The Czech Republic secured a spot in the Davis Cup Final 8 by defeating the United States, following losses by American players Ben Shelton and Learner Tien in their singles matches on Saturday. Jakub Mensik overcame Shelton with scores of 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, leveling the best-of-five series at 2-2. Jiri Lehecka then thrilled the Prague crowd by defeating Tien 6-3, 7-5 in the decisive match.
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This marks Shelton's second consecutive defeat, having lost to Lehecka the previous day. The American duo of Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek had initially put the U.S. ahead in the series, winning their doubles match against Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Riki 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (8).
Austria also advanced to the Final 8 after Jurji Rodionov defeated Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 7-6, 6-3, establishing an unassailable 3-1 lead. Austria secured victory in the doubles match as well after splitting the initial singles contests with Belgium.
In another matchup, Britain took a 2-0 lead against Ecuador thanks to wins from Toby Samuel and Wimbledon semifinalist Arthur Fery in their singles matches.
Alexander Zverev gave Germany a 1-0 lead over Croatia with a victory over Matej Dodig, winning 6-4, 7-6 (3). However, Dino Prizmic equalized for Croatia by defeating Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-3. This was Zverev’s first match since his U.S. Open title win.
Both doubles and reverse singles matches are set for Sunday in this best-of-five series, with the winning team proceeding to the Final 8 in Bologna, Italy, in November.
South Korea made history as the first Asian nation to reach the Final 8, clinching a 3-1 victory over India. The South Koreans trailed in both singles matches on Friday but rallied to lead 2-0. Although they lost the opening doubles match on Saturday, Soonwoo Kwan secured victory by defeating Sumit Nagal 6-1, 6-2 in the first reverse singles.