Tennis: Key Davis Cup showdowns to look out for, from Carlos Alcaraz to Jack Draper
The 2024 Davis Cup Finals group stage is serving up some enticing battles, as players and nations battle to reach the knockout stages in November.
Tennis
There are some mouth-watering ties in store at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals (10-15 September).
The 16 World Group nations are vying for spots in the knockout stages two months from now, to be in with a shot at becoming tennis world champions. They will need to slug out three group stage ties, featuring three matches apiece, to book their trip to Malaga in November.
Player selections are confirmed by nations at least an hour before the scheduled start of play. Singles matches are contested between the corresponding number one singles players, with the same for the number two singles players.
Here are some of the matchups to watch out for in this week’s Davis Cup action.
Alexei Popyrin (Australia) vs Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Carlos Alcaraz’s toughest test in the group stage will come against Alexei Popyrin, who has risen to number 24 in the ATP world rankings after his stunning US Open victory against Novak Djokovic.
The pair’s only meeting thus far came in 2021, where Alcaraz prevailed after three sets and two tiebreaks at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina, USA.
If selected to meet in the singles by their countries, it'll be a chance for the Spaniard to quickly bounce back after his early exit at the US Open to unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. However, the home advantage will surely give ‘Carlitos’ extra motivation when they are set to meet in Valencia.
Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) vs Jack Draper (Great Britain)
Canada and Great Britain will hope to fight for top spot in Manchester, where the Canadians can rely on one of their 2022 champions in Felix Auger-Aliassime. His last time representing Canada was at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, where the 24-year-old won bronze in the mixed doubles and reached the men’s singles semi-final.
Meanwhile, Jack Draper is in the form of his life and fresh off the plane from New York, where he recorded a Grand Slam best of a semi-final finish at the US Open, only losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in a gruelling affair.
Jack Draper (front) and Felix Auger-Aliassime embrace at the Cincinnati Open.
Auger-Aliassime and Draper faced off little under a month ago at the Cincinnati Open, which Draper won 5-7 6-4 6-4, albeit with a controversial match point which both players agreed should not have counted.
Matthew Ebden (Australia) vs Marcel Granollers (Spain)
There are also some exciting matches in store in the doubles lineups; world number five Matthew Ebden and his partner are likely to face a duo including Marcel Granollers, the joint number one in the men’s doubles world ranking.
Ebden is the defending Olympic men’s doubles champion from Paris 2024, though his teammate in France, John Peers is not in the Australian Davis Cup squad. Meanwhile, 38-year-old Granollers brings vast experience to the Spanish side, winning all three of his Davis Cup matches en route to victory in the 2019 edition.
Granollers leads 2-1 in their head-to-head singles record, but Ebden was victorious against his Catalan counterpart in their last doubles meeting, which came in the second round of the Paris 2024 Olympics.