Britain and Italy secure their places in Davis Cup Final 8

Manchester, September 18

Britain secured its place in the Final 8 of the Davis Cup with a tense 2-1 win over France, when Italy also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Dan Evans got Britain off to a winning start by rallying to beat Arthur Fils 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, before Ugo Humbert leveled the tie for France with a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 win over Cameron Norrie.

It meant the French could still progress with a win in the doubles, but Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match points to outlast Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) in a match that lasted almost three hours.

Britain topped Group B ahead of already qualified Australia and will play in the Final 8 in the southern Spanish city of Malaga in November.

Italy joined defending champion Canada in advancing from Group A with Matteo Arnaldi winning the opening match in Bologna, where Italy beat Sweden 2-1. The Italians needed to win only one match to be sure of finishing ahead of Chile.

Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina claimed their first Davis Cup wins as Spain defeated South Korea 2-1 in Valencia in Group C. Czech Republic and Serbia had already secured the top two places in the group.

The Netherlands lost 2-1 to host Croatia in Split in Group D. But the Dutch were already assured of progress along with Finland, which eliminated the United States on Saturday.

The draw for the Final 8 will take place Tuesday in London. (AP)

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