Matchups set for Reno Davis Cup qualifier between Team USA-Colombia – Nevada Sports Net
The Davis Cup matchups between Team USA and Colombia were set Thursday during a drawing ceremony at the Silver Legacy. The Americans will use singles players Sebastian Korda and Taylor Fritz and the doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Jack Sock. The matchups are as follows:
Friday
Rubber 1: Sebastian Korda vs. Nicolas Mejia (singles)
Rubber 2: Taylor Fritz vs. Alejandro Gonzalez (singles)
Saturday
Rubber 3: Rajeev Ram/Jack Sock vs. Robert Farah/Juan-Sebastian Cabal (doubles)
Rubber 4: Taylor Fritz vs. Nicolas Mejia (singles)
Rubber 5: Sebastian Korda vs. Alejandro Gonzalez (singles)
The first country to win three matches wins the tie. If one country clinches victory in the third or fourth match, Saturday’s schedule may be amended.
Korda, the 21-year-old son of former major winter Petr Korda, will make his Davis Cup debut this week. He played against Mejia, his first-round opponent, since they were youth players.
“I’ve been really good friends with Nico since I was probably about 14 years old,” Korda said. “We would always play in the juniors, always practice together, always travel together. It’s really special. We always dreamed about playing against each other in Davis Cup. Now we have the opportunity. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Some great memories together. We’re going to bring it. It’s going to be good fun for us. It’s pretty special to be representing the United States, especially with this group of guys. We’re really good friends. Having a lot of fun. It’s going to be a really cool experience, one I’ll remember forever. Great to get the opportunity. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The winner of the U.S.-Colombia match advances to the 16-team Davis Cup Final. 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 the 2023 Finals. Colombia beat the U.S., 2-1, in last year’s Davis Cup Final group stage in Turin, Italy last November, making this a rematch for the countries.
“It’s super unique to be able to play a country sort of back to back,” U.S. captain Mardy Fish said. “Obviously we’re really familiar with them. They don’t have the exact same team, but we’re familiar with who they’ve brought, who they have. They have a phenomenal doubles team, one of the best doubles teams in the world. The doubles is a huge point, being right in the middle of the tie, two singles, a doubles and two singles. We’ve got our best guys here, kind of putting the bad taste of Italy out of our system and on with this year.”
Tickets remain available for the Davis Cup matches, which have returned to Nevada for the first time since the U.S. hosted Sweden in Las Vegas in 1995.
