France are into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup after building an unassailable lead over Japan at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut completed the dominant win for the French, defeating Yuichi Sugita and Yasutaka Uchiyama 63 64 64 in the doubles on Saturday.
Taro Daniel had lost in the first rubber to Richard Gasquet 62 63 62 in just over two hours on Friday. That was quickly followed by a defeat for Yoshihito Nishioka against Gilles Simon 63 63 64 in just under two hours in the second rubber.
In reality, there was little hope for Sugita and Uchiyama, as they faced the current top-ranked doubles team in men’s tennis in Mahut/Herbert. The French pair were dominant on serve, losing just 28% of even second serve points, whilst winning more than half against Sugita/Uchiyama.
Analysis: Though Japan had home advantage, it was always going to be a tough ask once it became clear that Kei Nishikori was unavailable it was always going to be an uphill struggle. Yoshihito Nishioka is a young player establishing himself, but he was over-matched by by Simon, and Taro Daniel was similarly beaten by Gasquet. The French brought overwhelming depth with them, as though Gael Monfils was unavailable, they were still would have been able to call upon Top 20 player Lucas Pouille in reserve.
France will face either Canada or Great Britain in the second round, with that tie level at one-all ahead of the doubles tie on Saturday in Ottawa.
https://twitter.com/richardgasquet1/status/827909856820547584
Richard Gasquet celebrates the win in the Davis Cup against Japan.
It is not yet known if the now dead fourth and fifth rubbers will be played.
