Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame an early scare to win the opening reverse singles Sunday to give France a 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Amid increased security following the deadly attack in the French city of Nice, Tsonga rallied to beat Jiri Vesely 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5 and earn a spot in the Davis Cup semifinals for France for the second time in three years.
France face the United States or Croatia in the semifinals in September.
The 10th-ranked Frenchman hit a big passing forehand to gain two break points in the 11th game of the fourth set and closed out the best-of-five series on his first match point on the indoor hard court in the eastern Czech city of Trinec.
The final singles was not played.
France has nine Davis Cup titles, but it last won in 2001. The French have played three finals since, most recently in 2014 when they lost to Switzerland after knocking out the Czechs in the semis.
Tsonga double faulted to give Vesely a break point in the fifth game of the opening set and the 50th-ranked Czech converted it. Tsonga wasted his two break points in the eighth game and hit the net on Vesely’s second set point.
Tsonga earned a set point at 5-4 in the second set with a backhand volley but wasted it before prevailing in the tiebreaker when Vesely served two straight double faults.
Vesely dropped his serve for the first time to trail 3-4 in the third set with Tsonga serving it out with one of his 45 winners.
Wimbledon doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert fought past lukas Rosol and Radek Stepanek 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday to give France a 2-1 lead.
On Friday, Rosol beat Tsonga in a five-setter, and lucas Pouille made a victorious Davis Cup debut by beating Vesely in straight sets.
BRITAIN SAIl INTO SEMIFINAl
BElGRADE: Kyle Edmund stepped into the role of Andy Murray and took titleholder Britain into the semifinals of the Davis Cup by beating Dusan lajovic of Serbia in straight sets in the first of the reverse singles on Sunday.
Edmund’s 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5) win on a wet and windy day at the outdoor Tasmajdan clay-court stadium gave Britain an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
Edmund also won his opening singles on Friday against Janko Tipsarevic as he assumed the role of Murray as the leader of the team.
Murray decided not to play a few days after his second Wimbledon title but cheered the team on from the sidelines.
Britain hosts Argentina in September in the semifinals.
Elsewhere, Argentina is on the cusp of an 11th semifinal in 14 years after Juan Martin del Potro and Guido Pella won their first doubles match together. Del Potro and Pella outlasted Fabio Fognini and Paolo lorenzi 6-1, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 over nearly four hours in Pesaro, Italy.
Fognini began the day by playing the second singles that never started on Friday because of bad light and weather. He bounced Juan Monaco, playing in his first tie in 2 1/2 years, 6-1, 6-1, 7-5, and was so fresh that Italy put him in the doubles and pulled Marco Cecchinato.
CROATIA CUT US lEAD
PORTlAND: Ivan Dodig and Marin Cilic kept Croatia alive in the Davis Cup quarterfinal match with the United States, beating twins Bob and Mike Bryan 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday.
Dodig and Cilic cut Croatia’s deficit to 2-1 heading into the reverse single Sunday on the Tualatin Hills hard court. The United States took a 2-0 lead Friday when Jack Sock and John Isner won the opening singles matches.
The Croatians made a last-minute substitution, inserting Cilic, ranked No 12 in the world, in place of Marin Draganja in doubles.
HAlEP WINS BUCHAREST OPEN
BUCHAREST: Top-seeded Simona Halep didn’t lose a game en route to her second Bucharest Open title on Sunday, smashing seventh-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of latvia 6-0, 6-0.
Romania’s top player needed just 46 minutes to put away her opponent. She dominated the games, winning close to 70 percent of points on her serve. Halep also saved both break points she faced.