Hosts Australia became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2020 ATP Cup, outlasting Great Britain in an epic encounter on Thursday. 

Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur beat Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury in a lengthy super tiebreak, winning 18-16 in the final set. Kyrgios gave the Aussies the lead with a win over Cameron Norrie in the first rubber, but Dan Evans forced the doubles match with a win over De Minaur.

Russia swept past Argentina in their quarter-final thanks to Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev, who won their singles matches.

Friday's remaining quarter-finals will pit Serbia against Canada and Spain versus Belgium.

Here are the full results from Thursday:

Australia 2-1 Great Britain

Nick Kyrgios bt. Cameron Norrie: 6-2, 6-2

Dan Evans bt. Alex de Minaur: 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (2)

Nick Kyrgios/Alex de Minaur bt. Jamie Murray/Joe Salisbury: 3-6, 6-3, 18-16

Russia 3-0 Argentina

Karen Khachanov bt. Guido Pella: 6-2, 7-6 (4)

Daniil Medvedev bt. Diego Schwartzman: 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

Teymuraz Gabashvili/Konstantin Kravchuk bt. Maximo Gonzalez/Andres Molteni: 7-6 (5), 6-4

Kyrgios was the hero for the hosts Thursday, cruising to a singles win in the opening rubber before using all his experience to keep partner De Minaur calm in an epic doubles encounter.

The 24-year-old showed remarkable maturity after the win:

He dropped just four games in the match against Norrie, using his tremendous defensive abilities and power from the baseline to blast winner after winner.

Try as he might, the Brit barely found success against Australia's star in Sydney:

The second rubber was a lot closer, pitting rising star De Minaur against Evans. The two needed more than three hours and 20 minutes to conclude their encounter, with the more experienced Evans taking the tiebreak to force the deciding doubles.

The 29-year-old produced this astonishing lob during the win:

The hosts nominated Kyrgios and De Minaur over the duo of Chris Guccione and John Peers to play the doubles, and the decision appeared to backfire initially. Murray and Salisbury comfortably won the opening set with some excellent return play and overall dominance at the net.

Australia started to build some steam in the second set, tying things up and forcing a decider, but Britain took control early and were on the verge of an upset for most of the tiebreak.

The Brits wasted four match points before Australia closed the deal:

The day's other quarter-final wasn't as close, with Khachanov and Medvedev holding off Pella and Schwartzman in the singles.

Khachanov needed just two sets in the first rubber, dominating Pella with his raw power in the opening set and closing the deal in a more competitive second.

Tennis writer Jose Morgado liked what he saw from the talent:

Medvedev seemed on his way to an even easier win in the first set against Schwartzman, but the 27-year-old bounced back in the second, forcing a decider.

Medvedev found the break of serve in the eighth game to book Russia's semi-final spot:

The Russians completed their clean sweep in the doubles.

Russia will face the winner of the tie between Serbia and Canada. Australia will take on Belgium or Spain in the other semi-final.