Tomas Berdych led defending champions the Czech Republic to the Davis Cup quarter-finals as he beat Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands in straight sets in the first of the reverse singles.
Berdych, the 28-year-old world No.7, swept 139th-ranked De Bakker in an hour and 46 minutes to hand the Czechs a 10th straight Davis Cup win.
The Czech Republic, who won the trophy in 2012 and 2013, will fly to Japan for the quarter-finals in April. Japan beat Canada 4-1 in their first-round tie.
Germany beat Spain 4-1 and wil now take on France who beat Australia 5-nil.
In ties still to be completed Great Britain lead the USA 2-1 and Italy lead Argentina 2-1.
