The Road To The Davis Cup Final 8 Begins With Surprises

Learner Tien
Learner Tien (photo: Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images for World Tennis)

WASHINGTON, September 19, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

With seven ties to be played across four continents, the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round began Friday with action taking place in Prague, Vienna, Seoul and Quebec City. By the end of the weekend, with additional action going on in Halle, Santiago and London, the seven team tie winners will join world champions Italy in November’s Final 8 in Bologna.

Tien, Lehecka power U.S., Czechia to 1-1 tie

The United States has been the most successful team in Davis Cup competition history, with 32 titles. However, it’s been 19 years since their last triumph came in 2007. As it happened, U.S. captain Bob Bryan and Czechia captain Tomas Berdych were on opposing teams when the two nations met in Ostrava 19 years ago. Bryan was among those celebrating back then. One wonders if he will be doing so again this year with a new generation of American talent? Only time will tell.

The United States has been waiting for a year to settle its score with Czechia, after being dispatch by the Czechs during the Qualifiers Second Round in Delray Beach, Fla., in 2025. However, host Czechia came in having not lost a home tie in Davis Cup by Generali competition since 2019 against the Netherlands.

On Friday at the O2 Arena in Prague, a twin battle involving heavy hitters – first World No. 15 Jakub Mensik versus World No. 13 Learner Tien, followed by World No. 24 Jiri Lehecka against World No. 4 Ben Shelton – would set the stage.

In the opening match, the U.S. jumped out in front 1-0 as Tien easily defeated Mensik, 6-2, 6-4, in 67 minutes. Tien struck 12 winners and outscored Mensik 62-44. He converted four of seven break points and effectively won 81 percent (30 of 37) of his first-serve points. He showed he deserved to win in his Davis Cup debut.

“It felt amazing. It feels even better to do it representing my country,” the 20-year-old Tien said during his on-court interview. “I always love to play in a team format. It’s even more special when you’re representing your country. For me, this was the first time. There was a little bit more pressure but I love to play in a team environment for sure.”

In the first set, Tien came out quickly and took a 5-1 lead after stringing together four straight games. In the second set, Tien broke to go ahead 4-2 and never looked back.

“I came out and I knew I was playing the first match. I really wanted to set the tone for my team, give us an early lead. I came out playing very well, very focused. … Today was tougher than the scoreline indicated,” he said.

Next, just five days after losing the US Open final to World No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany, Shelton was challenged by Lehecka, in a battle between the American No. 1 and Czech No. 2 that surprisingly was won by Lehecka, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour and 34 minutes.

Although Shelton fought off a pair of match points – embracing the battle with each saved match point – Lehecka pulled through on his third match-point opportunity, winning one last 12-shot rally.

“I thought he played a great match. A lot of credit to him. He outplayed me today,” Shelton said of Lehecka during Team USA’s post-match news conference. “He served great. Returned great. Volleyed really well. Played well from the baseline. There were no real holes in his game today, and he definitely deserved to win that match.”

Lehecka leveraged a break of Shelton’s serve in each set and it proved to be the difference maker. He outpointed Shelton 66-56. Lehecka finished with 13 winners – including three aces. He won all but four of his first-serve points (88 percent, 28 of 32). 

“It is tough say whether this was my best moment in Davis Cup because this is a team competition and the most important thing is to win as a team, not necessarily as an individual,” Lehecka, 24, said during his team’s post-match news conference.

“That said, this win is very good for me, and I am very happy with the way I performed. But now, all eyes are on [Saturday] and we will do whatever we can to rest well and prepare well, and we will see how it goes.”

On Saturday, the U.S.-Czechia tie will continue with doubles between Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek against Patrik Rikl and Adam Pavlasek, followed by reverse singles, in which Mensik and Shelton will face off followed by Lehecka and Tien.

Austria, Belgium level after first day

With neither Alexander Blockx nor Raphael Collignon available this weekend, Belgium came into tie against Austria in Vienna needing to rely upon World No. 38 Zizou Bergs and Davis Cup rookie Gauthier Onclin. 

While Onclin wasn’t expected to deliver a win in his debut, the Belgians were relying upon Bergs to make things competitive between these two European countries – then, hope to win doubles on Saturday and gain a split in reverse singles.

Onclin and Jiri Rodionov began the Austria-Belgium tie on Friday – and by the end of the 6-4, 6-1 victory by the 142nd-ranked Rodionov, which he secured on his sixth match-point opportunity, it was his previous Davis Cup experience that made a difference. He hit nine aces and outpointed Onclin 65-52. It was Rodionov’s 10th career Davis Cup singles victory since making his debut in 2019.

“It was not my first Davis Cup experience unlike it was for Onclin,” Rodionov said during his on-court interview. “The longer the match went, the more I felt comfortable with the situation and with the crowd. The pressure in representing your country, especially when it’s the first time, is a big difference. I think I managed my emotions better and was able to find my game better.”

