Shelton Left Out From USA Team To Face Ukraine At 2024 Davis Cup Qualifiers In February

Shelton Left Out From USA Team To Face Ukraine At 2024 Davis Cup Qualifiers In February

by Nurein Ahmed

The USA has named a very strong lineup to face Ukraine at the 2024 Davis Cup Qualifiers, scheduled to take place at the start of February.

The draw for the oldest team competition in tennis was released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in late November last year, where the United States was seeded at No. 7.

They learned they would face Ukraine, who defeated Colombia in Kaspi, Georgia, in the World Group I tie last September. They will be keen to address their bad showing at last year's tournament, where they were eliminated in the Davis Cup Finals group stage.

Team captain Bob Bryan will be looking for a strong response and has named a capable team to beat Ukraine. The tie is scheduled for February 1st and 2nd in Vilnius, Lithuania. Bryan has rung the changes for his country.

The likes of Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Mackenzie McDonald, who all took part in that ignomous exit in Split, Croatia, last September, have been dropped. Instead, USA's top-ranked ATP player Taylor Fritz has been recalled and will spearhead their squad.

Fritz will be joined by rising star Sebastian Korda and debutant Christopher Eubanks, who enjoyed an incredible European summer on the lawns last season. Doubles No. 1 Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram will add immeasurably to their doubles prowess.

The United States is the most successful country in the history of the Davis Cup, winning the coveted team tournament a record 32 times. However, they haven't tasted success since 2007.

But the Americans have a lot to be excited about for the upcoming years with the emergence of players like Korda, Paul, and youngster Ben Shelton - who is surprisingly left out, possibly due to schedule constraints.

Shelton won his first ATP title in Tokyo last season and was nailed on to make his debut at the Davis Cup this year. But Bryan has opted for experience and has stuck with the the more accomplished men to avoid making the same mistake as last year when they lost key ties to the Netherlands and Finland.

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