After a dominant day of play in the singles, Australia will look to wrap up their Davis Cup world group playoffs tie against Slovakia in doubles on Day 2. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the match from 1pm (AEST).
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic both won their matches in straight sets on the opening day of competition and it leaves Australia needing just one win from the final three matches to secure the tie.
However, if there is one match Australia are a chance of losing, this looks as if it’s likely to be it.
Sam Groth and John Peers will be the men to step up for Australia, and while Peers is known for his doubles play being ranked in the top 20 in the world, Groth is not so and moreover has had a shocking year playing singles.
Peers paired up at the recent Olympics with Chris Guccione and was knocked out in the first round, while he has only ever played two matches with Groth.
Both of those came at the Sydney International in January, as they got out of the first round but not the second.
Groth of course, has his massive serve and if that fires then Australia will win a lot of free points, but it is only one element and over five sets, Australia will need other elements of their game to stand up.
On the other side, Slovakia will be represented by Andrej Martin and Igor Zelenay who have played 22 matches as a pair and are the regular Davis Cup doubles combination for their country.
Despite a first round loss at the Olympics, they have combined for two wins in the ‘world cup of tennis’ so far this season and had some other promising results including victory at Cordenons and Vicenza.
While Martin doesn’t like grass in the slightest, Zelenay has quite a good record on the surface and after Martin played yesterday against Kyrgios, he will have a better understanding of how the court is playing.
Prediction
The Slovakian pair have plenty of experience playing as part of the same team and with Martin playing yesterday he should have worked himself into just a little bit of form, even though he lost. Australia will put a fight, but ultimately this tie should stay live into Sunday.
Slovakia in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the Davis Cup doubles from 1pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
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Scott Pryde
Expert
Match Statistics Match Duration: 2 hours and 21 minutes Aces: Australia (17), Slovakia (5) Double faults: Australia (3), Slovakia (4) First serves in: Australia (76/114 @ 66%), Slovakia (103/132 @ 78%) First serve points won: Australia (65/76 @ 85%), Slovakia (76/103 @ 73%) 2nd serves in: Australia (35/38 @ 92%), Slovakia (25/29 @ 86%) 2nd serve points won: Australia (26/35 @ 74%), Slovakia (15/25 @ 60%) Break points won: Australia (3/12 @ 25%), Slovakia (0/0) Total winners: Australia (38), Slovakia (30) Unforced errors: Australia (40), Slovakia (34) Total points won: Australia (132), Slovakia (114) Australia 6 6 6 7 Slovakia 4 2 7 6
Scott Pryde
Expert
Stats and a full report article from the weekend will be live shortly. Because the tie is now dead rubbers, the matches tomorrow will not be covered. Thanks for joining me today for The Roar's live coverage of the Davis Cup World Group playoffs as Australia defeated Slovakia and won the tie in the doubles at Ken Rosewall Arena. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. That's all for Tennis for a while now, but it's a massive summer of tennis coming up with the Brisbane International, Sydney International, Hopman Cup and the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the year all expected to be live in some capacity here. Plenty of live sport coming up on The Roar as well with both NRL and AFL Finals tonight along with the Rugby Championship. I'll be live for the NRL tonight between the Canberra Raiders and Penrith Panthers from 7:40pm (AEST) and also the Sandown 500 tomorrow from 1:15pm (AEST) as the V8 Supercars Championship hits the endurance races. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Well, in the end a clinical tie-breaker for Australia and on the back of yesterday, they win the tie 3-0. A dominant two days of Tennis and we are back into the world group after that devastating loss to the USA earlier in the year at Kooyong.
Scott Pryde
Expert
GAME, SET, MATCH & TIE Australia! Australia are on their way back to the world group playoffs!! Big serve and a volley through the centre of the court for the Aussies and it wasn't pretty during the third and fourth, but they got the job done! Australia 6 6 6 7 Slovakia 4 2 7 6
Scott Pryde
Expert
Great serve from Martin out wide and it sets up the easy volley for Zelenay through the centre of the court. Australia 6 6 6 6 - 6 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 2
Scott Pryde
Expert
Peers now puts the serve down the middle with plenty of kick and Martin returns it out. Match point for Australia! Australia 6 6 6 6 - 6 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
A fault from Peers before Martin gets some luck off the net and Peers puts the cross court volley wide. Australia 6 6 6 6 - 5 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
And another! Serve down the middle and a cracking backhand return down the line from Groth! Kyrgios is happy on the sideline as Groth lets the fist pump go! Australia 6 6 6 6 - 5 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Zelenay on serve and he starts with a fault before going to the backhand of Peers who returns well and Zelenay puts the running shot wide. Australia 6 6 6 6 - 4 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fault from Groth and then one straight into the body of Zelenay who returns it wide. Australia 6 6 6 6 - 3 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Big wide serve and some great net work from Groth and Peers before Groth puts the backhand bunt into the corner. Australia 6 6 6 6 - 2 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Wide serve and Groth returns well before making the overhead for Martin as difficult as possible, with Martin sending it wide. Mini break Australia. Australia 6 6 6 6 - 1 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Peers faults going wide now before hitting the middle with the second. Lob back and Groth smashes the overhead into the corner to send us to a tie-breaker. Australia 6 6 6 6 - Slovakia 4 2 7 6 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! Peers goes wide and jeez that comes at a big moment. Massively important. Australia 6 6 6 5 - 40 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 30
Scott Pryde
Expert
Peers with a big important serve down the middle and Martin returns the forehand wide. Australia 6 6 6 5 - 30 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 30
Scott Pryde
Expert
Groth not moving at all well out there and he now puts a backhand volley wide. Australia 6 6 6 5 - 15 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 30
Scott Pryde
Expert
Peers serves up a double fault now and that's not good at this stage of the match. Australia 6 6 6 5 - 15 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Wide serve from Peers and he volleys one before Groth gets the next across court. Australia 6 6 6 5 - 15 Slovakia 4 2 7 6 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Great first serve down the middle and Groth returns it long on the backhand, not able to get over some added bounce. Slovakia first to six in the fourth set, and Australia serving to send it away to a tie-breaker. Australia 6 6 6 5 - Slovakia 4 2 7 6 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
Zelenay serves a double fault down now. Australia 6 6 6 5 - 15 Slovakia 4 2 7 5 - 40