U.S. sweeps Chile in opening Davis Cup Finals Group Stage tie

The "underdog" U.S. Davis Cup team made its first step towards qualifying for third and final phase of the 2024 competition in Zhuhai, China on Wednesday with a 3-0 sweep of Chile in Group Stage action.

The Americans and Chileans are competing alongside Germany and Slovakia indoors this week at the Hengqin International Tennis Center in Zhuhai, China to determine which two nations will advance to November's Final 8 rounds in Malaga, Spain, as the U.S. has hopes of winning a record-extending 33rd Davis Cup title in men's tennis' international team competition. The four countries in China make up Group C, one of four round-robin groups of four nations each that will be whittled by half ahead of the knockout rounds. 

Without the services of US Open finalist Taylor Fritz or Top 20 stars Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, U.S. captain Bob Bryan instead turned to the veteran-rookie combinaton of Reilly Opelka and Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday's opening day, and both players delivered in three-set wins to clinch the tie, before Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek finised off the sweep with a three-set win of their own.

"We’re obviously feeling great. It was truly an epic day of tennis for both teams," Bryan said post-match. "Everyone showed a lot of heart, a lot of guts. Hats off to the Chileans. Hats off to our guys who were really digging deep, especially in the big moments ... just feeling very proud of the players."

Opelka, who returned to tour-level tennis in July after two years of injury woes, looked much like his old self in a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) win over former Top 20 player Cristian Garin, in which he hammered 27 aces and neared 150 mph in first-serve speeds. 

But the former world No. 17 admitted he needed to adjust: both to his opponent, having first expected to play Nicolas Jarry, the world No. 28, and to the humid conditions in Zhuhai, as well as the pressure that came with his first Davis Cup action since 2021.

"It ended up being a great match. I thought the guy played well. I thought I played well," Opelka said, noting the U.S. might've considered itself underdogs in the tie. "It was difficult to play in the humidity, having to change a lot of racquets, grips, towels, shirts, shorts, shoes, socks, everything. So tough to acclimate but a high-level match.