Two American stars, Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz will power the USA strong team at the quarter-final stage of the Davis Cup. The final stage of the prestigious international tennis tournament will be held in Malaga, Spain, starting from November 19. Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia, the United States, Germany, Canada and Argentina will be the stars at the Martin Carpena Arena this time around.
Shelton and Fritz will be joining their fellows, Tommy Paul, and doubles experts Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram to seek the 33rd Davis Cup championship. The team will be captained by Bob Bryan. They will meet last year’s finalist, Australia, in their quarter-final match in Malaga.
Fritz and Friends are Aiming for the Championship
Taylor Fritz came as a top national player and will hopefully boost the US team’s performance at the Davis Cup. The US Open finalist is expected to take a bigger step at this year’s Davis Cup edition. The world No. 7 has always been rather solid indoors and generally has played good tennis this year. He showed some positive outcomes the last time he played at the Laver Cup despite the failure to bring a third straight victory for the Team World.
Fritz will also be accompanied by two other top-20 singles players: Tommy Paul (No. 13) and Ben Shelton (No. 17) plus two top-30 doubles players Rajeev Ram (No. 10) and Austin Krajicek (No. 28). Ben Shelton has proven himself as one of the best players on the ATP Tour. He has proven recently at the Laver Cup how tough he can be indoors, beating Daniil Medvedev in three sets.
Fritz and friends will become a good combination of excellent singles players – two right-handed players and one left-handed – that can give them more flexibility. All of them have a powerful serve and won’t be easy to break in somewhat quicker conditions in Malaga.
Will it be the Right Time for Bob Bryan’s Team?
The US team last won the Davis Cup in 2007. The team was composed of Andy Roddick, James Blake, Mike Bryan, and Bob Bryan, with captain Patrick McEnroe. They beat Russia in a 4-1 final. The US team has the most Davis Cup championships, with 32 titles. The last time the country reached the quarter-final was two years ago. The US team was only able to reach the semifinals in 2008, 2012, and 2018 as their best results.
Last year, the US team was eliminated in the Group D stage held at the Gripe Arena in Split, Croatia. Frances Tiafoe and friends only grabbed one victory out of three matches that they had played. Tiafoe and Tea, lost to Finland and the Netherlands, two countries to qualify to the quarter-final as the top two teams in Group D.
Now, powered by US Open finalist (Fritz) and semifinalist (Shelton), Bob Bryan might have other expectations this time. Fritz and Shelton also built chemistry when they won the match over Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverez at the Laver Cup. Krajicek and Ram also become powerful resources this time of their positive result this year. Krajicek earned his first Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics this summer. He earned a silver medal with Ram. The Krajicek and Ram pairing knocked off Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal at the Paris Games.
The Path for Fritz and Friends Won’t Be Smooth
The US team will start the journey facing the 2023 Davis Cup finalist, Australia. The trio of Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thomson, and Thanasi Kokkinakis will be keen on helping their team recapture the crown that was last won in 2003. Fritz and Friends would possibly face the defending champion Italy in the semi-final.
Italy also has the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner on their side to help them defend the title. But, Italy will first face Argentina in the quarter-final. On the other side of the draw, Germany will face Canada and the Netherlands will meet 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. A team of Brandon Nakashima, Reilly Opelka, MacKenzie McDonald, Krajicek, and Ram all contributed to the Group C championship. The team has changed into a more powerful squad in the hope of giving better results next November.
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