Dominant USA books Davis Cup Final 8 spot in Zhuhai
p The USA continued to give a reminder of the strength in depth of its talent pool on Friday in Zhuhai, where it defeated Slovakia 3-0 to seal its passage to the 2024 Davis Cup Final 8. /p
p The record-32-time Davis Cup champion headed to China without any of its five players currently in the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Yet a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/brandon-nakashima/n0ae/overview'Brandon Nakashima/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mackenzie-mcdonald/mk66/overview'Mackenzie McDonald/a have all notched singles victories this week to ensure a perfect start to their countryrsquo;s a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/davis-cup-finals-group-stage/8097/overview" target="_blank"Davis Cup Finals Group Stage/a campaign. /p
p On Friday, McDonald defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lukas-klein/ki63/overview'Lukas Klein/a 6-4, 6-3 and Nakashima overcame a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jozef-kovalik/kc04/overview'Jozef Kovalik/a 6-3, 6-3 to confirm the USArsquo;s place in the Final 8. a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/austin-krajicek/ka00/overview'Austin Krajicek/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rajeev-ram/r548/overview'Rajeev Ram/a then won 15 of the final 16 points to rally past a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/norbert-gombos/gb93/overview'Norbert Gombos/a and Klein 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 10-1 in the doubles rubber. /p
[ATP APP]
p ldquo;It means a lot,rdquo; said Nakashima, when asked about his country reaching just its second quarter-final since the Davis Cup Finals format was introduced in 2019. ldquo;I know last year the guys missed out on that spot just by a little bit. To be able to be in this position right now, to be clinching that spot, itrsquo;s very important for us and Irsquo;m just proud of all the guys on the team.rdquo; /p
p/p
p McDonald added: ldquo;Irsquo;m actually really proud of myself for performing well today and putting the team on the board. It means a lot to me. I love it in China, I feel like the fans treat me so well. I love Chinese food. My grandparents on my mumrsquo;s side are actually from this region so yeahhellip; itrsquo;s kinda home.rdquo; /p
p Fridayrsquo;s triumph for the USA simultaneously guaranteed Germany its own Final 8 spot. The two teams will face off on Saturday to determine who will win Group C and therefore be seeded at Novemberrsquo;s Davis Cup Finals knockout stage, to be held in Malaga from 19-24 November. /p
pIn Group D, Argentina dominated Great Britain on Friday as a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tomas-martin-etcheverry/ea24/overview'Tomas Martin Etcheverry/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/francisco-cerundolo/c0au/overview'Francisco Cerundolo/a powered the team to a 2-0 lead. Etcheverry defeated Evans 6-2, 7-5 in the opening singles match. Cerundolo followed with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a semi-finalist Draper. /p
pGreat Britain, who won against Finland on Wednesday, would have qualified for the Final 8 in Malaga with a win over Argentina today. However, they will now compete against Canada on Sunday for a chance to advance. Canada currently sits at the top of the Group D table with 3-0 and 2-1 wins over Finland and Argentina respectively. Argentina will also aim for a win against Finland on Saturday to boost their qualification hopes./p
p [NEWSLETTER FORM] /p
p The record-32-time Davis Cup champion headed to China without any of its five players currently in the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Yet a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/brandon-nakashima/n0ae/overview'Brandon Nakashima/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mackenzie-mcdonald/mk66/overview'Mackenzie McDonald/a have all notched singles victories this week to ensure a perfect start to their countryrsquo;s a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/davis-cup-finals-group-stage/8097/overview" target="_blank"Davis Cup Finals Group Stage/a campaign. /p
p On Friday, McDonald defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lukas-klein/ki63/overview'Lukas Klein/a 6-4, 6-3 and Nakashima overcame a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jozef-kovalik/kc04/overview'Jozef Kovalik/a 6-3, 6-3 to confirm the USArsquo;s place in the Final 8. a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/austin-krajicek/ka00/overview'Austin Krajicek/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rajeev-ram/r548/overview'Rajeev Ram/a then won 15 of the final 16 points to rally past a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/norbert-gombos/gb93/overview'Norbert Gombos/a and Klein 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 10-1 in the doubles rubber. /p
[ATP APP]
p ldquo;It means a lot,rdquo; said Nakashima, when asked about his country reaching just its second quarter-final since the Davis Cup Finals format was introduced in 2019. ldquo;I know last year the guys missed out on that spot just by a little bit. To be able to be in this position right now, to be clinching that spot, itrsquo;s very important for us and Irsquo;m just proud of all the guys on the team.rdquo; /p
p/p
p McDonald added: ldquo;Irsquo;m actually really proud of myself for performing well today and putting the team on the board. It means a lot to me. I love it in China, I feel like the fans treat me so well. I love Chinese food. My grandparents on my mumrsquo;s side are actually from this region so yeahhellip; itrsquo;s kinda home.rdquo; /p
p Fridayrsquo;s triumph for the USA simultaneously guaranteed Germany its own Final 8 spot. The two teams will face off on Saturday to determine who will win Group C and therefore be seeded at Novemberrsquo;s Davis Cup Finals knockout stage, to be held in Malaga from 19-24 November. /p
pIn Group D, Argentina dominated Great Britain on Friday as a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tomas-martin-etcheverry/ea24/overview'Tomas Martin Etcheverry/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/francisco-cerundolo/c0au/overview'Francisco Cerundolo/a powered the team to a 2-0 lead. Etcheverry defeated Evans 6-2, 7-5 in the opening singles match. Cerundolo followed with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a semi-finalist Draper. /p
pGreat Britain, who won against Finland on Wednesday, would have qualified for the Final 8 in Malaga with a win over Argentina today. However, they will now compete against Canada on Sunday for a chance to advance. Canada currently sits at the top of the Group D table with 3-0 and 2-1 wins over Finland and Argentina respectively. Argentina will also aim for a win against Finland on Saturday to boost their qualification hopes./p
p [NEWSLETTER FORM] /p