The 2024 Davis Cup Finals return to Malaga again this year with the final 8 teams competing in a straight knock-out over the next few days. These 8 teams have qualified after having battled through the group stages and play-offs during the year.
Each tie will be decided based on best of 3 matches – 2 singles matches followed by 1 doubles match. All matches are best of 3 tiebreak sets.
Spain
The Spanish team has enjoyed success at the Davis Cup for a total five times, first winning the tournament at the turn of the century in 2000, led by Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alex Corretja and Albert Costa. The team also won in the years 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019, with Rafael Nadal playing a key role in many of those wins.
Carlos Alcaraz, the world number 3, leads the charge for team Spain. Winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year and having played a pivotal role in getting the team past the group stages, Alcaraz’s performance will be key for team Spain, if they want to lift the Davis Cup again after 5 years.
However, undoubtedly, all eyes will be on one man this time around – Rafael Nadal. The 22-time grand slam champion, one of the greatest athletes in all of sport, bids farewell to tennis in his home country. Though his fitness is still a question mark, knowing Rafa Nadal, he would not be opting to play unless he thought he had a chance to help Spain in winning the cup.
Nadal has had an astonishing record at the Davis Cup, winning 29 singles matches out of a total of 30 matches played, only losing his debut match in 2004 to the Czech, Jiri Novak. One of Nadal’s most cherished career moments came at the Davis Cup final in Seville, Spain in 2004, when he was picked as a 18-year-old boy to play a Singles tie against the then world No. 2 – Andy Roddick on clay.
And this Spanish team had Carlos Moya (2) and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the ranks. That day, the atmosphere in the stadium was electric, as the young boy from Mallorca, brimming with energy, announced himself to the world by defeating Roddick in four pulsating sets, which catapulted Spain to a 3-2 victory over the USA. The other players in the Spanish squad include an in-form Roberto Bautista Agut, Pedro Martinez and Marcel Granollers.
Netherlands
Spain will face Netherlands to kickstart the Finals, who in turn have a good squad, led by Tallon Griekspoor and Botic Van de Zandschulp as the singles players and Wesley Koolhof leading the doubles charge. Koolhof, a former doubles world number 1, will also retire after this Davis Cup. He won three Masters 1000s this year, including both of the recent hard court Masters – indoors in Paris and outdoors in Shanghai. The Dutch will have their work cut out against a strong Spanish team cheered on by the home crowd.
USA
The United States have been the most successful team in Davis Cup history, having lifted the cup a record 32 times since its inception in 1900. While the Americans have dominated the competition in the past, they have not won it since 2007, which had Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryan brothers on the team. Nevertheless, this team is one of the favourites to win this year, backed by a strong line-up. However, they have a tough draw, with the last year’s (and the year before) runners up – Australia in the quarterfinals and the winner of Italy and Argentina in the semi-final.
Bob Bryan, a Davis Cup legend himself (competed in 15 editions – a record held with his brother Mike Bryan), took over as team captain from Mardy Fish last year and has picked a team with great depth for the finals. Taylor Fritz (the new world number 4) leads the Singles charge along with arguably the strongest options for the No. 2 Singles – Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul. Moreover, the team has two doubles specialists as well – Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, who won the men’s doubles Silver medal this year at the Paris Olympics.
Australia
The United States will face a formidable challenge from Australia in the quarterfinals who have received a big boost with Alex De Minaur joining the squad last minute, replacing Max Purcell. While the departure of Purcell is surprising, given his doubles prowess, team captain Lleyton Hewitt might be pairing Mathew Ebden with Jordan Thompson for the doubles. Lleyton Hewitt, himself a former world number 1, boasts the record for most number of Davis Cup wins for Australia at 52.
The other singles options for Australia are Alexei Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Given Popyrin’s recent performances during the American hard court swing, winning the Canadian Masters 1000 and defeating Novak Djokovic in the 3rd round of the US Open, he is likely to be the No. 2 singles choice for Australia. He is expected to face either Ben Shelton or Tommy Paul which might be pivotal for Australia to have a chance in the tie as Taylor Fritz will be the favourite to beat De Minaur based on his current form. Fritz recently beat De Minaur in the Round Robin stage of the World Tour Finals in Turin and reached the final in Turin, eventually losing to Jannik Sinner.
