The Czech Republic secured their place in the
A hard-fought path to victory
The tie began with the teams locked at 1-1 following Friday's opening matches. The United States briefly seized the momentum on Saturday when Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek saved four match points to overcome Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl in a grueling 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) doubles encounter. However, the Czechs responded immediately through Jakub Mensik, who staged a resilient comeback against US Open runner-up Ben Shelton.
After dropping the first set, the 21-year-old Mensik leveled the match with a powerful forehand display before securing a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory to keep his nation's hopes alive. This set the stage for Lehecka’s clinical performance against Tien. Despite a brief wobble when he conceded an early break in the second set, Lehecka regained his composure to seal the win on his fourth match point, ensuring his team’s progression to the eight-team finals in Bologna.
Global qualifying results
Elsewhere in the competition, South Korea achieved a historic milestone by reaching the last eight for the first time after a 3-1 victory over India in Seoul. Kwon Soon-woo delivered the clinching point with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over Sumit Nagal. Meanwhile, Canada advanced to the finals after Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied to defeat France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in Quebec City, completing a 3-1 series win.
In other qualifying action, Austria secured their spot in the next round with a 3-1 victory over Belgium in Vienna, led by Jurij Rodionov’s win over Zizou Bergs. Germany and Croatia ended their opening day level at 1-1, while Spain and Great Britain established commanding 2-0 leads over Chile and Ecuador, respectively, as the race for the Davis Cup Finals intensifies.
