World Group II: Switzerland, Slovenia seal Group I play-off spots

Switzerland and Slovenia completed dominant tie victories on Saturday to secure their safe passage to the Davis Cup by Rakuten World Group I play-offs in 2022.

With the eight-highest ranked winners of this weekend's World Group II ties guaranteed a spot in the World Group I knock-outs alongside Mexico and Poland, who claimed the first two of those spots this March, Switzerland and Slovenia wasted little time in joining them.

In fact, after rain washed out the opening day of proceedings in their tie in Portoroz, Slovenia recorded their three all-important match-wins in the same day on Saturday to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead over Paraguay.

Victories for Tom Kocevar-Desman, who overcame Adolofo Daniel Vallejo, and Bor Artnak, a 1-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Martin Antonio Vergara del Puerto, saw the hosts dominate the singles, before Kocevar-Desman combined with Matic Spec to defeat the South Americans 6-2 6-2 in the doubles.

Switzerland were similarly dominant in their one-sided win over Estonia in Biel - a tie headlined by a fine performance from Davis Cup debutant Dominic Stricker.

The 19-year-old former junior world No. 3 backed up his impressive opening day singles win with a tie-winning doubles victory alongside Marc-Andrea Huesler, as the pair saw off Vladimir Ivanov and Mattias Siimar 6-4 7-6(4).

Henri Laaksonen then ensured Switzerland finished the tie without dropping a set, completing a 4-0 rout with a 7-6(3) 6-4 win over Daniil Glinka.

Lithuania are on the cusp of joining them in the World Group I play-offs after winning both of their opening matches against Greece in Heraklion.

Ricardas Berankis eased past Petros Tsitsipas, who was competing in the second singles spot in the absence of his injured elder brother Stefanos, 6-1 6-3, before Layrynas Grigelis edged Michail Pervolarakis 7-6(6) 3-6 7-5 in a three-hour-eight-minute-epic.

Edas Butvilas and Vilius Gaubas can secure Lithuania's progress with victory in Sunday's doubles.

Turkey also head into Sunday with a 2-0 advantage after straight sets wins for world No. 170 Altug Celikbilek and No. 176 Cem Ilkel, over Robert Strombachs and Ernests Gulbis, respectively, put the hosts in charge at the Enka Sport Kulubu in Istanbul.

Denmark, meanwhile, will progress to the World Group II knock-outs in November after they eased past Thailand on home soil at the Sydbank Arena in Kolding.

Christian Sigsgaard and August Holmgren had given the Danes a 2-0 lead on Friday, and Benjamin Hannestad and Frederik Nielsen returned to finish the job on Saturday with a 6-3 6-1 win over Palaphoom Kovapitukted and Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul in the doubles.

Tunisia completed a dramatic 3-2 victory over Dominican Republic on home soil in Tunis after Aziz Dougaz defeated Nick Hardt 6-3 6-4 in the decisive fifth match.

Dougaz was the star of the show for the home side, winning both of his singles matches - and the doubles alongside Aziz Ouakaa - to lead them to victory.

Tunisia must wait for the outcome of the other World Group II ties to determine their fate - they need five higher-ranked nations to lose their World Group II ties this weekend in order to earn a spot in the World Group I play-offs, or they will compete in the World Group II knock-outs in November.

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