PARIS:
Germany shrugged off the absence of world quantity two Alexander Zverev to brush previous Slovakia of their Davis Cup group stage finals opener on Tuesday as Canada beat Argentina.
Regardless of the absence of their prime 4 gamers, together with Zverev, the Germans dominated their Group C tie 3-0 in Zhuhai, China. The group additionally contains the USA and Chile.
Canada, the 2022 champions, eased previous Argentina 2-1 in Group D motion in Manchester, England.
Germany’s Maximilian Marterer received the primary level 6-4, 7-5 in opposition to Lukas Klein, with Yannick Hanfmann beating Jozef Kovalik 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3). Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz teamed up within the doubles to see off Klein and Igor Zelenay 7-5, 6-3 and wrap up the tie.
The US, 32-time champions, open their marketing campaign in opposition to Chile on Wednesday, adopted by Slovakia on Friday and Germany on Saturday.
“Now we have a couple of days off so we are able to get well and do our greatest to win the following matches and nonetheless have an opportunity to go to the ultimate,” mentioned Slovakia’s Kovalik.
In Manchester, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov battled previous Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-3 in Group D earlier than Felix Auger-Aliassime eased previous Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-3.
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni teamed up within the doubles to beat Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Canada subsequent play Finland on Thursday earlier than taking over hosts Britain on Sunday.
“I really feel nice,” mentioned Shapovalov. “The final time I performed within the Davis Cup we received the competitors, so it was good to be again and taking part in at such a excessive degree. I wish to construct on this now.”
Champions Italy open their title defence on Wednesday in Bologna in opposition to Brazil however with out world primary Jannik Sinner, winner of the US Open on the weekend.
Italy are in the identical Group A as Belgium, who bounced again from going 1-0 right down to defeat the Netherlands 2-1.
In Group B, 10-time winners France misplaced 2-1 to Australia, shedding finalists in 2022 and 2023.