France on top of Australia, Britain stuns USA

France were the big winners in the opening matches of the Davis Cup World Group first round, as they took a 2-0 lead over Australia. Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga both recorded straight-set victories in the first two singles matches, meaning France need only a win in the doubles on Saturday to confirm their place in the quarter-finals. After a tight first set against Nick Kyrgios, Gasquet dominated a tie-break before winning 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-2 in just over two hours. Tsonga doubled France's lead with a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory against Lleyton Hewitt, putting France in a comfortable position. Great Britain took a surprise 2-0 lead over the United States at Petco Park in San Diego. World number six Andy Murray disposed of Donald Young 6-1 6-2 6-3, but the surprise was James Ward beating Sam Querrey – ranked 126 places higher – 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4 6-1. Kazakhstan also go into their doubles match against Belgium on Saturday with a 2-0 lead after Mikhail Kukushkin and Andrey Golubev beat Ruben Bemelmans and David Goffin respectively. It took Kukushkin over three hours to beat Bemelmans 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-3, while Golubev became embroiled in a marathon against Goffin, eventually winning 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 4-6 6-2 12-10 with the final set taking 106 minutes alone. Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer put Germany 2-0 ahead in their clash with Spain, and Switzerland hold the same lead over Serbia thanks to Roger Federer and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka. Japan and Canada ended day one level after Kei Nishikori and Frank Dancevic both won their singles matches, while the matches between Argentina and Italy, and Czech Republic versus Netherlands, are also tied ahead of Saturday's doubles clashes.