Buenos Aires, Argentina (SportsNetwork.com) - Federico Delbonis won a fifth and deciding rubber on Monday to propel host Argentina past its South American neighbor Brazil, 3-2, and into the 2015 Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The world No. 83 Delbonis, who was inserted into the Argentine lineup on Sunday, defeated 85th-ranked Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in just under three hours on the red clay at Tecnopolis. Delbonis, who replaced Carlos Berlocq for the second reverse singles match, piled up six service breaks against Bellucci, compared to three for his fellow left-handed counterpart.
The match started on Sunday, but was suspended due to darkness after Delbonis won the first set, this after Leonardo Mayer evened up the best-of-five tie with an epic record-setting five-set victory over the visitors' Joao Souza. Following a 28-game fifth set, Mayer and Souza had battled for a Davis Cup- record 6 hours, 43 minutes. The previous record-long match came in 1982 when John McEnroe outlasted fellow tennis legend Mats Wilander in 6 hours, 22 minutes in a United States-Sweden quarterfinal in St. Louis.
The longest-ever ATP-level match occurred in 2010 when American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut battled for more than 11 hours over a three-day span at Wimbledon.
The four-time Davis Cup runner-up Argentines are now 6-2 all-time against the Brazilians, who haven't reached the quarterfinals since 2001.
Argentina is rewarded with a quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic-led Serbia in July.
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