LONDON — Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek clinched a spot for the US within the Davis Cup finals group spherical by profitable the doubles match in opposition to Ukraine on Friday for an insurmountable 3-0 lead within the best-of-five-match qualifying collection in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Ram and Krajicek beat Illya Beloborodko and Oleksii Krutykh 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The Individuals personal a mixed 5 Grand Slam titles between them and every has been ranked No. 1 in doubles.
Their victory adopted a profitable opening day of singles for captain Bob Bryan’s U.S. staff on Thursday, when Sebastian Korda defeated Krutykh 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 and Christopher Eubanks changed an injured Taylor Fritz within the lineup and overwhelmed Viacheslav Bielinskyi 6-3, 6-2.
Ukraine was speculated to host the US for these qualifying matches. However they had been moved to an indoor laborious court docket at SEB Enviornment in Lithuania due to the continued struggle in Ukraine, which started when Russia invaded in February 2022.
“We all know it is the hardest state of affairs they might be in at house, so the very fact they got here out and competed as laborious as they did says loads about who they’re,” Ram mentioned concerning the Ukrainians.
The Individuals superior to the subsequent spherical for the fifth consecutive time underneath the present Davis Cup format, however they’ve solely then made it to the quarterfinals as soon as in that span, in 2022. The nation has received a file 32 titles within the males’s staff competitors, most not too long ago in 2007, when Bryan was on the roster.
The 12 winners from this week’s spherical, which concludes Sunday, will be a part of reigning champion Italy, 2023 runner-up Australia and wild-card entries Britain and Spain within the finals group stage in September. Then eight groups will make it to the quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain, in November, when a champion might be decided.
Six matchups started Friday and can wrap up Saturday: Slovakia at Serbia (which is with out No. 1 Novak Djokovic); South Korea at Canada; Germany at Hungary; Switzerland at Netherlands; Portugal at Finland; and Brazil at Sweden.
Qualifying matches that might be performed Saturday and Sunday: Belgium at Croatia; Israel at Czech Republic; France at Taiwan; Kazakhstan at Argentina; and Peru at Chile.
