Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram lead the United States past Ukraine in the Davis Cup

In the best-of-five qualifying series in Vilnius, Lithuania, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek’s victory against Ukraine in the doubles match on Friday guaranteed the United States a ticket in the Davis Cup finals group round. Their lead was a commanding 3-0.

Krajicek and Ram defeated Oleksii Krutykh and Illya Beloborodko 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. In doubles, the Americans have each been ranked No. 1 and have won five Grand Slam titles between them.

Sebastian Korda defeated Krutykh 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4, and Christopher Eubanks defeated Viacheslav Bielinskyi 6-3, 6-2, capping a good opening day of singles play for captain Bob Bryan’s U.S. squad on Thursday. Taylor Fritz was injured, so Eubanks filled in for him.

For these qualifying matches, the United States was meant to be hosted by Ukraine. But because to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which started when Russia invaded in February 2022, they were forced to relocate to SEB Arena in Lithuania, an indoor hard court.

“We know it’s the toughest situation they could be in at home, so the fact they came out and competed as hard as they did says a lot about who they are,” Ram said about the Ukrainians.

Under the current Davis Cup system, the Americans have advanced to the next round for the fifth time in a row; yet, in that time, they have only reached the quarterfinals once, in 2022. In the men’s team competition, the nation has won a record 32 titles, the most recent of which came in 2007 with Bryan playing for the squad.

The 12 winners from this week’s round, which ends on Sunday, will compete in September’s finals group stage alongside defending champion Italy, 2023 runner-up Australia, and wild-card entries Britain and Spain. Eight teams will then go to the quarterfinals, which will be held in November in Malaga, Spain, and a champion will be crowned.

Six matches, which started on Friday and end on Saturday, are as follows: South Korea vs Canada; Germany vs Hungary; Portugal vs Finland; Brazil vs Sweden; Slovakia vs Serbia (which is missing top player Novak Djokovic); and so on.

The following qualifying matches are scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday: Peru vs Chile; Kazakhstan vs Argentina; Israel vs Czech Republic; France vs Taiwan; and Belgium vs Croatia.