Paris: On Saturday, Alexander Zverev squashed Peter Nagy of Hungary to put Germany within touching distance of a place in the finals of the revamped Davis Cup. The German World No. 3 beat the Hungarian, who finished 2018 outside the top 600, 6-2, 6-2, to put Germany 2-0 up with the doubles and reverse singles all to be played

Philipp Kohlschreiber had opened the tie in Frankfurt by outlasting Zsombor Piros 6-7 (8/6), 7-5, 6-4. Former champions Australia, Russia and Serbia also took 2-0 leads. John Millman brushed aside Bosnian number one Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2, in Adelaide, before rising star Alex De Minaur beat Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) to claim his first Davis Cup win.

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The 19-year-old De Minaur said that "It's a dream come true for me, and I'm so happy I finally was able to get a win for my country in Davis Cup,".he further added that  "You're playing for your bench, you're playing for your country -- we don't get to do that every week." Serbia also moved to within one win of qualification despite the absence of Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, as Dusan Lajovic saw off world number 593 Sanjar Fayziev 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, before Filip Krajinovic's 6-2, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin in Tashkent.

However Russian youngster Daniil Medvedev survived a scare against Switzerland's Henri Laaksonen in their opening rubber, winning 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 to give the visitors the lead in Biel. Then world number 11 Karen Khachanov's beat 362nd-ranked Marc-Andrea Huesler, 6-3, 7-5.

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