Defending champion Canada advanced to the Davis Cup Final 8 on Saturday, but the United States was eliminated by Finland, who reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 3-0 win.
Otto Virtanen saved two match points in the decisive tiebreaker and defeated Mackenzie McDonald 7:6 (5), 1:6, 7:6 (7). Emil Ruusuvuori defeated Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 6-4, sealing the win on his fourth match point – and giving debutants Finland a historic win in Split, Croatia, in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals.
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Finland, together with the Netherlands, managed to leave Group D and reach the Final 8 in the southern Spanish city of Malaga in November.
“You can hear it from the (fans). It means a lot for the whole country, for tennis in Finland. This is a huge deal,” Ruusuvuori said. “We’re going to Malaga!”
Canada defeated Chile 2-1. Alexis Galarneau’s 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Alejandro Tabilo in the opening game was enough to secure Canada’s place in Malaga.
Nicolas Jarry leveled the tie by defeating Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-4, but a 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory by Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil over Marcelo Tomás Barrios Vera and Tabilo secured Canada’s victory first place in Group A.
Italy could progress from this group along with Canada if they win at least one game in Bologna on Sunday.
Last year’s runners-up Australia also secured their return to the Final 8 with a 3-0 win over Switzerland in Manchester.
Depending on the outcome of the Great Britain v France game on Sunday, Australia would have suffered a defeat in one of the games.
Thanasi Kokkinakis got Australia on its way with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Dominic Stricker and Alex de Minaur defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-4, 6-3.
Max Purcell and Matt Ebden then won their third match of the week in straight sets, defeating Huesler and Stricker 6-2, 6-4 and securing one of the top two spots in Group B.
“We just have a great connection on the court,” Purcell said. “Such a good understanding of where we are going, what our strengths are and how we cover the space, which is a big part of the doubles.”
The Czech Republic defeated Serbia 3-0 to secure first place in Group C. Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek defeated Novak Djokovic and Nikola Cacic 7-5, 6-7 (5), 10-3. Both countries were already through with two wins each in Valencia.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
2023-09-17 02:51:18
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