Dino Prizmic did not reach break point on Sunday, and Matej Dodig had not reached one on Saturday. Alexander Zverev held serve through both of his singles rubbers at the Heristo Arena in Halle, beat Prizmic 6-2, 6-4 in 77 minutes on the indoor hard court, and sent Germany into the Davis Cup Final 8 with a 3-1 win over Croatia.
They were his first matches since he beat Ben Shelton in the US Open final a week earlier. Zverev won the opening rubber against Dodig on Saturday, and Croatia had the tie level before the day was out. On Sunday Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz put Germany back in front, beating Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who won Olympic gold together in Tokyo, 7-5, 6-2. That left the clinching rubber to Zverev. Prizmic, ranked more than 100 places below him according to the Associated Press, did not get a single break point in any of Zverev’s service games.
Santiago. Spain had finished earlier in the day on outdoor clay at the Estadio Nacional, and they did it without Carlos Alcaraz. Jaume Munar and Pedro Martínez beat Alejandro Tabilo and Tomás Barrios Vera 6-0, 6-3 in the doubles for an unassailable 3-0 lead. Chile did not win a game until the second set. Spain had led 2-0 after Saturday’s singles, one of which Rafael Jódar won.
London. Great Britain were also 3-0 up after the doubles at the Copper Box. Toby Samuel and Arthur Fery won the singles against Ecuador on Saturday, and on Sunday Henry Patten and Neal Skupski beat Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo 6-3, 6-4.
The field. Those three results complete the eight. Italy, the host and three-time defending champion, will be joined by Austria, Canada, Czechia, Germany, Great Britain, South Korea and Spain at the SuperTennis Arena at BolognaFiere from 24 to 29 November. Each tie is played in a single day, two singles and then a doubles if it is needed. The quarterfinals run from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 November and the final is on Sunday 29 November.
What comes next. The quarterfinal pairings come from a draw that has not yet been announced. Whether Alcaraz plays for Spain in November has not been announced.
Chile and Croatia. Both drop to the first round of Qualifiers in 2027, with the other five beaten nations. Tabilo does not get long to think about it. He is the third seed and defending champion at the Chengdu Open, an ATP 250 that starts on Wednesday.
The rest of the round. Canada came through against France after Felix Auger-Aliassime’s comeback on Saturday, Czechia beat the United States when Jiri Lehecka took his fourth match point, South Korea beat India to reach the last eight for the first time, and Austria beat Belgium. How the competition is structured is in how the Davis Cup works, the full round is in our Final 8 guide, and every past champion is in our Davis Cup winners list.
