The clash between Italy and the USA came down to a decisive doubles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid after Fabio Fognini and Taylor Fritz won their respective singles matches.

Fabio Fognini  beat Relly Opelka 6-4 6-7 6-3 after 1 hour and 54 minutes to give Italy a much-needed win to the Italian team.

Fognini earned an early break at 1-1 after two errors from Opelka and dropped just five points in five service games. Fognini did not face a break point to close out the first set 6-4 in 33 minutes.

Both players stayed neck and neck setting up a tie-break. Opelka earned a mini-break to take a 5-3 lead in the tie-break and earned three set points. The US player sealed the first set point, but Opelka converted his second chance 7-4.

Opelka saved the first break point with an ace, but Fognini converted his second chance with a forehand passing shot in the second set to take a 2-0 lead. Fognini dropped just three points to build up a 5-2 lead. Fognini served out the win on his first match point to give Italy a 1-0 win.

“I am tired for sure because it was tough. One of the things I did today was my serve, don’t ask me why. I am surprised about that”, said Fognini.

Taylor Fritz came back from one set down to beat Matteo Berrettini 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in the second match. Berrettini saved a break point in the second game with a forehand down the line and a service winner. In the fifth game Fritz saved two break points in the fifth game. Berrettini broke serve in the 11th game to take a 6-5 and sealed the first set on his first set point.

In the third set both players stayed neck and neck til the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. In the seventh game Fritz saved a break point. Berrettini held his serve at love. Fritz closed out the second set at 6-5 after 51 minutes.

Berrettini saved two consecutive break points in the first game of the third game. Fritz rallied from 0-30 down to hold his serve for 1-1. Fritz broke twice in the third and fifth games to race out to a 5-1 lead. Berrettini saved a match point and held his serve for 2-5, but Fritz sealed the win on his second match point.

“Playing for my country is all the motivation I need. I just kept digging, kept fighting. It was really close. I lost the first set by close margin, and I told myself to tough out the second set like I know I can do, and my aggressive and fitness carried me through the third”,said Fritz.

Home nation Spain beat Croatia to get through to the quarter finals at the Davis Cup in Madrid thanks to wins achieved by Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Roberto Bautista Agut bear Nikola Mektic 6-1 6-3 after an hour to win his seventh Davis Cup match. The Spanish player dropped just nine points on serve and saved the only break point he faced and earned four break points to seal the win.

Bautista Agut earned three consecutive breaks to close out the first set 6-1. Bautista Agut got three consecutive breaks to clinch the first set 6-1. The Spanish player did not drop a point in the second set and broke serve at love in the second set to seal the second set 6-3.

In the second match world number 1 Rafael Nadal beat Borna Gojo 6-4 6-3 scoring his 26th straight Davis Cup win. Nadal dropped only four points in his service games and never faced a break point to clinch his 55th win this season.

Nadal broke serve at 15in the ninth game and held at love with a service winner to take a 6-4 lead after 43 minutes. Nadal broke in the first and eighth games to seal the second set 6-3.

Nadal returned to the court to win the doubles match 6-3 6-4 over Mate Pavic and Ivan Dodig.

“The start of yesterday was not perfect, but here we found a way to find four matches in a row and sent us through to the quarters, so we are very happy”, said Nadal.

Phillip Kohlschreiber and Jan Lennard Struff scored two win in the singles matches over Argentina’s Guido Pella and Diego Schwaartzman.

Kohlschreiber came back from one set down to beat Guido Pella 1-6 6-3 6-4 scoring his 23rd Davis Cup win. Pella earned two consecutive breaks in the fourth and the sixth games to cruise through to a 6-1 lead. Kohlschreiber served well in the second set and broke serve in the sixth game. The German veteran player saved two break points to force the match to the decisive set. Kohlschreiber broke serve in the first game and did not drop in his five service games in the third set. He sealed the win at 5-4 on his fifth match point.

Jan Lennard Struff beat Diego Schwartzman 6-3 7-6 (10-8) after 1 hour and 50 minutes in the second match. Struff earned the first break after a backhand error from Schwartzman and held on his serve with a forehand winner to open up a 3-1 lead.

Schwartzman wasted his only break point in the fifth game. Struff held his serve with a volley winner in the ninth game to take a 6-3 win.

Both players stayed neck and neck holding on their serve in the second game until 4-4 when Struff broke serve with a backhand error. Schwartzman fended off a match point and broke back with a backhand down the line winner in the 10th game. Schwartzman saved the match point at 5-6 with a service winner. The Argentine did not convert a set point at 8-7 before Struff won the final two points with two winners.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies battled past Maximo Gonzales and Leonardo Mayer 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (20-18) after saving six match points in the tie-break of the third set (the longest tie-break in Davis Cup history) to give Germany a 3-0 win.