By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Friday, January 5, 2024
A trio of big hitters will lead the U.S. Davis Cup squad.
Taylor Fritz, Sebastian Korda and Christopher Eubanks will represent the U.S. in its 2024 Davis Cup Qualifying tie vs. Ukraine, set for February 1-2 at SEB Arena in Vilnius, Lithuania.
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U.S. captain Bob Bryan also selected doubles standouts Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek to the team.
The U.S. and Ukraine were drawn to play each other in the Qualifier, with Ukraine drawing the choice of ground.
The SEB Arena will also host the World Group I tie between Lithuania and Georgia on February 3-4. Both ties will be played on an indoor hard court.
Tennis Channel will carry coverage in the United States.
The U.S.-Ukraine Qualifier is a best-of-five match series, beginning with two singles matches on Thursday, February 1, beginning at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET). A doubles match and two reverse singles matches will follow on Friday, February 2, beginning at 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).
The first to win three of those matches will advance to the 2024 Davis Cup Finals – a 16-nation, multi-city competition held later this year, culminating with the Final 8 stage in November in Malaga, Spain.
This will be the first meeting between the U.S. and Ukraine in Davis Cup, though the U.S. notably hosted Ukraine in a 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier in Asheville, N.C., that helped raise more than $1 million for Ukraine crisis relief through the Tennis Plays for Peace initiative.
The U.S. qualified for the Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals last year but returned to this year’s Qualifying pool after failing to advance to the Final 8.
Ukraine was promoted to the Qualifying pool this year after defeating Colombia in a World Group I tie in September.
The 26-year-old Fritz is the top-ranked American man in singles at No. 10. He’s played eight Davis Cup ties for the U.S. since debuting in 2019 and has a 5-3 Davis Cup singles record.
Korda, 23, is ranked No. 24 in singles. This is his second Davis Cup nomination, after debuting with a singles victory over Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia in 2022 Qualifying.
Eubanks, 27, is ranked No. 34 in singles. This is his debut Davis Cup nomination, coming on the heels of a 2023 season that saw him win his first ATP singles title and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
The 33-year-old Krajicek is the current world doubles No. 1 and went 3-1 in Davis Cup doubles in 2023. He won five doubles titles in 2023 and finished the year ranked No. 1, only the fifth American man in the history of the ATP doubles rankings to do so.
Ram, 39, is ranked No. 6 in doubles and is a former world doubles No. 1. He won his fourth doubles major and third straight US Open title in 2023 and is 7-2 all-time in Davis Cup doubles.
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty