Defending champions Great Britain shrugged off the absence of Wimbledon champion Andy Murray to lead their Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia on Friday as heavy rain brought havoc to the tournament.
Kyle Edmund eased past Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in Belgrade before the scheduled second singles rubber was postponed until Saturday.
In Pesaro, torrential rain delayed the start of the quarter-final between Italy and Argentina by three hours.
When they did get under way Federico Delbonis defeated veteran Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
The scheduled second singles rubber of the day between Fabio Fognini and Juan Monaco was pushed back to Saturday.
In Trinec, meanwhile, the Czech Republic and France were tied 1-1 after the opening rubbers as both number-two players beat the team leaders. World number 78 Lukas Rosol stunned 10th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4.
Lucas Pouille, ranked 21st, then swept 50th-ranked Jiri Vesely 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 7-5 to level the tie.
At the Tasmajdan stadium in Belgrade, which is built on the site of a Roman-era quarry, world number 67 Edmund registered his first ever Davis Cup win.
“To get us off to a good start was great. Each set I really found my game. I was very pleased with my win,” said Edmund after a matc interrupted twice due to rain. “We played three games before it rained. I wanted to get the intensity high from the first game back. I managed it when he broke back in the second set.
“I just tried to relax during the rain breaks. When you go back in it’s almost a lull. I had some food and had a shower. It’s not hard to switch on and off.”
After the second suspension, the players waited two hours to return to the court.
The second singles rubber between Dusan Lajovic and James Ward was postponed until Saturday.
Serbia, the 2010 champions, are without world number one Novak Djokovic who pulled out of the quarter-final after his shock third round exit at Wimbledon.
Murray also opted out after winning his second title at the All England Club at the weekend.
The tie between the Czechs and France started with a minute’s silence for the victims of Thursday’s terror attack in Nice that left at least 84 people dead.
“We got up and learnt what had happened (in Nice). It’s not easy to play when such things happen but at the same time it was important for us to go to the court and give our best,” said 31-year-old Tsonga.
In Portland, Oregon, 32-time Davis Cup champions United States seized a commanding 2-0 lead over Croatia.
American Jack Sock got the hosts off to a rousing start as he stormed back from two sets down to defeat former US Open champion Marin Cilic 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
The triumph for the 26th-ranked Sock over the world number 12 was followed by John Isner’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Borna Coric.
Having forced a decisive fifth set, Sock surrendered an early break that appeared to set Cilic on his way.
But Sock broke back in the fifth game and again in the ninth, then saved two break points in the final game to seal the match after three hours and 13 minutes.
Isner, meanwhile, needed just under two hours to finish off Coric, firing 23 aces and fending off all eight break points he faced.
“We’re up 2-0, we’re in a good spot,” Isner said.
The formidable doubles duo of Bob and Mike Bryan will try to secure the win on Saturday, when they are slated to take on Ivan Dodig and Marin Draganja.
The Americans, ousted in the first round each of the last two years, haven’t made it to the Davis Cup semi-finals since 2012, when they fell in Spain.