Later, during his post-match news conference, Rodionov added: “The main difference was the experience. Obviously Davis Cup is something very special. You usually play for yourself and now being surrounded by your teammates, it’s a different mentality and I think these are the things you need to get used to.

“The more the match went on, the calmer I got and the more I found my game – and for him, it was the opposite: the longer the match went, the more nervous he became. That will get better for him with experience.”

It was followed by Bergs, the Belgian No. 1, against Austrian No. 2 Lukas Neumayer. After dropping the opening set, Bergs rallied to gain a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory in two hours over the 180th-ranked Neumayer to secure a 1-1 tie after the first day. Bergs outpointed Neumayer 71-69.

South Korea comes back twice against India

When South Korea and India began their Davis Cup tie Friday in Seoul, one thing was certain: the winner was set to become the first team from Asia to reach the Fina. 8 since the format was introduced in 2022.

Both teams earned 3-2 upsets in the first round earlier this year as India stunned the Netherlands in Bengaluru and South Korea edged past Argentina in Busan.

After the first day, South Korea captured a 2-0 lead over India on the strength of a pair of three-set singles wins by Soonwoo Kwon and Hyeon Chung. The 157th-ranked Kwon defeated No. 367 Dhakshineswar Suresh, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, then the 549th-ranked Chung overcame No. 247 Sumit Nagal, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, in a match that lasted three hours and five minutes.

“It was a really tough match,” Kwon said of his win over Dkhashineswar. “Suresh’s forehand and backhand were really good. In the first set, I was really nervous. From the second set, I began recognizing patterns from my opponent. So, I was able to strategize my gameplay.”

Later, during his team’s news conference Kwon added: “I felt a lot more nervous than I have in a long time. Of course, I usually feel some nerves, but today they were particularly intense. At the beginning, my vision was almost blurred. From the second set onward, I began to feel more relaxed. Although things did not go well in the first set, I tried to get a better read on his serving patterns. In the second set, I was able to read those patterns and hold my return position to one side, which helped me play much better.”

South Korea needs to win just one of three matches scheduled for Saturday to clinch the tie.

Draxl, Auger-Aliassime deliver big wins for Canada

The Canada-France Davis Cup clash in Quebec City brought together two former team champions. Canada lifted their one and only Davis Cup title in 2022, while France has been a 10-time champion, most recently in 2017. By the end of the first day, the Canadians took advantage of playing in front of their home fans and won twice to grab a 2-0 lead.

Unheralded Liam Draxl, the Canadian No. 2 who is ranked No. 205, pulled off an upset of French No. 1 Arthur Rinderknech, ranked 32nd, 6-2, 7-5, in an hour and 43 minutes to win his sixth of seven Davis Cup matches he’s played in for Team Canada since the start of last season.

Draxl struck nine aces and won 78 percent (56 of 72) of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points he faced and broke Rinderknech’s serve three times in 10 tries. Draxl outpointed his opponent 75-66.

It set the stage for World No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime, the top-ranked Canadian, to face No. 49 Quentin Halys of France, the French No. 2, in the second match of the evening. At a set each, and after spending more than two hours on court, Auger-Aliassime pulled through with a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 victory to give Team Canada a 2-0 lead going into the second day of the tie.

Auger-Aliassime broke Halys in the fourth game of the decider to go ahead 3-1 and consolidated the break at love for an insurmountable 4-1 advantage. Soon, he closed out the two-hour, 21-minute victory on his serve with a fifth-shot overhead smash. The Montreal native finished with 12 aces and 34 winners overall. He won 77 percent (52 of 68) of his first-serve points and outpointed Halys 100-92.

“A lot of emotions running through my body, through my mind today,” Auger-Aliassime said during his on-court interview. “I just tried to stay composed. I had a tennis match to play today. I thought [Quentin] played amazing. Every time we’ve played so far, they’ve all gone three sets. They all went my way. … I had to play my game … I’m really happy it worked out in my favor.”

By the numbers

Austria team captain Jurgen Melzer has led the Austrians since 2022, except for the 2024 World Group 1 tie against Turkey. He has a 5-4 win-loss record as captain. As a player, he represented Austria in Davis Cup between 1999 and 2020 and had a 37-41 overall match win-loss record (22-29 singles, 15-12 doubles).

“Quotable …”

“It’s my strongest possible team. We have been together for some time so we know each other well. Very happy to have this chance to play Spain, with its rich Davis Cup history. It will be a spectacular weekend. They are one of the best teams and you have to play the best to keep improving. I don’t know if we can win but we can fight until the end.”

– Nicolas Massu, Chile team captain, during his team’s pre-tie news conference. Chile hosts Spain beginning on Saturday.

 

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