Jakub Mensik will open Czechia’s Davis Cup tie against the United States on Friday against Learner Tien, the 20-year-old who beat him in five sets at the US Open this month. Thursday’s draw at the O2 Arena sent Jiri Lehecka out second, against Ben Shelton, four days after Shelton lost the US Open final to Alexander Zverev.
Play starts at 3 p.m. local time on Friday, 9 a.m. in New York. The tie is best of five on an indoor hard court, and the winner joins host and defending champion Italy at the Final 8 in Bologna from 24 to 29 November.
A rematch from New York. In their third-round match at Flushing Meadows, Mensik had Tien at 0-40 in the fifth set and won none of the three break points. Tien held and went on to become the youngest American man in the US Open fourth round since Andy Roddick in 2002. That run lifted him to No. 13. Friday is his Davis Cup debut. Mensik, the Czech No. 1, is ranked 15th and reached the Roland Garros semifinals this year.
Shelton against a player he has always beaten. Shelton, now a career-high No. 4, has won all three of his matches against Lehecka. The most recent was a Stuttgart semifinal on grass in June that went to three tiebreaks. Lehecka, ranked 24th, was the player who turned last year’s tie. With the Americans 2-1 up in Delray Beach, he beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and Mensik then beat Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-4 around midnight to give Czechia a 3-2 win, according to the ATP Tour’s report.
Shelton flew to Prague straight from New York. The Czech site TenisPortal reported that he told reporters the US Open was a closed chapter and that he wants to play this tie.
Saturday’s program. The doubles opens at 2 p.m. local time, 8 a.m. in New York. Captain Tomas Berdych has nominated Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl, and they are listed against Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek. Two reverse singles follow: Mensik against Shelton, then Lehecka against Tien. The Czech news agency CTK noted that the nominations can still change. Krajicek won last year’s doubles rubber with Rajeev Ram.
Who is not here. Captain Bob Bryan’s original nomination included Fritz and Tommy Paul. Both withdrew, and the U.S. brought in Tien and Martin Damm, a 6-foot-8 left-hander ranked 104th who took Tiafoe to five sets in the first round of the US Open. Damm is also making his debut. Harrison and Krajicek complete the team.
Czechia made its own change. Berdych left out Tomas Machac, who struggled with a leg problem over the summer and had lost all three of his matches since returning, according to CTK, and named Pavlasek in his place. “I talked with Tomas at length and openly at the US Open after his match, and we agreed that at this moment he isn’t the best choice for the upcoming tie against the strong Americans,” Berdych said in a statement quoted by CTK. Vit Kopriva, ranked 65th, completes the Czech team.
Back at the O2. This is the first Davis Cup tie at the arena since 2013, when Czechia beat Argentina 3-2 in the semifinals there on the way to its second straight title. The United States has won the competition a record 32 times but not since 2007. “We would like this tie to be a semifinal or a final of the Davis Cup, but it is already the round of 16. It is an obstacle we have to get past to reach our goals,” Bryan said, as quoted by CTK.
How to watch. Czech Television carries every match on CT sport. In the United States, World Tennis Magazine reported that Tennis Channel has the tie. Friday starts at 3 p.m. in Prague, 9 a.m. ET and 7 a.m. in Costa Rica. Saturday starts an hour earlier.
Five other ties this weekend decide the rest of the Bologna field. Our round preview covers all of them, and how the Davis Cup works explains the path from here to the Final 8. Shelton will not go on to London: he has withdrawn from Team World for the Laver Cup, and Brandon Nakashima takes his place.
Correction, 18 September 2026: An earlier version of this article said Shelton would play the Laver Cup the following weekend. Organizers announced on 17 September that he had withdrawn.
