Team USA crash out of Davis Cup Finals after Ben Shelton loss, controversial doubles decision; fail to reach SF for 5th straight year
The United States were eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals after losing their quarterfinal tie to last year's runners-up Australia, with Ben Shelton being involved in both their defeats. This was the fifth successive edition when the Americans failed to reach the semifinals of the tournament.
USA vs Australia was a highly-anticipated clash between the two most successful nations at the Davis Cup. Ben Shelton and Thanasi Kokkinakis played out the first match of the tie, with the Aussie registering a shock win over the American, winning 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(14).
Next up was World No. 4 Taylor Fritz against World No. 9 Alex de Minaur, and the US Open runner-up registered his second win over the Aussie this month, winning 6-3, 6-4 to keep the Americans in the tie. The doubles fixture would decide the outcome of the tie, and Australia sent in World No. 3 Jordan Thompson and 13th-ranked Matthew Ebden.
The United States had Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, who were their highest-ranked doubles players and played regularly during the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals. However, they sent in Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul instead. Ebden and Thompson put in a fine performance and won 6-4, 6-4 to see Australia through to the Davis Cup semifinals for the third successive year.
The United States failed to reach the final four of the competition for the fifth successive year. The last time they made it to the semifinals was in 2018 when they lost 2-3 to eventual winners Croatia.
The Americans suffered successive group-stage exits in the Davis Cup Finals in 2019 and 2021 (no tournament in 2020). They reached the quarterfinals in 2022 but lost in the group stages again in 2023.
Ben Shelton's win-loss record stands at 42-26 after USA's Davis Cup exit
Ben Shelton will end his 2024 season with 42 wins out of 68 matches, winning the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships after beating Frances Tiafoe in the final. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open before narrowly losing to Alexander Zverev.
Shelton's most recent notable performance was his run to the final at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. The American reached the quarterfinals with straight-set wins over Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Stan Wawrinka.
Here, he beat Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4 to reach the semifinals, where he triumphed 6-3, 7-6(9) over Arthur Fils to reach the final. Shelton suffered a 4-6, 6-7(4) loss to Giovanni Mpetschi Perricard in the title clash in Basel.
The American's best Grand Slam performance came at Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round before losing to Jannik Sinner. He reached the third round at the other three Majors.