After the first Grand Slam of the season, the first weekend of Davis Cup arrived, with a total of twelve qualifiers underway to define the twelve countries that will join Australia, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom in the next phase of groups, held in September. Below we review how things went in each place, with Serbia and Croatia being the big negative surprises in this phase of the tournament.
CANADA 3-1 REP.COREA [Montreal]
All of the visiting team’s options depended on Soonwoo Kwon’s current form, which unfortunately for his interests, is now light years away from his best version. The Asians were excited about the doubles point, but Gabriel Diallo and Vasek Pospisil were in charge of doing their homework and returning the 2022 champion to the group stage.
NETHERLANDS 3-2 SWITZERLAND [Groningen]
This pairing was very fun, with Switzerland leading 1-2 at times after the doubles point. Everything was equalized with Leandro Riedi’s victory over Botic Van de Zandschulp in the second scene, so fate pushed Botic again to define the tie in the fifth point, whether for better or worse. The Dutchman achieved it, although he had to sweat blood to knock down Huesler in three sets and send his country back to the group stage.
CHINA TAIPEI 0-4 FRANCE [Taipei]
Too easy for the French, who barely dropped a set in the four matches played under the vault of the Taipei Tennis Center. Luca Van Assche and Adrian Mannarino won fairly in the singles, giving Mahut/Vasselin the satisfaction of sealing the final victory. With nothing at stake, in case there were still doubts, Quentin Halys scored the fourth mark in a victory in straight sets.
SERBIA 0-4 SLOVAKIA [Kraljevo]
By far, the big news this weekend. Ok, Novak Djokovic was not there, but Serbia stopped being a country dependent on his biggest star a long time ago. Miomir Kecmanovic and Dusan Lajovic walked on the clay of the Sport Hall Ibar, both surpassed and surprised by the good work of Lukas Klein and Alex Molcan, respectively. And you know the saying, if something can go wrong… it’s that not even the doubles won! A 0-4 blush that ended with Laslo Djere retiring in the fourth point after seven games. The Balkans go from fighting for the title to fighting to maintain the category.
CZECH REPUBLIC 4-0 ISRAEL [Trinec]
It looks like this team will soon be entering a Davis Cup final, a feeling that it already left us with after its great work last year. It is true that playing at home against Israel should not have any major complications, but we also know the magic of this tournament. Neither Mensik nor Lehecka gave any options in their singles matches, and then allowed Machac/Pavlasek to close the circle with the doubles. Vito Kopriva wanted to join the party by scoring a tremendous duel against Orel Kimhi, with a run of 11-9 in the third set.
ARGENTINA 3-2 KAZAKHSTAN [Rosario]
Guillermo Coria’s head was about to roll at the Rosario Jockey Club, this being the most exciting eliminatory of the entire weekend. Although Argentina was always ahead on the scoreboard, Timofey Skatov dressed as a villain to knock down two top 30 players and brings excitement to the series. Already in the fifth point, Sebastian Báez joined forces with the stars to save two MPs against Dmitry Popko (6-4, 3-6, 7-6) and avoid what would have been a complete disaster for the local team. But he saved it and that is why they will be part of the group stage again after two years.
CROATIA 1-3 BELGIUM [Varazdin]
Another important surprise, although we were aware that Croatia did not arrive with its main swords ready. To begin with, they were missing Coric, who we saw in Montpellier delivering the final against Bublik. His compatriots did not have any better luck, with Cilic surpassed in the singles by Bergs and the duo Dodig / Pavic unable to score a doubles that would have changed everything. Once again Zizou Bergs, the great protagonist of the tie, stole the show in the fourth and final point.
UKRAINE 0-4 USA [Vilnius]
One of those ties without any type of history, although in the first match more than one was scared of what this crossing would bring us under the roof of SEB Arena. Korda fooled around with the defeat in his opening duel against Krutykh (6-3, 6-7, 6-4), but it was only a small scare so that Bob Bryan’s team did not trust again. From then on, all the Americans fulfilled their mission: Eubanks, Fritz and the Krajicek/Ram duo. Beat up something else.
SWEDEN 1-3 BRAZIL [Helsingborg]
These are not good times for Swedish men’s tennis, a power that was currently living off the time of the Ymer brothers. If one of them also retires at 24 years of age, then he turns it off and let’s go. Elias urged optimism by winning his match against Heide, but it remained a simple mirage. Thiago Monteiro acting as leader, with Matos and Alves as most faithful partners, joined forces to take the victory to Scandinavian lands.
HUNGARY 2-3 GERMANY [Tatabanya]
We knew that the loss of Alexander Zverev could cause havoc within the German team and it did. Things started well for the visitors with Koepfer’s victory against Marozsan in a very open duel. Then Fucsovics equalized by defeating Struff, another very tough match. Krawietz / Puetz appeared there to bring calm to Michael Kohlmann’s team, although Struff would be the last avenger, closing his wound by winning the fourth point against an inexperienced Valkusz.
FINLAND 3-1 PORTUGAL [Turku]
Another power that continues to show the projection and prominence that it will surely continue to have in the Davis Cup in the coming years. Be very careful with Finland as long as they can count on their best players, as was the case this weekend. With Virtanen and Ruusuvuori as the main sentinels and Heliovaara’s card in the doubles, enough to settle the series 3-0 and save future regrets. Henrique Rocha, now with nothing at stake, took the victory of honor against Eero Vasa to avoid leaving the visiting team at zero.
CHILE 3-2 PERU [Santiago]
Extreme suffering for Nicolás Massú’s team to qualify for the group stage of the Davis Cup 2024. An unexpected defeat by Nico Jarry against the young Ignasio Buse began to distort the plans of the locals, a situation that worsened when they also lost the doubles point. Then Jarry himself would lead the comeback, which would be completed in the fifth point by Alejandro Tabilo forced to come back again against Buse (2-6, 6-3, 6-2). As I said, pure agony was experienced at the National Stadium in Santiago, but with a happy ending for the locals.
So, these are the 12 teams that have passed the round of the Qualifiers on this first weekend of February. They will join the last two finalists (Australia, Italy) and the WC awarded by the competition (Spain, United Kingdom) in the group stage that will be celebrated between September 10 and 15distributed in different locations. Do you see a favorite team for the title?
2024-02-05 07:01:55
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