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2024 Davis Cup Qualifier: Debutant Eubanks, Korda earn U.S. 2-0 lead in Ukraine tie

Arthur Kapetanakis | February 01, 2024

The United States Davis Cup team overcame a late lineup change and spirited effort from Ukraine to move to the brink of the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage on Thursday. Meeting Ukraine in a Qualifier, the U.S. built a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five tie thanks to victories from Sebastian Korda and Davis Cup debutant Chris Eubanks.

 

Eubanks only learned he would play earlier in the day, with American No. 1 Taylor Fritz a late scratch due to a right hip injury.

With the tie being played on neutral ground in Lithuania's SEB Arena, it was fitting that "Sebi" Korda played the first match for the U.S. The 23-year-old was challenged by world No. 342 Oleksii Krutykh but pulled out a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4 win to earn the U.S. the early lead.

 

"It definitely wasn't easy, but all that matters is we got 1-0 on the board. I'm just happy with the way that it finished," said Korda, who eased the tension with an early break in the third set and sealed the win with an ace.

 

"He obviously raised his level and he started playing really well. He was going for it. I'm just happy with the way I stayed with it and changed up the tactics a little bit for the third set. Just thrilled with the victory."

 

Korda finished the match with 16 aces and 18 winners to improve to 2-0 in his Davis Cup career. Both of his wins have come in three sets, with the first against Colombia in a 2022 Qualifier.

Sebastian Korda shakes hands with Ukraine's Oleksii Krutykh at Davis Cup. Photo by Tim Ireland/Getty Images for ITF.

"I love the way that Sebi fought," added Bob Bryan, who is beginning his first full year as the U.S. captain. "He faced some adversity there against a guy that was playing very high-level tennis. Sebi went over the top and played beautifully in the third to give us a 1-0 lead, and that was important, especially with Chris playing his first match."

 

That set the stage for Eubanks to make his debut—reward for a breakout 2023 season that saw him crack the ATP's Top 30 for the first time behind runs to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and Miami, as well as his first tour-level title in Mallorca.

Chris Eubanks scored a dominant win in his Davis Cup debut. Photo by Tim Ireland/Getty Images for ITF.

Despite all that big-stage experience, the American still felt the pressure as he prepared to represent his country for the first time in this historic competition.

 

"I started off really nervous. I've been pretty nervous all day since I found out I was going to play," Eubanks admitted. "But when I got on court, things calmed down and I felt like I played at a really high level."

 

In a 6-3, 6-2 victory against world No. 498 Viacheslav Bielinskyi, Eubanks saved six break points in the second set and dominated the match with his serve and forehand, hitting 15 winners off that explosive baseline wing.

 

"He was focused the whole way," Bryan said of Eubanks. "He was down a couple of break points in the second and came up with really clutch serves. He plays such a big brand of tennis and it's not fun for the opponents. He showed that out there today."

Bryan was happy that his team accomplished their Day 1 goal of building a 2-0 lead, and he can now turn to a pair of Top 5 doubles stars—Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram—to clinch the tie for the U.S. on Friday.

 

"We've got two really experienced veterans on our team that have played well in practice all week," he said of the duo. "It's going to take an amazing performance from the Ukrainians to match their level. I'm looking forward to watching it, but I'm very confident in Rajeev and Austin and their level."

 

Like in the singles matchups, Krajicek and Ram will be considered strong favorites against the selected Ukrainian team of Vitaliy Sachko and Illya Beloborodko. But Bryan knows the gap in their ATP rankings means very little in Davis Cup, and he's expecting the Ukrainian doubles team to produce an effort to match the passion and quality of their singles players.

 

"I thought the Ukrainians played great," he said of their Thursday performance. "We've been watching them a little bit this week and we knew they had a high level and they showed it today. We didn't expect anything less."

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