PARIS:

Germany and Argentina edged closer to the Davis Cup finals on Friday opening up 2-0 leads in their second round qualifiers.

In the Dutch city of Groningen, Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Jesper De Jong 6-4, 6-4 and Francisco Cerundolo dispatched Botic Van De Zandschulp 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

"It's tough to swallow," said De Jong as the hosts need to win Saturday's doubles to stay in the competition.

"It was an amazing atmosphere which I tried to use. I'm gutted I didn't get the win for them."

In Tokyo, Germany lead Japan thanks to Jan-Lennard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann.

Struff battled past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 with Hanfmann seeing off Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 6-3.

Davis Cup novice Corentin Moutet got France off the mark on indoor clay in Croatia, against

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