Argentina earns the right to dream in Manchester | ATP Tour

Davis Cup

Argentina earns the right to dream in Manchester

Etcheverry and Cerúndolo gave their country the qualifier against Great Britain

September 13, 2024

Argentina’s feelings in their debut against Canada were not in line with the result. Or at least that was what the protagonists said after last Tuesday’s tie, which they lost 1-2. However, three days later they confirmed those words with an outstanding performance at the AO Arena in Manchester.

The Argentine team managed to beat Great Britain in front of its home crowd, who came with the confidence of having beaten Finland in its opening round. In this way, Argentina leaves its chances of getting past the Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals open.

Tomás Martín Etcheverry paved the way with an important victory over Daniel Evans by 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and six minutes. The 25-year-old Argentine played his third match in the competition – he debuted last year with a victory over Lithuanian Edas Butvilas – and left his personal record at 2-1.

With the comfort of having a point already on the scoreboard, the next turn was for Francisco Cerúndolo who also won the duel between the No. 1 of both countries against Jack Draper by 7-6 (4), 7-5 in two hours and nine minutes.

The No. 31 in the PIF ATP Rankings had only played the recent US Open semi-finalist once before, coming away with a quarter-final win at Lyon 2023. And in the Davis Cup he extended the Lexus ATP Head2Head to 2-0 against Draper.

With the doubles match still to be played, the result gives Argentina the chance to place second in Group D, behind Canada, which already has two qualifying wins and a 5-1 record in matches played.

The United States follows in Germany’s footsteps and will be among the top 8
United States, 3 – Slovakia, 0

Group C has decided this Friday the two available tickets to be in Malaga, from 19 to 24 November, for the Davis Cup Finals 8. And the United States sealed its pass, just one day after Germany did.

The team captained by Bob Bryan secured victory in the two qualifying rounds played against Chile (3-0) and Slovakia (3-0), while the Germans achieved it shortly before with a full record of victories in the six matches they have played (6-0).

The Hengqin International Tennis Center in Zhuhai opened its competition day on Friday in the Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals with the match between Mackenzie McDonald and Lukas Klein, which was resolved in favor of the United States by 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 16 minutes.

McDonald extended his Davis Cup match record to 4-1 since his debut last year to take his country ahead. Shortly after, debutant Brandon Nakashima finished off his teammate’s job against Jozef Kovalik 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes.

Nakashima, who this week sits at a career-high No. 40 in the PIF ATP Rankings, arrived on the Chinese indoor hard courts after reaching the fourth round at the US Open and has been staunchly defending his status as the American No. 1, first against Chilean Alejandro Tabilo and on Friday against Kovalik.

In doubles, the United States took a 3-0 lead in the tie after Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram came from behind to beat Norbert Gombos and Lukas Klein 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 10-1 in one hour and 53 minutes.

This result leaves Slovakia and Chile with no chances, as they finish Group C with a 0-2 record in qualifying matches, with one match remaining. This Saturday, the Americans and the Germans will play for the lead.