South Korea and Austria are through to the 2026 Davis Cup Final 8, the United States are a match away in Prague, and the remaining places in Bologna will be settled by Sunday night. The seven winners of this weekend’s Qualifiers second round join Italy, who hold the eighth place as host nation and three-time defending champion, at the SuperTennis Arena at BolognaFiere from 24 to 29 November.
Korea closed out India 3-1 in Seoul on Saturday and become the first Asian nation to reach the Final 8. Kwon Soon-woo, the world No. 157, beat Sumit Nagal 6-1, 6-2 in the first reverse singles, which made the last rubber unnecessary. Kwon had also opened the tie on Friday, recovering from a set down against Dhakshineswar Suresh. Afterwards he said his vision was almost blurred with nerves at the start, and that from the second set he began to read Suresh’s serve and held his return position to one side. Hyeon Chung then came from a set down to beat Nagal 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in three hours and five minutes. The full story of the tie is in our Korea-India report.
The seven ties (status as of Saturday afternoon, 19 September)
| Tie | Venue | Surface | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea v India | Seoul Olympic Park | Outdoor hard | Korea won 3-1 — qualified |
| Czechia v United States | O2 Arena, Prague | Indoor hard | United States lead 2-1; reverse singles Saturday |
| Austria v Belgium | Vienna Athletic Sports Club | Indoor clay | Austria won 3-1 — qualified |
| Canada v France | Centre Videotron, Quebec City | Indoor hard | Canada lead 2-0; three rubbers Saturday |
| Germany v Croatia | Heristo Arena, Halle | Indoor hard | Germany lead 1-0; concludes Sunday |
| Great Britain v Ecuador | Copper Box Arena, London | Indoor hard | Great Britain lead 1-0; concludes Sunday |
| Chile v Spain | Estadio Nacional, Santiago | Outdoor clay | Saturday-Sunday |
Prague
The heaviest tie of the round went into Saturday level, and the United States lead it 2-1 going into the reverse singles. Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek beat Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8) in the doubles, which leaves Shelton against Mensik with the chance to clinch it, and Tien against Lehecka to follow if needed. On Friday, Learner Tien, making his Davis Cup debut, beat Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-4 in 67 minutes, his third win in three meetings with the Czech and his second this month after their five-set match at the US Open. Jiri Lehecka then beat Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-4, five days after Shelton lost the US Open final. Lehecka broke once in each set and served out the match on his third match point, winning a 12-shot rally to finish it. “He served great. Returned great. Volleyed really well,” Shelton said. “There were no real holes in his game today.” Czechia beat the United States 3-2 at the same stage last September in Delray Beach.
Quebec City
Canada lead France 2-0 and need one point from three on Saturday. Liam Draxl, ranked 205th, beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 7-5 and saved all three break points he faced. Felix Auger-Aliassime followed by beating Quentin Halys 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3, breaking in the fourth game of the deciding set and finishing with an overhead.
Vienna
Austria put Belgium on indoor clay and are through 3-1. The tie was level after Friday: Jurij Rodionov beat the debutant Gauthier Onclin 6-4, 6-1, needing six match points, before Zizou Bergs came back from a set down to beat Lukas Neumayer 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Austria won Saturday’s doubles, and Rodionov then beat Bergs 7-6, 6-3 in the first reverse singles to settle it. Belgium played without Alexander Blockx and Raphael Collignon.
Halle, Santiago and London
Three ties started on Saturday and finish on Sunday. In Halle, Alexander Zverev gave Germany a 1-0 lead over Croatia in his first match since winning the US Open, beating Matej Dodig 6-4, 7-6(3) with 15 aces and without facing a break point. Daniel Altmaier plays Dino Prizmic in the second singles, with the doubles and reverse singles on Sunday. In London, Toby Samuel won the opening rubber to give Great Britain the lead over Ecuador. Spain, given a bye into this round as last year’s runners-up, play Chile on outdoor clay at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. The draw for each tie and its venue choices are covered in our second-round preview.
The Final 8 schedule
The quarterfinals run over three days in Bologna: one on Tuesday 24 November, one on Wednesday 25 November and two on Thursday 26 November. The winners of the first two quarterfinals meet in the first semifinal on Friday 27 November, the winners of the other two on Saturday 28 November, and the final is on Sunday 29 November. According to the ITF, Italy will play their quarterfinal on Wednesday 25 November. Each tie at the Final 8 is played on a single day as two singles rubbers followed, if needed, by a doubles.
The quarterfinal pairings are decided by a draw once the qualifiers are complete. No date for it has been announced. Italy will be going for a fourth consecutive title, having beaten Spain in last year’s final in Bologna. For how the competition is structured from the qualifiers to the final, see how the Davis Cup works, and for every champion since 1968, our list of Davis Cup winners.
