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Davis Cup roundup: USA grab 2-0 lead against Uzbekistan, Zverev smashes Wawrinka

Reuters
Tommy Paul continued his good start to the year
Tommy Paul continued his good start to the yearReuters
The United States moved to the brink of advancing out of its Davis Cup qualifying series by winning both singles matches against host Uzbekistan on Friday in Tashkent.

Mackenzie McDonald beat Sergey Fomin 6-4, 6-1 before Tommy Paul, fresh off reaching the Australian Open semifinals, defeated Khumoyun Sultanov 6-1, 7-6 (6).

Paul finished with a 6-1 edge in aces, though he converted only four of his 13 break-point opportunities.

The best-of-five series will conclude Saturday with a doubles match and the two reverse singles matches.

The winner of the series -- and the winner of the other 11 qualifying series being held worldwide this weekend -- will advance to the Davis Cup Finals group stage scheduled for mid-September. The 2022 champions, Canada, and runners-up, Australia, are already in the group stage, while the two wild-card teams, Spain and Italy, will join them.

In other Friday action, Germany and Switzerland split their first two singles matches in Trier, Germany. Switzerland's Marc-Andrea Huesler rallied past Oscar Otte 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 before Germany's Alexander Zverev downed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1.

Hungary and France are tied 1-1 in Tatabanya, while Great Britain and Colombia are level at 1-1 in Cota. Serbia hold a 2-0 lead on hosts Norway in Oslo, hosts Sweden are up 2-0 on Bosnia and Herzegovina in Stockholm, while Belgium are also winning 2-0 against South Korea in Seoul.

The other six series will start Saturday:

--Austria at Croatia in Rijeka

--Kazakhstan at Chile in La Serena

--Slovakia at Netherlands in Groningen

--Argentina at Finland in Espoo

--Czech Republic at Portugal in Maia