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Serbia beat Canada in the 2020 ATP Cup quarter-finals on Friday to join Russia and Australia in the last four, while Rafael Nadal’s Spain survived a scare against Belgium.
The Serbs wiped out their draw, launched by Victory in straight sets for Dusan Lajovic over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Novak Djokovic came from a set down to beat Denis Shapovalov to secure their passage, and Viktor Troicki and Nikola Cacic then passed Peter Polansky and Adil Shamasdin in doubles to complete the whole.
Spain has had a promising start Roberto Bautista Agut kicked off with a win over Kimmer Coppejans in their first game against Belgium, but David Goffin leveled the proceedings when he upset Nadal.
Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta then had to come back from a set to beat Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in doubles.
Serbia face Russia in the first semi-final on Saturday, before Australia face Spain.
Serbia 3-0 Canada
Dusan Lajovic bt. Félix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-2
Novak Djokovic bt. Denis Shapovalov, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Viktor Troicki / Nikola Cacic bt. Peter Polansky / Adil Shamasdin, 6-3, 6-2
Spain 2-1 Belgium
Roberto Bautista Agut bt. Kimmer Coppejans, 6-1, 6-4
David Goffin bt. Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
Rafael Nadal / Pablo Carreno Busta bt. Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen, 6-7 (9), 7-5, 10-7
In the first quarter-final, Lajovic passed Auger-Aliassime without too much difficulty, breaking the Canadian three times, while his opponent failed to convert either of his two break point opportunities.
As SaveAs Jose Morgado demonstrated, the Serbian capitalized on a sloppy performance from his opponent:
Canada’s outlook improved when Shapovalov, who had won just one set in his previous four encounters with Djokovic, kicked off his game by taking the first set with a break in the penultimate game.
The world No.2 then had to save three break points to 1-1 in the second, but he did it with panache:
He finally managed to hold on as he played five straight games to force a decider.
Djokovic was serving for the game at 5-4, but was shattered after a break in play–in which he gave water to a fan in the crowd who had fallen ill–as Canada turned the tide:
The 32-year-old held on for a tie-breaker, and after Shapovalov saved four match points, Djokovic claimed his victory in the fifth attempt.
In doubles, Cacic and Troicki only needed 58 minutes to win against Polansky and Shamasdin.
Bautista Agut did a light job of Coppejans in Spain’s opening rubber against Belgium, smashing his opponent four times in a straight-set victory.
Nadal was fortunate enough to secure his place in the last four of the second round, but the world No.1 was not at his best and Goffin duly capitalized with his own play:
The 33-year-old had recovered from a breakdown to force a tie-breaker in the second set, but Goffin’s victory never looked in doubt.
There was nothing to separate the two pairs of doubles in the first set of the decisive third set, in which there was not a single break point for each side.
The second set was just as tight, until Spain made a late breakthrough with the help of a video review:
This set up a decisive game, which Spain won thanks to a double fault from Vliegen.
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