Key Takeaways
- Czech Republic defeats United States 3-2 in Davis Cup Round 2.
- Austria upsets Belgium 3-1 in another tight match.
- Canada secures victory over France 3-1 in a closely contested series.
The Czech Republic secured a 3-2 victory over the United States in Round 2 of Davis Cup qualifying on Saturday in Prague. The Czech team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the reverse singles matches, advancing to the quarterfinals.
The United States initially took a 2-1 lead when the doubles duo of Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek defeated Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (8).
However, Ben Shelton, ranked world No. 15, fought back to defeat U.S. Open finalist Ben Shelton 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, tying the match at 2-2.
American Learner Tien, who had led the U.S. 1-0 on Friday, faced Jiri Lehecka in the deciding match. The match featured six breaks of serve, with Lehecka earning four of them to defeat Tien 6-3, 7-5, securing the Czech Republic's advancement.
In other matches, Austria defeated Belgium 3-1 in Vienna. Jurji Rodionov, ranked No. 142, upset No. 38 Zizou Bergs 7-6 (6), 6-3, and the Austrian doubles team of Lucas Mielder and Neil Oberleitner broke a 1-1 tie by defeating Sander Gille and Joran Vliegan 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Rodionov then won his second singles match against Gauthier Onclin 6-4, 6-1, setting up the Austrian victory.
South Korea overcame India 3-1 in Seoul. Soonwoo Kwon won his second singles match against Sumit Nagal 6-1, 6-2, after leading off with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Dhakshineswar Suresh on Friday.
India's doubles duo of N Sriram Balaji and Suresh forced a fourth match with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over NamJi-sung Nam and Park Ui-sung.
Canada secured a 3-1 victory over France in Quebec City. World No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime won both his matches in three sets, following up a stunning win by Liam Draxl, who defeated Quentin Halys 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3.
France trimmed the deficit to 2-1, but Auger-Aliassime dropped the first set to Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, before rallying to win 4-6, 7-6.
