We now know the eight nations that have qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2023 Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain. They are Canada, Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Serbia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Italy.
The Australians reached the quarterfinals by sweeping Switzerland three matches to none on Saturday. In the two meaningful singles matches, Thanasi Kokkinakis of Adelaide defeated Dominic Stricker 6-3, 7-5, and Alex de Minaur of Sydney defeated Marc-Andrea Husler 6-4, 6-3. Switzerland had lost its first two ties of the week to Great Britain and France. Australia reached the finals of the 2022 Davis Cup Final before losing to Canada.
The fact the Canada is in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in 2023 are a surprise. The Canadians won Group A in Bologna, Italy without their three most notable superstars in Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic. The Canadian star of the week was the 200th ranked player in the world, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, who had a perfect record of five wins and zero losses. Meanwhile, Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, the 158th ranked player in the world, won two key singles matches to secure Davis Cup wins wins over Sweden and Italy.
It was a stunning surprise that Finland is in the Davis Cup quarterfinals and not the United States. On Saturday in Split, Croatia, Finland knocked out the Americans after singles wins by Otto Virtanen and Emil Ruesvuori. Virtanen, the 126th ranked player in the world, upset the 39th ranked player, Mackenzie McDonald, 7-6, 1-6, 7-6. Ruusuvuori, the 57th ranked player in the world, upset Tommy Paul, the 13th ranked player, 7-6, 6-4.
For FREE!
