Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center.
The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup.
However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1.
Photo: CNA
Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4.
Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two hours.
That set up a showdown between Wu and Basic on the hard court, with Wu again rescuing Taiwan, beating Basic 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 15 minutes.
The 12 nations that win their World Group I ties advance to the 2025 Davis Cup qualifiers, while the losers would compete in the World Group I playoffs.
Meanwhile, in the Davis Cup Finals on Saturday, defending champions Italy qualified for the final eight without playing, while Argentina advanced with a dominant 3-0 win over Finland.
Italy and Argentina join Spain, Australia, the US and Germany, who are already through to the eight-team finals in Malaga, Spain, from Nov. 19-24.
The last two places were up for grabs yesterday, with Britain needing to beat Canada 3-0 at home in Manchester, England, to take the Group D berth ahead of the Canadians.
All is to play for in Group A between Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands, depending on the result of the clash between the Dutch and Italy.
In Bologna, Italy advanced thanks to Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Belgium.
Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro beat Belgian Zizou Bergs 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 after Joao Fonseca defeated Raphael Collignon 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Belgium kept their hopes alive thanks to their doubles victory.
In Group D, Guillermo Coria’s Argentina powered back after 2-1 to Canada on Tuesday last week crushing last year’s semi-finalists Finland.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Eero Vasa 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 with Francisco Cerundolo battling past Otto Virtanen 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-0
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni survived dropping their opening set to take the doubles. Argentina return to the last eight for the first time since 2019.
“We knew we had to win 3-0,” Gonzalez said.
“The Davis Cup was a tournament I always dreamed about as a child. It was so important to get the first point,” Etcheverry added.
In China, Reilly Opelka saved two match points, with Brandon Nakashima also winning as the US beat Germany 2-1 to take top spot in Group C.
Both 32-time tournament winners the US and Germany were already through to the final eight, but were playing for top spot in the group which helps determine seeding.
Bob Bryan’s US team made it three wins out of three having also defeated Slovakia and Chile.
Opelka beat Germany’s Henri Squire 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (11/9), 6-3 in Zhuhai, China, with Nakashima easing past Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-2.
Germany’s Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz won the doubles rubber.
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