It’s a small week of ATP tournaments (in fact, there is only one — in Montpellier), and that’s because Davis Cup competition will take place over the next few days.
There are 13 ties around the world, leaving 13 nations to join the Netherlands in the second round of qualifying in September. From those 14, seven will eventually reach the Davis Cup Finals and join Italy to make a field of eight. Italy is the defending champion and therefore earned a double-bye to the finals, while the Netherlands finished runner-up in 2024 and got a bye to stage two of qualies.
Here are this week’s first-round matchups:
Hungary at CanadaUnited States at Chinese TaipeiSlovakia at CroatiaArgentina at NowayFinland at AustriaKorea at CzechiaBrazil at FranceAustralia at SwedenGermany at IsraelSerbia at DenmarkChile at BelgiumGreat Britain at JapanSpain at Switzerland
Brazil vs. France should be an especially fun showdown. The French are stacked with the likes of Ugo Humbert, Arthur Fils, and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Brazil is headlined by Joao Fonseca, who won the 2024 NextGen ATP Finals and famously upset Andrey Rublev in straight sets at the Australian Open earlier this month.
Also on the menu is Spain vs. Switzerland. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ain’t walkin’ through that door, so the torch will be passed to relative youngsters such as Dominic Stricker and Martin Landaluce.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
