Today, U.S. Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan announced that Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Rajeev Ram, and Austin Krajicek will represent the United States in the 2024 Davis Cup finals, taking place from November 19 to 24 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain.
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The USA will face Australia in the quarterfinals of the two most successful nations in Davis Cup history.
The USA is competing for its 33rd Davis Cup title, extending a record—and its first Davis Cup title since 2007 when it defeated Russia in the finals held in Portland, Oregon.
28-time Davis Cup champions Australia finished second to Italy last year. The team, captained by Lleyton Hewitt, is aiming for its first Davis Cup title since 2003.
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The draw for the 2024 Davis Cup finals featuring eight teams has taken place:
- Italy vs. Argentina
- Australia vs. USA
- Germany vs. Canada
- Netherlands vs. Spain
The USA returned to the eight-team Davis Cup finals by finishing the week with a 3-0 record to win Group C, with victories against Chile, Slovakia, and Germany.
An unknown team of Brandon Nakashima, Reilly Opelka, Mackenzie McDonald, and Olympic silver medalists in doubles Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram contributed to the Group C championship. Captain Bob Bryan’s team won eight of the nine matches they played in Zhuhai, with Brandon Nakashima, ranked 40th in the world, leading with a perfect 3-0 record.
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Making their doubles debut together last weekend, Fritz and Shelton immediately impressed the World Team at the Laver Cup in Berlin.
US Open champion Fritz and 2023 semifinalist Shelton defeated Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4 in a high-quality doubles victory, which Shelton believes could be a preview for this duo teaming up again in the Davis Cup rematch in Malaga.
“Life gets easier when you play with a guy who moves like Taylor does right now,” Shelton said. “He’s pretty light on his feet. We had a lot of fun.
“This is the first time we’ve played together, and I think our chemistry is pretty good. It’s tough that we can’t play together again here, but I think you’ll see us on the doubles court again in the future.”
Top-ranked American Fritz agreed.
“If things keep going well, you might see us at Davis Cup—possibly,” Fritz said.
Fritz is ranked seventh after reaching the US Open men’s singles final, becoming the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009. He has played nine Davis Cup matches since his debut in 2019 and has a singles record of 6-3 in Davis Cup play.
Paul, 27, is ranked 13th in singles and has won two of his three ATP singles titles this year, at Dallas on indoor hard courts and at the Queens Club on grass. He has played nine Davis Cup matches since debuting in 2020 and has a 5-3 singles record.
Shelton, 21, is ranked 17th in singles and won his second ATP singles title this year in Houston on clay. In 2023, he became the youngest American man to reach the US Open semifinals since Michael Chang in 1992. This is his first Davis Cup nomination.
Ram, 40, is ranked 10th in doubles and has a 10-3 record in Davis Cup doubles since debuting in 2021. Ram is a former world number one in doubles, a four-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion, and a two-time ATP Finals doubles champion. He also won his second Olympic medal at the Paris Games this summer, earning a silver medal with Krajicek.
Krajicek, 34, is ranked 28th in doubles and has a 6-2 Davis Cup doubles record since debuting in 2023. A former world number one in doubles and 2023 French Open champion, Krajicek won his first Olympic medal this summer at the Paris Games, also taking silver with Ram. The Krajicek-Ram duo defeated Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal at the Paris Games.
Australia boasts three players in the Top 30: Alex de Minaur, ranked 11th; Alexei Popyrin, ranked 24th, who defeated Novak Djokovic at the US Open; and Jordan Thompson, ranked 29th.
The Australian doubles team of Max Purcell and Thompson won the US Open doubles title earlier this month. That victory came after Australians Matthew Ebden and John Peers defeated Krajicek and Ram 10-8 in a tiebreaker to claim the Olympic gold medal in men’s doubles.
In its illustrious 104-year Davis Cup history, Australia has made its mark as the only country to come back from a 0-2 deficit in the finals, when they fought back to defeat the USA in the 1939 finals.
