We now know the eight countries participating in the 2026 Davis Cup Finals. Joining host Italy in Bologna in November are Canada, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Great Britain, Spain and South Korea.
This past weekend in the second round of Davis Cup qualifying, Canada beat France 3-1 in Quebec City, Spain trounced Chile 4-0 in Santiago, Germany beat Croatia 3-1 in Halle, Great Britain trounced Ecuador 4-0 in London, Austria beat Belgium 3-1 in Vienna, South Korea beat India 3-1 in Seoul, and the Czech Republic beat the United States 3-2 in Prague.
The wins by Austria, Czechia and Canada were notable. Austria got two wins from Jurij Rodionov, the 139th ranked player in the world. Rodionov beat Gauthier Onclin 6-4, 6-1 on Friday, and upset world number 38 Zizou Bergs 7-6, 6-3 to clinch the tie for Austria on Saturday.
In Prague, world number four and recent United States Open finalist Ben Shelton came up flat as he lost twice–6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka, and then 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to Jakub Mensik. Czechia then moved on to Italy when Lehecka beat Learner Tien 6-3, 7-5.
In Quebec City, we saw a huge surprise. World number 205 Liam Draxl upset the 31st ranked player Arthur Rinderknech in straight sets rather convincingly, 6-2, 7-5.
It is interesting that six of the eight nations in the 2026 Davis Cup Finals are from Europe. Italy has won the last three Davis Cup Finals, as they beat Australia in the final in 2023, the Netherlands in the final in 2024, and Spain in the final of 2025. The Italians may not have world number one Jannik Sinner at the 2026 Davis Cup final as he has been out since Wimbledon with a knee injury.
The Italians did not have Sinner with when they won the 2025 Davis Cup. Last year Sinner cited fatigue for his absence. The Italians were still victorious with Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli leading the way.
