TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — The United States swept its way into the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals, getting the winning point in a 4-0 victory over Uzbekistan from the doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
They beat Sergey Fomin and Sanjar Fayziev 6-2, 6-4, after Tommy Paul and Mackenzie McDonald had won singles matches in Tashkent.
Ram is No. 3 in the ATP Tour doubles rankings and partnered with Joe Salisbury to win the last two US Open men’s doubles titles.
But the Americans opted not to use Ram last year in the final round, when they dropped the doubles match in a 2-1 defeat against Italy in the quarter-finals.
Krajicek was making his Davis Cup debut, having reached No. 9 in the doubles rankings late last year.
“They had five great days of preparation, and as anticipated they came out really sharp and got the early break in the first set. And after that it was like two freight trains, there was no stopping them,” interim captain David Nainkin said according to AP.
Denis Kudla then beat Amir Milushev 6-4, 6-4.
The winners of the 12 qualifiers being held this weekend – six on Friday-Saturday, six on Saturday-Sunday – advance to the Davis Cup Finals group stage in September, along with reigning champion Canada, 2022 runner-up Australia and wild-card recipients Italy and Spain.
Eight teams will advance to the closing matches of the Davis Cup Finals scheduled for Nov. 21-26 in Malaga, Spain.
In Stockholm, Mikael and Elias Ymer each won their singles rubbers in straight sets but Bosnia clawed back apoint in the doubles thanks to a win for Mirza Basic and Tomislav Brkic.
Mikael Ymer then saw seven-times champions Sweden through with a 6-1 1-6 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur where he fired 22 winners in the third singles match.
“I’m super, super proud (of our team). It’s fantastic that me and my brother and the team could get us through to the finals again,” Mikael said.
“I think we have proven that we can compete with the best teams in the world and I think we are all ready for it.”
France came back from 2-1 down against Hungary to win 3-2 as Adrian Mannarino and Ugo Humbert turned things around in the second batch of singles rubbers, beating Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan respectively in straight sets.
“I’m very happy that we’re in the Finals. Playing in Davis Cup means a lot for me because it’s an unbelievable competition and I’m very proud of myself,” said debutant Humbert according to Reuters.
Serbia also qualified after Nikola Cacic and Filip Krajinovic won their doubles match 6-4 3-6 6-3 against Norway to give their team a 3-0 lead.
Switzerland looked to be heading for defeat when Wawrinka and Dominic Stricker lost to Tim Puetz and Andreas Mies to give Germany a 2-1 advantage.
But Zverev was stunned by Marc-Andrea Huesler in straight sets to leave the stage for Wawrinka.
“I’m very happy I won the point and the last one was the most important,” Wawrinka, now ranked 135th in the world, said.
“I was happy to come back if they need me to help.”
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