The United States swept Slovakia 3-0 in Group C action at the Davis Cup Finals group stage Friday in Zhuhai, China.
The U.S. have gone 6-0 against Chile and Slovakia and set up a Saturday showdown with Germany — the only other team in any group yet to drop a match — to decide first place in Group C. Both countries are guaranteed to reach the Final 8 in Malaga, Spain, in November.
Mackenzie McDonald topped Slovakia’s Lukas Klein 6-4, 6-3 and Brandon Nakashima handled Jozef Kovalik 6-3, 6-3 in the Americans’ two singles matches Friday. Nakashima fired eight aces, won 28 of 35 first-service points (80 percent) and never faced break point.
Then, in doubles, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram rallied to force a tiebreaker and went on to defeat Klein and Norbert Gombos 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 10-1.
In Group A in Bologna, Italy, the host Italians edged Belgium 2-1 to improve to 2-0 (4-2) in the stage.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini rallied past Alexander Blockx 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, but Belgium’s Zizou Bergs struck back by beating Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-0. Italy prevailed in doubles, where Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori topped Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-6 (2), 7-5.
In Group B in Valencia, Spain, the host Spaniards got by France 2-1, which means their Sunday match against Australia will decide the group’s winner. Both Spain and Australia are 2-0 (5-1).
Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut outlasted Arthur Fils 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, before World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz made it a Spanish sweep of the singles by beating Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-3. France got a point back during doubles, where Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers in a tight affair, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (12), 10-8.
In Group D in Manchester, England, Argentina defeated Great Britain 2-1 for the country’s first win of the stage.
The Argentines clinched it in singles, when Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Daniel Evans 6-2, 7-5, and Francisco Cerundolo edged U.S. Open semifinalist Jack Draper 7-6 (4), 7-5. The British pair of Evans and Neal Skupski defeated Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-3, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner proved themselves to be the two top stars on the ATP Tour in 2024.Tennis fans spent years watching Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nada
The task for British tennis is developing the next generation of talent and avoiding another 35-year wait for a Grand Slam singles champion.The performances of
Rohan Bopanna returns the ball during the ATP World Tour Finals in Turin, Italy. (AP) At the start of the year Rohan Bopanna gave himself the best pre-44th bir
Sydney – Novak Djokovic is confident he can still win Grand Slams, starting at the