Top seeds Spain crash out, Czechs through in Davis Cup

LONDON (Reuters) – Top seeds Spain crashed out of the first round of the Davis Cup for the first time since 2006 when Milos Raonic beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to give Canada an unassailable 3-1 lead in their world group tie on Sunday.

The understrength five-time champions had struggled from the start of the tie in Vancouver and Raonic killed them off with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Garcia-Lopez to secure Canada’s first ever triumph at this level of the men’s team competition. Holders Czech Republic earlier moved into the quarter-finals with Tomas Berdych outlasting Swiss opponent Stanislas Wawrinka a day after the pair emerged from a marathon doubles encounter.

Berdych enjoyed a comparatively easy 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 victory over Wawrinka, to give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-1 lead, a day after he and Lukas Rosol edged a punishing seven-hour clash with Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli 24-22 in the final set.

The Czechs will now travel to Kazakhstan in April after the Central Asian country wrapped up a 3-1 victory over Austria on Sunday.

The United States also fended off a fightback from Brazil in Jacksonville to secure a place in the last eight, where they will meet Serbia.

Sam Querrey finished the job with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 victory over Thiago Alves in the final rubber after Thomaz Bellucci had tied the contest up at 2-2 by battling past big-serving John Isner 2-6 6-4 6-7 6-4 6-3. Italy also booked their place in the quarterfinals, where they will meet Canada, after Fabio Fognini beat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in a decisive fifth rubber.

Spain, without Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, were on the back foot from the start of the tie on the Vancouver hardcourts after going 2-0 down in the opening singles on Friday.