US eying Davis Cup quarterfinals after beating Kazakhstan

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz won their singles matches to help the United States beat Kazakhstan 2-1 to move atop its Davis Cup Finals group on Thursday.

The Americans are almost assured of reaching the quarterfinals with two wins from two in Group D.

Paul enjoyed a 6-1, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin before Fritz defeated Alexander Bublik 7-6 (6) 1-6 6-3 to give the Americans an unassailable lead in Glasgow, Scotland. Bublik and Aleksandr Nedovyesov later defeated Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock 6-2, 7-6 (6) in the doubles match.

The Americans now wait to see if the Netherlands can follow suit with a win over the British team on Friday. Britain needs to win after losing to the U.S. on Wednesday. The U.S. will then play the Dutch on Saturday.

Australia came from behind to defeat France 2-1 in their Group C tie in Hamburg, Germany.

Richard Gasquet put the French on track with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jason Kubler, but Alex De Minaur leveled the tie with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win over Benjamin Bonzi and doubles pairing Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell completed the victory by beating Nicolas Mahut and Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-4.

The Australians lead the table with two wins, ahead of Germany which plays Belgium on Friday. The French team lost to Germany on Wednesday.

Also Thursday, Serbia defeated Korea 2-1 in Group B in Valencia, and Croatia overcame Sweden 2-1 in Group A in Bologna, Italy.

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