The 2015 Davis Cup World Group Round 1 brought plenty of action-packed tennis to audiences the world over, as upsets, five-set comebacks, tension, packed stadiums, and drama was the norm this weekend.

For starters, Great Britain squeaked past the USA for the second year in a row. Andy Murray played inspired tennis at home in Glasgow as he scored comfortable wins over Donald Young on Friday and John Isner to clinch the tie on Sunday. The real difference maker in the tie was once again the journeyman James Ward, who came back from two sets down to stun Isner in five sets, 15-13 in the fifth set. By the end of that match, Isner was barely moving his feet, while Ward looked like he could have run the London marathon.

Bob and Mike Bryan did win their doubles rubber 9-7 in the fifth set over Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray, avoiding a shocking defeat from two sets up, but it was all for naught by Sunday.

As expected, Argentina and Brazil treated the Buenos Aires crowd to a spirited, grueling South American contest on red clay that did not finish until Monday. The Friday singles rubbers split 1-1, with Joao Souza of Brazil beating Carlos Berlocq in five sets, and Leo Mayer of Argentina beating Thomaz Bellucci in four sets. The Brazilian team of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares won the doubles as expected on Saturday, but Argentina swept the final two singles rubbers to come back and win the tie from 1-2 down.

Leonardo Mayer was clearly inspired by the spirit of Davis Cup as he avoided defeat from two sets up and defeated Souza 15-13 in the fifth set. The match was the second straight fifth set for the Brazilian, and it was the second-longest match in tennis history, clocking in at nearly seven hours. (It was also the longest match in Davis Cup history.) Mayer needed 11 match points to finish the match off, as every set went to at least 5-5 before separation was found, but he had just that extra bit of energy and grit to push him through as both players were clearly exhausted in the end. 

Given the length of that match, the fifth rubber had to be concluded Monday morning. Federico Delbonis got past Bellucci in four sets to complete the Argentina comeback and send them into the quarterfinals of the World Group, with much respect for the effort of the Brazilian team all the same.

Australia needed four rubbers to put away the Czech Republic. Thanasi Kokkinakis played yet another match that proves he’s a true fighter on the tennis court. The young Aussie, who opened proceedings in the first singles rubber, came back from a very pedestrian two sets down against Czech veteran Lukas Rosol, winning the final three sets 7-5 7-5 6-3. He improved in every set and never wavered in belief, putting Australia off to a strong 1-0 start. That choke by Rosol seemed to suck the air out of the Czech bench, as Bernard Tomic had little trouble beating Jiri Vesely in straight sets to give the green and gold a 2-0 lead.

Adam Pavlasek and Vesely upset Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt to force live tennis on Sunday, but Tomic beat a dejected Rosol in straight sets to clinch the tie. Australia with its deep roster of young guns will be a tough team to face in the quarterfinals.

The best efforts of Kei Nishikori weren’t enough, as Canada advanced 3-2 over Japan in Vancouver. Nishikori won a straight-sets affair over Vasek Pospisil on Friday and a five-set comeback against Milos Raonic, as Nishikori beat his rival again on the big stage. But his teammates failed to match that level of clutch performance as routine losses by Tatsuma Ito to Raonic on Friday, and Go Soeda to Pospisil in a decisive fifth rubber on Sunday, along with a loss by Soeda and Yasutaka Uchiyama to Daniel Nestor and Pospisil in five sets in the Saturday doubles, were the three wins Canada needed.

The Swiss did their best to make their tie against Belgium interesting. Their No. 1 Yann Marti was kicked off the team before the tie on Thursday, since apparently Marti was outraged he wasn’t selected to play Friday singles. No matter the discord in the Swiss camp, Challenger journeyman Henri Laakksonen brought his A game to the tie. He came back from two sets to love down to dominate the final three sets against Ruben Bemelmans and win the opening singles rubber. Bemelmans lost all his confidence, winning just two games over the last two sets. Belgian Steve Darcis did defeat journeyman Michael Lammer in straight sets to even the tie, and then Bemelmans teamed with Niels Desein to put Belgium up 2-1 with a four-set doubles victory over Lammer and Adrian Bossel.

On Sunday, Laaksonen again generated fireworks for the Swiss, as he beat Steve Darcis in a thrilling five-setter that was a battle of styles. The tie was evened up to 2-2, and David Goffin was subbed in to step up and get the job done for Belgium, since they had failed to put away the pesky Swiss in routine fashion. Goffin did in fact get the job done, cruising past Bossel in straight sets to secure a quarterfinal appearance for Belgium.

The Italian choke job was very much on in Kazakhstan, where they were shocked 3-2 by an unheralded Kazakh team. The Italians looked out of sort all week, as they got off to a very poor start with Mikhail Kukushkin earning a straight-sets win over an erratic Simone Bolelli. Andreas Seppi evened the tie with a four-set win over Andrey Golubev, and Bolelli and Fabio Fognini won the Saturday doubles over Golubev and Alex Nedovyesov.

On Sunday, the Kazakhs notched a sweep in front of their home fans as Kukushkin improved to 2-0 in his matches with a routine win over Andreas Seppi, and Nedovyesov subbed in against Fognini and won a five-setter at 7-5 in the fifth set. They are the most unlikely quarterfinal participants.

One of the least competitive ties of the week, which in some ways were lost in the drama of the other action, was a 5-0 crushing of Croatia by team Serbia. The sweep was assured in part due to the young Borna Coric suffering a humbling learning experience as he lost a two-set lead and fell in five sets to Serbian veteran Viktor Troicki. Meanwhile, France, led by Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils, swept Germany 3-0 in live rubbers. (That tie finished 3-2 after Germany won both dead rubbers.) Simon was the catalyst for the sweep as he survived a spirited effort from Jan-Lennard Struff to win 10-8 in the fifth set.

In World Group quarterfinal action, France will travel to the UK in July to take on Great Britain, Kazakhstan will travel Down Under to Australia, Serbia will have to go to Argentina, and Canada will take on Belgium, who will have another home tie.