Davis Cup 2024 Group Stage Results: Canada, Australia prevail; Netherlands stunned by Belgium | Day 1, September 10
As the 124th version of the legendary Davis Cup commences, fans have been blessed with some mouth-watering fixtures already. The iconic ITF tournament called the 'World Cup of Tennis' will go on till September 15 for the Group Stages having started yesterday.
The group stages will be at Unipol Arena, AO Arena, Pabellon Fuente de San Luis and Hengqin International Tennis Centre in Bologna, Manchester, Valencia and Zhuhai, respectively. The Knockout rounds will begin from November 19 till the 24th and will be played at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria MartÃn Carpena in Malaga.
Since this is a team tournament, four groups have been created with four teams in each group, and two teams topping their respective groups will be reaching the knockout stages in November at Malaga. The Davis Cup matches are of the best-of-three format, with two singles matches followed by one doubles fixture.
Let's look at how teams have fared at the 2024 Davis Cup so far.
Australia shines while the Netherlands suffer upsets; everything unfolding at the Davis Cup so far
Eight teams have started their Davis Cup campaigns, with Australia stunning France in the opening rounds of the Group Stage. Thanasi Kokkinakis gave Australia his career Davis Cup performance in Valencia against World No. 25 Arthur Fils, 7-6(4) 7-6(3). Kokkinakis was a late addition to the Australian contingent after US Open quarterfinalist Alex de Minaur dropped out due to injuries.
France's No.1 player Ugo Humbert did help his country's hopes by winning over Alexei Popyrin in straight sets, with Humbert hitting 17 winners compared to Popyrin's five. It leveled both the country's ties, leaving out for their fate to be decided through doubles results, where Matt Ebden and Max Purcell triumphed over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
The 2022 Davis Cup Champions, Canada, also started their tournament excellently, beating Argentina 2-1. Denis Shapovalov defeated Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets to give Canada the advantage. Felix Auger-Aliassime then increased their margin with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sebastian Baez to put Canada 2-0 up where Argentina managed to get one point in the doubles.
Germany also started on a solid foot over Slovakia as Maximilian Marterer beat Lukas Klein 6-4, 7-5, and Yannick Hanfmann beat Jozef Kovalik 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), with Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz also giving them a doubles victory. Belgium surprised everyone with their stunning display of tennis. Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp started by winning over debutant Raphael Collignon.
Then, Zizou Bergs beat Tallon Griekspoor, and Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen made a stunning comeback to win their doubles fixture 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 over Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof, ending the tally with Belgium beating the Netherlands 2-1.