MANCHESTER. – Britain battled to victory over last year’s Davis Cup runner-up Australia in their Finals group stage opener on Wednesday, while Spain and Italy both suffered chastening defeats at home in the premier men’s team competition.
Debutant Jack Draper repaid Britain skipper Leon Smith’s faith in him by giving the hosts a superb start, as he came from behind to seal a 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Thanasi Kokkinakis in front of the partisan home crowd at the Manchester Arena.
“There’s nothing better, a real battle and a massive crowd here,” Draper said. “It’s amazing to play my first Davis Cup tie in the UK in this sort of arena. I’m so grateful to be here and I’m happy Leon trusted me and put me out here today.
“I’m playing for my country, so I had to put everything on the line. . . the team’s dialed in this year, we want to get to the Finals after a tough run last year.”
Britain, bidding to reach the quarterfinals from Group B after missing out for the first time since 2018 last year, then completed the victory when an inspired Dan Evans beat world No. 12 Alex de Minaur 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
In Valencia, the Czech Republic took an unassailable 2-0 lead over host Spain, which was missing Carlos Alcaraz after the world No. 2 decided to pull out of the squad to recover following his US Open semifinal defeat.
Tomas Machac cruised past Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-4, 6-4 and Jiri Lehecka doubled their lead, downing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(5), 7-5 to put them in a strong position in Group C alongside Serbia, which won its tie on Tuesday.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the knockout rounds in Malaga, which take place in November.
Italy also endured a disappointing day in front of home fans in Bologna, as defending champion Canada secured a comfortable Group A victory in a re-match of last year’s semifinal.
World No. 200 Alexis Galarneau beat Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(8), 6-4 and the 158th-ranked Gabriel Diallo stunned Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-4 as Canada showed it can be a force even without Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic.
Italy is without Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini this week but still has three top-50 singles players in the squad.
In Split, the United States got off to a good start against host Croatia as Mackenzie McDonald downed Dino Prizmic 6-4, 6-2 but Borna Gojo levelled the Group D tie by beating world No. 11 Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 7-6(6).
But the US pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram edged out Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-2 in the doubles rubber to ensure a 2-1 victory.
