By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, September 23, 2024
Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in Laver Cup and could join forces again in Davis Cup next month.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty for Laver Cup
A loaded line-up leads the United States' Davis Cup quest.
U.S. Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan today announced that Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek will represent the USA in the 2024 Davis Cup Final 8, to be played November 19-24 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain.
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The United States will face Australia in a quarterfinal clash of the two most successful nations in Davis Cup history.
The USA is playing for a record-extending 33rd Davis Cup championship—and first Davis Cup crown since 2007 when it beat Russia in the final staged in Portland, Oregon.
The 28-time Davis Cup champion Australia was runner-up to Italy last year. Captain Lleyton Hewitt’s squad is playing for its first Davis Cup championship since 2003.
The 2024 Davis Cup Final 8 Draw is here:
Italy vs. Argentina
Australia vs. United States
Germany vs. Canada
Netherlands vs. Spain
The United States returned to the Davis Cup Final 8 by wrapping a 3-0 week to capture Group C with victories over Chile, Slovakia and Germany.
An unsung team of Brandon Nakashima, Reilly Opelka, Mackenzie McDonald and Olympic doubles silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram all contributed to the Group C championship. Captain Bob Bryan’s crew won eight of the nine matches it played in Zhuhai with world No. 40 Brandon Nakashima leading the charge with a perfect 3-0 record.
Sharing the doubles court for the first time last weekend, Fritz and Shelton made immediate impression for Team World at Laver Cup Berlin.
US Open finalist Fritz and 2023 semifinalist Shelton topped Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4 in high-quality doubles victory that Shelton suggested could be a prelude to the pair partnering for a Davis Cup reunion in Malaga.
"It makes life pretty easy when you’re playing with a guy who’s moving like Taylor is right now,” Shelton said. “He’s pretty light on his feet. We had a lot of fun.
“This is our first time playing together and I think the chemistry is pretty good. It’s tough that we can’t play again together here, but I think you’ll see us on the doubles court again in the future.”
Top-ranked American Fritz concurred.
“If it keeps going well you can see us at Davis Cup—maybe,” Fritz said.
Fritz is ranked No. 7 after his run to the US Open singles final, the first American man to reach a Grand Slam men’s singles final since Andy Roddick at WImbledon in 2009. He’s played in nine Davis Cup ties since debuting in 2019 and has a 6-3 singles record in Davis Cup play.
The 27-year-old Paul is ranked No 13 in singles and has won two of his three career ATP singles titles this year, in Dallas on an indoor hard court and at Queens Club on grass. He’s played in nine career Davis Cup ties since debuting in 2020 and has a 5-3 record in singles.
Shelton, 21, is ranked No. 17 in singles and won his second ATP singles title this year in Houston on clay. In 2023, he became the youngest American man to reach the US Open semifinals since Michael Chang in 1992.This is his debut Davis Cup nomination.
Ram, 40, is ranked No. 10 in doubles and has gone 10-3 in Davis Cup doubles since debuting in 2021. Ram is a former world doubles No. 1, a four-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion and a two-time ATP Finals doubles champion, and earned his second Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics this summer, earning silver with Krajicek.
Krajicek, 34, is ranked No. 28 in doubles and is 6-2 in Davis Cup doubles since debuting in 2023. A former doubles world No. 1 and 2023 French Open champion, Krajicek earned his first Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics this summer, earning silver with Ram. The Krajicek and Ram pairing knocked off Carlos Alcaraz and Rafa Nadal at the Paris Games.
Australia boasts three Top 30-ranked players in No. 11 Alex de Minaur, No. 24 Alexei Popyrin, who upset Novak Djokovic at the US Open, and No. 29 Jordan Thompson.
The Aussie doubles team of Max Purcell and Thompson won the US Open doubles championship earlier this month. That victory came after Aussies Matthew Ebden and John Peers edged Krajicek and Ram, 10-8 in the match tiebreaker, to win the Olympic doubles gold medal.
In its storied 104-year Davis Cup history, Australia made its mark as the only nation to rally from an 0-2 deficit in the final when it fought back from 0-2 down to defeat the United States in the 1939 final.