2024 Davis Cup Qualifier: Krajicek, Ram clinch Ukraine tie for U.S. with doubles win

Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram sent the United States Davis Cup team back into the Finals Group Stage with a tie-clinching win on Friday. For the second time in three live rubbers in the Qualifier tie, the underdog Ukrainians forced a decisive set with a spirited performance before the U.S. regrouped to triumph in three.

After Sebastian Korda put the U.S. on the board with a three-set victory and debutant Chris Eubanks made it 2-0 later on Thursday in Lithuania, Krajicek and Ram clinched the tie for their country with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 result against Illya Beloborodko and Oleksii Krutykh.

Despite the big gap in their respective ATP doubles rankings—Krajicek and Ram are both in the Top 5, while the Ukrainians are both outside the Top 900—the result hung in the balance until the Americans won 11 straight points to take a 5-2 lead in the final set. There were a combined 35 break points in the dramatic contest, with the Americans converting two of 16 and the Ukrainians winning one of 19.

"Tough match today," said Krajicek, who was the year-end doubles No. 1 in 2023. "I thought those guys played unbelievable, which was fun. It was really fun to compete against them. I think their whole team was super talented and they brought it. We had some tough matches. It was a great match to get through in three," he continued.

"It's always different when you play for your country. I feel like rankings kind of go out the window," added Ram. "We've done this enough together to know that no matter what a player is ranked, they're going to play maybe above their level sometimes. I think that's the first thing. The second thing is we have to make sure that we are completely and 100% ready to go and ready to battle out there as long as it takes."

In addition to the wealth of experience Krajicek and Ram have on the game's biggest stages, they now enjoy the added benefit of being captained by one of the greatest doubles players of all-time in Bob Bryan, who has made a winning start in his first full year at the helm.

"For me, he's a legend in tennis, not just doubles," said Ram. "The Bryan brothers are as legendary as it gets. It's such a cool opportunity now as doubles players on tour to be able to spend all this time with him and learn from him. I think he does an amazing job, and I think the singles guys would agree with that."

All three of the American singles players picked up wins during the tie, with Taylor Fritz completing a 4-0 U.S. sweep with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Vladyslav Orlov in a dead rubber on Friday. The American No. 1 was a late scratch with a right hip injury on Thursday, when Eubanks successfully stepped in.