Italy kept their hopes of playing in the Davis Cup World Group next season alive with a victory over Switzerland in the doubles in Genoa on Saturday.
Simone Bolelli and Potito Starace beat Marco Chiudinelli and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to reduce their deficit in matches to 2-1.
Switzerland had won both the opening singles in straight sets on Friday but rested Roger Federer for the doubles.
Meanwhile, Britain were facing relegation to Group Two of the Euro/Africa Davis Cup zone despite the presence of world No. 3 Andy Murray on their team after Poland won Saturday’s doubles to take a 2-1 lead in their playoff match in Liverpool.
Murray partnered Ross Hutchins despite aggravating a wrist injury in his singles victory on Friday but the duo were still beaten 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 by experienced Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski
Britain needed Murray and Dan Evans to win both reverse singles yesterday, assuming Murray was fit enough to play, to avoid dropping below Euro/Africa zone Group One for the first time in 13 years.
China won both Davis Cup reverse singles matches yesterday to beat Thailand 4-1 and retain its place in Asia/Oceania Group I.
China saw off a match point in the doubles on Saturday, coming from two sets down to win and take a 2-1 lead.
In yesterday’s opener, Zeng Shaoxuan beat Thai No.1 Danai Udomchoke 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to secure the tie in China’s favor.
China’s Gong Maoxin defeated Kittiphong Wachiramanowong 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the remaining match in Jiaxing.
Thailand are relegated to Group II for next year, replaced by the Philippines, who were promoted with a 4-1 win over New Zealand.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
RSS