Ben Shelton, the U.S. Open finalist, faced a defeat in his first match since the Grand Slam final, losing to 24th-ranked Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. This result leveled the tie at 1-1 between the United States and the Czech Republic in the last qualifying round for the Davis Cup Final 8. Lehecka broke Shelton’s serve early in both sets at Prague’s O2 Arena.
Read More
Earlier in the day, Learner Tien secured a win against Jakub Mensik, winning 6-2, 6-4 in his Davis Cup debut, which had initially given the U.S. a 1-0 lead. Tien recorded only 15 unforced errors compared to Mensik’s 34. Following this match, Shelton, who recently reached a career-high ranking of No. 4, is now 0-3 in his Davis Cup career. Previously, he had lost both singles and doubles matches during a quarterfinal defeat to Australia in 2024.
The doubles and reverse singles matches are scheduled for Saturday in this best-of-five series. The winning team will advance to the Final 8, set to take place in Bologna, Italy, in November. This match was Shelton's first since his loss to Alexander Zverev in the U.S. Open final.
In other Davis Cup action, South Korea is on the brink of making history as the first Asian nation to reach the Final 8 after taking a 2-0 lead over India. Kwon Soon-woo and Hyeon Chung came back from set deficits to win their respective matches at Seoul's Olympic tennis center.
Austria and Belgium are currently tied 1-1, while other matchups include Chile vs. Spain, Germany vs. Croatia, Britain vs. Ecuador, and Canada vs. France. Alexander Zverev is slated to compete for Germany in their matches against Croatia this weekend.