Florida-based Sebastian Korda and Austin Krajicek to play in Davis Cup Qualifiers
Jan 31, 2024
The U.S. Davis Cup team begins its quest for a record-extending 33rd Davis Cup title this weekend in Vilnius, Lithuania, in a Qualifying matchup with Ukraine.
The U.S. team is led by No. 9 Taylor Fritz, No. 32 Chris Eubanks -- his debut Davis Cup nomination -- No. 33 Sebastian Korda and doubles No. 3 Austin Krajicek and No. 5 Rajeev Ram.
Florida will be well-represented in this Davis Cup qualifying matchup as Korda resides in Sarasota and Krajicek resides in Tampa. In addition, Davis Cup coach Bob Bryan lives in Sunny Isles.
Above: Austin Krajicek. Photo: Saulius Čirba via USTA.
The USA and Ukraine tie is part of a Davis Cup doubleheader being played at the SEB Arena in Vilnius this weekend. Following the USA and Ukraine on February 1-2, the SEB Arena will host the World Group I Playoff tie between Lithuania and Georgia February 3-4. Both ties will be played on the same indoor hard court. In November, the U.S. and Ukraine were drawn to play each other in the Qualifying round, and Ukraine was given the choice of ground by random drawing.
The draw for the tie, which will set the singles and doubles matchups for Thursday and Friday, will be held Wednesday at noon local time (5 a.m. ET) at the Embassy of Ukraine in Vilnius. The match schedule for the best-of-five tie is below.
Above: Sebastian Korda and Chris Eubanks. Photo: Saulius Čirba via USTA.
The winner of USA and Ukraine will be one of the 12 nations advancing out of Qualifying to the 16-nation Group Stage of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals that will be played across four TBD cities September 10-15 (Australia, Great Britain, Italy and Spain received automatic entry into the Group Stage). The top eight nations advancing out of Group Play will play in the Final 8 stage of the competition, a knockout-style quarterfinal bracket to be played in November in Malaga, Spain, that will crown the 2024 Davis Cup champion.
The loser will be relegated to Davis Cup’s World Group I and will have to win a tie against another World Group I nation later this year to re-enter the Qualifying pool for 2025.
Above: Davis Cup coach Bob Bryan. Photo: Saulius Čirba via USTA.
The U.S. qualified for the Group Stage of the Davis Cup Finals last year, defeating Uzbekistan, 4-0, in Tashkent, but returned to this year’s Qualifying pool after failing to advance out of Group D in Split, Croatia, in September (d. CRO, 2-1; l. to NED, 2-1; l. to FIN, 2-1).
Ukraine was promoted to the Qualifying pool this year after defeating Colombia, 3-2, in a World Group I tie in September, held in Kaspi, Georgia. Oleksii Krutykh won both of his singles matches, and Vladyslav Orlov clinched victory with a third-set tiebreak victory over Nicolas Mejia in a fifth and decisive match.
Bob Bryan captains his first Qualifying tie for the U.S. team, and is joined on the bench by USTA Lead National Coach Dean Goldfine.
Match Schedule
Thursday, February 1 (6 p.m. local / 11 a.m. ET)
Sebastian Korda (USA) vs. Oleksii Krutykh (UKR)
Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Viacheslav Bielinskyi (UKR)
Friday, February 2 (5 p.m. local / 10 a.m. ET)
Austin Krajicek / Rajeev Ram (USA) vs. Vitaliy Sachko / Illya Beloborodko (UKR)
Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Oleksii Krutykh (UKR)
Sebastian Korda (USA) vs. Viacheslav Bielinskyi (UKR)
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