Germany, Sweden and Austria advance in the Davis Cup

Heading into this tie Germany was considered the heavy favourite and they proved everyone right by defeating Belarus 4-1. Belarus isn't known as a tennis powerhouse but they do have some interesting player's who can compete on the highest of levels. Lead by Struff who won both of his singles matches the Germans overcame the Belarussians. The doubles matchup proved key as Krawietz and Mies had no issues giving Germany the deciding point.

A very interesting matchup was between Sweden and Chile. Sweden was the host and they naturally elected to play on hard courts which gave them a bit of an edge heading into this matchup. Their chances were further bolstered after Christian Garin the best Chilean by far pulled out due to tiredness. Without Garin, the Chileans fielded a rather weak team lead by Tabilo who is only ranked #173. Lead by the Brothers Ymer the Swedes won the tie 3-1. Even winning a point was a big coup for the Chileans who might have even upset the Swedes had they had Garin.

Austria was in a similar situation as Chile as they didn't have Dominic Thiem for this tie. However, they played to their strengths and elected to play on indoor hard courts which doesn't favour the Uruguayans at all. Not having Thiem wasn't a huge issue as they had a respectable team at their disposable. The Uruguayans were lead by Pablo Cuevas who is a capable player but not indoor. The result suggests that the Austrian were dominant but it was far from it.

Pablo Cuevas won his 1st singles match and their doubles almost upset the Austrian doubles pair. They soon clinched the tie to make it 3-1 but for a moment the Graz crowd was anxious. With the return of Thiem, this team could go far so many should keep an eye on Austria going forward.