 "US Davis Cup captain Jim Courier is a strong proponent of the new format")
Germany, Kazakhstan, Italy, USA, Belgium won their respective ties in Davis Cup Qualifiers to reach the Finals.
Germany maintained their perfect record in Davis Cup Qualifiers by beating Brazil 3-1 in Rio to reach the Finals for the third time. With the tie balanced at 1-1, Germany were able to call on some of their most reliable performers on Saturday, with the unbeaten Davis Cup duo of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz beating Meligeni Rodrigues Alvez and Bruno Soares 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 in the doubles, before world No.3 Alexander Zverev sealed victory with a hard-fought 6-1, 7-5 win over Thiago Monteiro.
Alexander Bublik's first victory in four matches against Casper Ruud sealed Kazakhstan's place in the Davis Cup Finals for the third consecutive season - but the Norwegian team remained upbeat despite the loss, with much cause for optimism after a competitive Davis Cup week in Oslo.
After Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrey Golubev had nudged Kazakhstan into the lead with a 7-6(10) 6-3 doubles triumph against Simen Sunde Bratholm and Viktor Durasovic, Bublik recorded a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win in exactly two hours to secure Kazakhstan's place at the Finals for yet another year.
Lorenzo Musetti picked the perfect moment to record his first Davis Cup match-win as Italy fended off a ferocious effort from Slovakia to book their place in the Davis Cup Finals.
Musetti completed a 6-7(3) 6-2 6-4 victory over Norbert Gombos in a deciding fifth match lasting two hours and 24 minutes to continue Italy's perfect record in Davis Cup Qualifiers.
Jack Sock and Rajeev Ram clinched USA's place in the 2022 Davis Cup Finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Nicolas Barrientos at the Reno Events Center on Saturday.
The one-hour 18-minute victory was enough to put the USA into an unassailable 3-0 lead against Colombia and ensured Mardy Fish's men would make a third straight appearance at the Davis Cup Finals.
The Davis Cup has a long history of providing defining moments for relatively unheralded players and you can now add Zizou Bergs to the list of those who have stepped up when it counts.
The Belgian, ranked No.168 in the world, clinched the decisive point as his country blended youth with experience to edge out Finland 3-2 and book their place at the Davis Cup Finals later this year.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