Australia has a rich Davis Cup history and is the second most successful country in the competition, winning it a record 28 times and finishing as runner-up on 19 other occasions.
Germany
Germany’s squad is led by team captain Michael Kohlmann (since 2015), who was a former ATP top-100 player himself. The big-serving Jan-Lennard Struff, Daniel Altmaier and Yannick Hanfmann lead the singles line-up with Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz as the doubles specialists. Krawietz and Puetz make a strong doubles pair, recently winning the ATP World Tour Finals in Turin as well. While Struff had elevated his level last year, reaching a singles ranking of 21 in June 2023, he has been marred by a hip injury over the last year.
The singles world number 2, Alexander Zverev, has opted out of the Davis Cup, prioritizing a longer off-season over the team competition, which is a big blow for the German team. However, with the tournament favourites – Italy and USA on the other side of the draw, Germany still have a chance to make it to the latter stages of the competition.
The German team has won the Davis Cup only thrice, with their most prolific years coming in the late 80s when the great Boris Becker led the team to wins in 1988 and 1989, beating his arch-rival Stefan Edberg in the final in both years.
Canada
Germany’s opponent in the quarterfinals and will be Canada, who won the Davis Cup for the first time in 2022 at the same venue in Malaga. Canada are also without their top player – Felix Auger Aliassime, who had led the team to that historic win in 2022. Felix opted to give the Davis Cup Final a pass this year as he had to give time to his humanitarian work in Togo, his father’s native country. He has been replaced by the former world number 3 and Wimbledon finalist – Milos Raonic, who has a 19-6 record at the Davis Cup.
Denis Shapovalov will lead the team in Singles, who has found some form by winning his second career title recently in Belgrade (ATP 250). The 23-year-old youngster Gabriel Diallo who is now world number 86 in singles, might get his chance to play the second singles match against Germany on Wednesday. Vasek Pospisil, also a part of the 2022 winning squad, and Alexis Galarneau make up the rest of the squad. The Canadian team has been in great form, winning all three of their ties in the Finals Group Stage in Manchester, beating Argentina, Finland and the hosts Great Britain. Given Germany’s strong doubles pair, Canada will look to win both their singles matches.
Italy
Italian tennis has witnessed a surge in recent years, having a plethora of options in their squad. They are the defending champions and look like the strongest team on paper along with the United States. The team is led by the calm and composed year-end world number 1 Jannik Sinner, who has won two grand slams, three Masters 1000s and the ATP World Tour Finals this year. It was him who led the team to their second ever Davis Cup triumph last year after 47 years, by beating Novak Djokovic in the singles rubber in a close semi-final after saving three match points. The team then went on to beat Australia in the final.
Given the squad depth, Captain Filippo Volandri will have to make some difficult choices to come up with the final line-up. Lorenzo Musetti has had one of the best years of his career, reaching the final at Queen’s Club on grass and the semi-final at Wimbledon as well. He went on to win the Bronze medal at the Paris Olympics for Italy and is likely to play the second singles match at the Davis Cup. Matteo Berrettini is back in the squad, replacing Flavio Cobolli at the last minute. While he’s still not found his past form, he remains a threat on the fast indoor courts supported by his big serve and a powerful forehand.
To complete this strong Italian team, Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori are a fine doubles pair, with the duo reaching the final of this year’s Australian Open and French Open, with Vavassori claiming the mixed doubles title at the US Open last September alongside compatriot Sara Errani.
Though Italy is not the most successful team in terms of Davis Cup wins, it has produced the most prolific player in the competition’s history – Nicola Pietrangeli. He played 164 rubbers across 66 ties and amassed the most number of singles wins (78/32 – win/loss) and most number of overall wins (120/44 – win/loss).
Argentina
Argentina have a strong singles line-up, comprising Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Sebastian Baez and team captain Guillermo Coria will have a big decision to make to decide on the top two Singles picks. Etcheverry and Cerundolo produced some great performances against Dan Evans and Jack Draper, respectively, to beat Great Britain in the Group Stages.
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni are likely to pair for the doubles. This Argentinian team, who would rather prefer the red clay, will face the mighty Italian team on a fast indoor hardcourt in the quarterfinals and hence will have to be at their best level.
More resources:
Davis Cup odds 2024
Davis Cup official site
