It’s been another busy and dramatic year on the ATP Tour. Could the final tournament of 2022 produce a major success for the USA? They head to Spain in the last week of November hoping to return with the Davis Cup trophy.
Although the Americans have won the trophy 32 times, their last success was in 2007. The past has seen the USA able to field such legends as John McEnroe (handy in both singles and doubles), Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith, Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras. Can the current crop of American players bring back the glory days.
The Davis Cup has undergone many changes in recent years. The matches aren’t played over three days, there’s three rather than five-sets and the finals see eight teams competing, all out to win the title.
Just getting to the final would be a major achievement for the American team. They haven’t reached one since that last title win 15 years ago.
There is hope though with some very encouraging displays this year. Taylor Fritz won the Indian Wells tournament and Frances Tiafoe made it all the way to the US Open semi-finals. Rajeev Ram is one of the top doubles players in the world and that’s always a useful asset to have in your Davis Cup team.
Tennis is a great sport to bet on, especially if it’s in-play. The Caesars in New York offers many bonuses and bets on tennis. An increasing number of states in America have now made sports betting legal and that includes New York and New Jersey. Should residents in those states be betting on a USA Davis Cup win?
It’s a long road to winning the Davis Cup. March of this year saw the USA beat Colombia 4-0 to keep their place in the World Group and qualify for the quarter finals. Only one set was lost on the way to that win.
The ATP Tour schedule is a rather hectic one and that’s often caused problems for the Davis Cup. Beating Colombia saw them in Scotland in September to face Great Britain, the Netherlands and Kazakhstan in a round-robin with the top two going into the finals.
Frances Tiafoe didn’t play in Scotland, leaving Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul as the two singles players. They took on Great Britain in their first match and the final result wasn’t known until the early hours of the next morning. Each of the matches went to a final set and the USA won 2-1.
Another 2-1 win against Kazakhstan saw the Americans clinch a place in the finals. Could they win the group though? It wasn’t to be with both Paul and Fritz losing their singles matches in the final match against eventual group winners, the Netherlands.
It was a job done though and the USA now takes on Italy in the quarter finals. It’ll be on an indoor hard court in Malaga on November 24. It won’t be an easy tie though with the Italians likely to have Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner as their singles players.
There is hope for the USA though as they look to have the stronger doubles partnership. Winning one of the singles and letting them be victorious in the deciding match seems the order of the day.
The semi-finals could see the USA up against Canada who take on Germany in the last eight. As for the final, well that could be a battle against the hosts Spain.
Auger-Aliassime beat future world number one Carlos Alcaraz as the Canadians beat Spain 2-1. If Shapovalov does play in the quarter finals, betting on them to beat Germany looks advisable.
That’d leave Canada between the USA and a possible final against Spain. They may well have to defy the odds to be successful in the Davis Cup finals but a strong challenge is likely.
