Russia and Slovakia had both won their opening men’s pool match at the Vilamoura Tennis Academy.

Their match began with Tomas Masaryk upsetting Russia’s Yuriy Golovin 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the first singles tie.

He then teamed up with Marek Gergely for the doubles match, where Slovakia overcame Russia to clinch victory in their pool contest.

The result places Slovakia at the top of the standings and on course to qualify to the semi-finals.

They are due end the pool phase with a match against the host nation Portugal, who had beaten Estonia 2-0 yesterday.

Hungary and Austria are set to go head-to-head in their final pool match, with the winners advancing to the men’s semi-finals.

Both nations won their opening fixtures.

Germany will play second seed Greece for top spot in their pool, while Switzerland currently lead their standings in their group.

In the women’s competition Denmark and Russia will hope to top their pool after the former earned a 3-0 win over Bulgaria.

Turkey won 2-1 against Belgium in their group to join Italy at the top of the standings.

Following group action and semi-finals, the winners are set to be crowned on Saturday (April 6), at which point they will gain a spot at the World Team Cup finals, scheduled to take place in Israel from May 13 to 18.

In all, 13 teams are taking part in the men's draw, while six teams are competing in the women's event.