By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, September 15, 2022
Taylor Fritz defeated Alexander Bublik to clinch the United States' Davis Cup win over Kazakhstan in Glasgow..
Photo credit: Getty
Tommy Paul surged at the start and Taylor Fritz closed with confidence to keep the United States unbeaten in Glasgow this week.
Less than 12 hours after defeating Great Britain in a tie that finished minutes before 1 a.m. in Glasgow, the U.S. Davis Cup squad was energized on the slow Emirates Arena hard court. Paul and Fritz each scored singles wins to give the United States an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Kazakhstan in the best-of-three match Group D tie.
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In a battle of booming severs, Fritz fended off dangerous Alexander Bublik 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-3 to clinch the win.
Earlier, Tommy Paul powered through eight of the first nine games defeating Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-4 in the opening match.
"I felt pretty comfortable, even though the games were close," Paul said. "The first set I felt like I was in full control. He wasn't putting too much pressure on me, so I felt like I could dictate everything in the first set. The second set got tricky."
Paul improved to 2-0 on the week following his three-set win over British No. 2 Dan Evans yesterday.
The victory puts the United States on top of Group D standings with a 2-0 mark as the nations compete for a spot in the knockout-quarterfinal round in Malaga, Spain, in November. The U.S. must finish in the top two of the four-nation Group D to do that, with one tie remaining vs. the Netherlands on Saturday.
Group D Schedule
Saturday, September 17, 9 a.m.
USA v. Netherlands; Tennis Channel
Twelve total nations -- four groups of four -- are playing in the round-robin-style Group Stage this week, and the top two nations in each group will advance to Malaga. The three other groups are playing in Valencia, Spain; Bologna, Italy; and Hamburg, Germany.