Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic 🙌👏🙌👏🙌👏 pic.twitter.com/MUW1lmW7L2
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 3, 2018
Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov finished off the job for Kazakhstan, sealing a thrilling 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 win over Marc-Andrea Huesler and Luca Margaroli in Astana.
Dias Doskarayev's side were the first to reach the last eight and will take on Croatia or Canada for a place in the semifinals.
Defending champions France took a 2-1 lead over Netherlands in Albertville, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut getting the better of Jean-Julien Rojer and Robin Haase.
Rojer and Haase had three set points in the opener and served to take the rubber into a decider, but were left to ponder what might have been after going down 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2).
Marton Fucsovics and Attila Balasz kept Hungary in their tie against Belgium with a 6-3 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 4-6 7-5 triumph over Ruben Bemelmans and Joris de Loore to trail 2-1.
Spain, Italy, Germany and Croatia also hold 2-1 leads heading into the final days of their ties against Great Britain, Japan, Australia and Canada respectively.