Text size
Argentina sealed its ticket to the Davis Cup ‘Final 8’ in November by beating Finland 3-0 on Saturday in the third day of the group stage, where Brazil beat Belgium 2-1 to keep its hopes alive.
After their defeat on the first day of competition on Tuesday against Canada (2-1), the Argentines managed to react. They first beat the British hosts in Group D 2-1 in Manchester, before their clear victory against the Finns.
Tomás Etcheverry (34th) started the day by winning 7-6 (7/5) and 6-3 against Eero Vasa (703rd) and then Francisco Cerúndolo (31st) recovered from a bad start to end up winning 6-7 (4/7), 6-1 and 6-0 against Otto Virtanen (110th).
A win in the doubles match would have given Argentina mathematical qualification, without having to depend on the result of the Canada-Great Britain match on Sunday, and Máximo González and Andrés Molteni achieved that definitive point with a 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 and 6-3 over Harri Heliovaara and Patrick Kaukovalta.
Argentina will therefore be in the top eight in Malaga (Spain) in November and will aspire to win the ‘Ensaladera’, a trophy that it has only won once in its history, in 2016.
Brazil’s presence in the final phase is less clear, despite also winning, in this case by 2-1 against Belgium in Group A which is being played in Bologna (Italy).
Brazil had lost 2-1 to Italy and the Netherlands in the first two rounds, and was therefore on the ropes for the final day. The victory allows them to stay in the game, but it will depend on the final result of the duel between Italy and the Netherlands on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Joao Fonseca (158th) got off to a good start in his match against Belgian Raphael Collignon (194th), beating him 6-3, 6-7 (2/7) and 6-3, and then Thiago Monteiro (76th) did the same 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) and 7-5 against Zizou Bergs (72nd) in a tough match.
In the doubles match, Belgians Sander Gill and Joran Vliegen beat Rafael Matos and Felipe Meligeni 6-3, 3-6 and 6-4.
That point allowed Belgium to stay alive and, like Brazil, will depend on the result of Italy-Netherlands to see if they can make it to the ‘Final 8’, in a very open group where various combinations could occur in the eventual play-offs.
In the remaining groups, there is nothing at stake after Spain and Australia sealed their qualification in Group B on Friday in Valencia (Spain), and the United States and Germany in Group C, in Zhuhai (China).
The United States dominated Germany 2-1 in a match where only honor was at stake and thus finished top of their group. The top two teams in each group advance to the ‘Final 8’ in Malaga.
Spain and Australia, with their mission accomplished, will close their participation on Sunday in a contest where only the honour of leadership will be at stake.
In that tie, France was able to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 on Saturday in a duel between two eliminated teams. The French at least avoided finishing bottom.
Dr
