Defending champions Italy will take on Argentina in the top half of the draw in the Davis Cup Final 8 knock-out stage from 19 to 24 November at the Palacio de Deportes José Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga, while the USA have been drawn against Australia.
In the bottom half of the draw 2023 world champions Canada will face Germany. The winner of thie tie will meet either Spain or the Netherlands.
Italy vs Argentina
Italy is aiming to win back-to-back Davis Cup titles. The team coached by Filippo Volandri topped the Group A in Bologna ahead of the Netherlands, Brazil and Belgium. World number 1 Jannik Sinner did not play in the Group stage, but Italy won all of three ties in the Group stage maintaining their perfect record. Matteo Berrettini made a successful return by scoring a 3-0 winning record. He came back from one set down to beat Botic Van der Zandschulp 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the final tie against the Netherlands. Berrettini won three ATP titles in Marrakesh, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. Flavio Cobolli scored his first Davis Cup win, beating Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. Lorenzo Musetti, who did not play in Bologna last week, is expected to return for the knock-out stage. Musetti won the Olympic bronze medal in Paris and reached the semifinal at the Wimbledon.
The Argentine team captained by Guillermo Coria is expected to field world number 26 Sebastian Baez, world number 31 Francisco Cerundolo, world number 34 Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the singles the team formed by Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzales. Argentina finished second in Group D behind Canada in Manchester. The South American team won the Davis Cup in 2016.
Baez is the only Argentine top 30 player in the ATP Ranking. He won two titles in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile and reached the semifinals in Cordoba and Hamburg. Cerundolo won the Umag title beating Lorenzo Musetti in the final last July.
USA vs Australia
The US team captained by Bob Bryan topped Group C in Zhuhai ahead of Germany in Zhuhai with a perfect 3-0 record with a squad formed by Brandon Nakashima, Reilly Opelka, Mackenzie McDonald and Olympic doubles silver medallists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. They won eight of the nine matches thet played. Nakashima scored a perfect 3-0 record. The US player has won 12 of the last 15 matches.
The US team qualified for the knock-out stage despite playing without US Open finalist Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton. They beat Chile 3-0 in the opening tie, where all three matches were decided in three third-set tie-breaks.
“Australia is a super-deep, tough team. Spain is obviously a ridiculous team. Spain is insane”, said Opelka.
The USA is aiming to win a record 33rd Davis Cup title and the first Trophy since 2007 when they beat Russia in Portland. The US team
Australia won 28 Davis Cup titles and finished runner-up to Italy last year. They are aiming to win their first Davis Cup title since 2003.
Australia features three top 30 players: world number 11 Alex De Minaur, number 24 Alexei Popyrin and number 29 Jordan Thompson and the doubles team formed by Thompson and Max Purcell. Popyrin won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto and beat Novak Djokovic at the US Open.
Australia is the only nation to come back from 0-2 down in a final in the 104-year-old Davis Cup history, when it beat the USA in the 1939 title match.
Spain vs Netherlands
This year’s Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz led Spain to top position in Group B in Valencia with a 6-3 6-3 win over France’s Hugo Humbert. In the other singles match of this tie Roberto Bautista Agut came back from one set down to beat French rising star Arthur Fils 2-6 7-5 6-3.
The Dutch team needed just one match-win over Italy. Wesley Koolhof and Botic Van der Zandschulp clinched the decisive doubles match 7-6 7-5 against Flavio Cobolli and Andrea Vavassori to secure the Netherlands a spot in the Final 8 for the third consecutive year.
Canada vs Germany
Canada featuring Felix Auger Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Gabriel Diallo, Vasek Pospisil and Alexis Galarneu booked its spot in the Final 8 during last week’s Group Stage in Manchester. The Canadian team won all three ties against Argentina, Finland and Great Britain.
Three-time Davis Cup champion Germany finished second in Group C with a 2-1 record after losing to the United States and beating Slovakia and Chile in Zhuhai.
Canada last faced Germany in the quarter finals of their 2022 Davis Cup title winning campaign. The North American secured the win with a singles victory for Auger Aliassime over Oscar Otte and Denis Shapovalov and a win in the doubles match for Shapovalov and Pospisil over Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz.
Spain then crowned a successful week with a 2-1 win over Australia last Sunday.
