By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Monday, August 14, 2023
A pair of Grand Slam semifinalists will lead the United States Davis Cup squad next month.
US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe and Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul head an American team that features Mackenzie McDonald, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, U.S. captain Bob Bryan announced today.
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The U.S. squad will contest the 2023 Davis Cup Finals -- Group Stage matches September 12-17 in Split, Croatia.
The Group Stage consists of four groups of four nations competing to advance to the eight-nation knockout stage that will crown this year’s Davis Cup champion November 21-26 in Malaga, Spain.
The U.S. is competing in Group D in Split and will play Croatia, Finland and the Netherlands in a round-robin competition where the top two finishers in the Group advance to Malaga. Each matchup is a best-of-three tie featuring two singles and one doubles match.
The dates and times of the Americans’ matches are here:
Group D (Split):
All matches begin at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET)
United States vs. Croatia; Wednesday, September 13
United States vs. the Netherlands; Thursday, September 14
United States vs. Finland; Saturday, September 16
Tiafoe, 25, is ranked a career-high No. 10 in singles, having made his Top 10 debut earlier this summer. He’s been a part of the Davis Cup team since 2018 and has competed for the U.S. in the Finals each of the last two years.
Paul, 25, is ranked a career-high No. 13 in singles, having defeated world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz last week en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal in Toronto. He’s played in seven Davis Cup ties for the U.S. since debuting in 2020 and has a 5-1 singles record.
McDonald, 28, is ranked a career-high No. 43 in singles. He made his Davis Cup debut with a singles victory in February’s Qualifying-round defeat of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
Krajicek, 33, is ranked No. 3 in doubles and held the world No. 1 doubles ranking earlier this summer after winning his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. He made his Davis Cup debut in February’s Qualifying tie vs. Uzbekistan, where he and Ram clinched victory.
Ram, 39, is ranked No. 4 in doubles and is a former doubles world No. 1 himself. He’s played in six ties for the U.S., going 5-1 in doubles since debuting in 2021.
The U.S. holds an overall 225-77 record in Davis Cup competition and has won the title a record 32 times. For more information, including access to player and historical records, please visit www.daviscup.com.
Photo credit: Vaughn Ridley/Getty