{"id":97606,"date":"2026-02-09T01:46:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=97606"},"modified":"2026-02-09T01:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:46:38","slug":"ecuador-india-and-south-korea-rise-to-the-occasion-in-2026-davis-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/09\/ecuador-india-and-south-korea-rise-to-the-occasion-in-2026-davis-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecuador, India and South Korea Rise to the Occasion in 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.daviscup.com\/en\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davis Cup<\/a> Round 1 qualifiers and World Group 1 ties concluded on Sunday, and the opening weekend of the men\u2019s tennis \u201cWorld Cup\u201d delivered drama in every time zone. Upsets, home-court chaos, and breakout performances defined an early phase that reminded fans why the Davis Cup remains one of the sport\u2019s most unpredictable competitions.<\/p>\n<h2>Ecuador Stuns Australia on Clay in Quito<\/h2>\n<p>In a watershed moment for Ecuadorian tennis, the hosts shocked traditional powerhouse Australia on clay in Quito. The tie swung immediately on two gripping singles matches. \u00c1lvaro Guill\u00e9n Meza defeated Rinky Hijikata, before Andr\u00e9s Andrade \u2014 ranked No. 274 \u2014 outperformed his ranking to stun James Duckworth in another three-set battle. Both matches were decided by aggressive shot-making and fearless hitting, with balls repeatedly clipping the lines under intense pressure.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alvaro Meza v Rinky Hijikata | Ecuador v Australia | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers Round 1 Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lx2p6uvl8Gc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Andrade v Duckworth | Ecuador v Australia | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5RW-Svt0_Xs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Australia attempted a recovery in doubles, pairing Hijikata with Jordan Thompson, but Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo delivered in straight sets to clinch the tie for Ecuador. The post-match scenes were electric, quickly circulating through <a href=\"http:\/\/Para hacer uso de este contenido cite la fuente y haga un enlace a la nota original en https:\/\/www.primicias.ec\/deportes\/mas-deportes\/envivo-ecuador-australia-qualifiers-copa-davis-tenis-115602\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ecuadorian media<\/a> as a landmark moment for the sport in the country.<\/p>\n<p>All three matches were tightly contested, and while Ecuador clearly benefited from clay and altitude, the decisive factor was the crowd. The sustained noise, tension, and emotion evoked memories of classic Davis Cup atmospheres rarely seen in the current era of the competition. Australian media has <a href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/tennis\/australia-sensationally-knocked-out-by-ecuador-in-davis-cup-boilover-c-21572897\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">questioned Lleyton Hewitt&#8217;s captaincy<\/a> of the national team.<\/p>\n<h3>Canada and South Korea Survive Five-Match Battles in Davis Cup<\/h3>\n<p>In Vancouver, Canada were pushed to the limit before edging Brazil 3\u20132. Liam Draxl proved decisive, earning routine but vital wins over Jo\u00e3o Lucas Reis da Silva and Gustavo Heide. The 24-year-old former college standout, who made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the Australian Open, continues to build momentum early in the season.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Draxl v Heide | Canada v Brazil | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HiRY74T7NKE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CLUTCH DIALLO | Canada v Brazil | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dZegeE0EKg4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Gabriel Diallo\u2019s resilience also mattered. He battled past Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida 7\u20136 in a third-set tiebreak after losing the opening set, avenging a narrow loss earlier in the tie when Gustavo Heide defeated him in another third-set breaker. Brazil claimed the doubles rubber 7\u20135 in the third set over Draxl and Cleeve Harper, ensuring the tie remained on a knife\u2019s edge until the end.<\/p>\n<p>Home conditions also proved decisive in Seoul, where South Korea upset Argentina. Hyeon Chung, now outside the top 400, rebounded from an earlier singles loss to defeat Marco Trungelliti on hard court in the fifth and deciding rubber. Soonwoo Kwon delivered two singles wins for the hosts, including a three-set victory over Thiago Agust\u00edn Tirante in the fourth match.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCENES IN KOREA! Hyeon Chung v Marco Trungelliti | Korea, Rep v Argentina 2026 Davis Cup Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eoFR51YR-io?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Suresh Powers India to a Historic Davis Cup Upset<\/h3>\n<p>India also capitalized on home-court advantage, recording a landmark win over the Netherlands, a long-time European Davis Cup stalwart. The tie turned in doubles after Dhakshineswar Suresh stunned Jesper de Jong in the second singles rubber. Suresh then teamed with Yuki Bhambri to win a decisive third-set tiebreak over Sander Arends and David Pel.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Suresh STUNS De Jong \ud83e\udd2f | India v Netherlands | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/htIXUuM3J3o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Suresh completed a remarkable weekend by defeating Guy den Ouden in the final rubber, effectively winning the tie single-handedly. India Today <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatoday.in\/sports\/tennis\/story\/davis-cup-who-is-dhakshineswar-suresh-netherlands-stunned-guy-de-ouden-yuki-bhambri-2865241-2026-02-09\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">referred to Suresh<\/a> \u2014 a Wake Forest NCAA player \u2014 as a 25-year-old Davis Cup hero, who stands 6-foot-5 with the game of a power baseliner. Ranked outside the top 400, Suresh now looks capable of breaking into ATP main draws later this year through Challenger-level success.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Suresh WINS IT for India! \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 | v Netherlands | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/U5Z_i29HcJg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>World Group Highlights, Including a Comfortable Win for Team USA<\/h3>\n<p>Team USA\u2019s trip to Hungary on clay proved manageable. Tommy Paul and Ethan Quinn secured the singles points, with Quinn surviving a marathon 13\u201311 third-set tiebreak against Fabian Marozs\u00e1n. Austin Krajicek and Christian Harrison closed the tie in doubles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBcRaucmSn\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3600px; aspect-ratio: 3600\/2400;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>France defeated Slovakia 3\u20131 behind two singles wins from <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/12\/29\/rinderknech-2025-season-review-career-best-for-top-frenchman\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Arthur Rinderknech<\/a>, with the doubles rubber again proving decisive. Czechia required just three matches to dispatch Sweden, as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/09\/01\/alcaraz-us-open-big-test-against-lehecka\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Ji\u0159\u00ed Lehe\u010dka<\/a> and Dalibor \u0160vr\u010dina delivered efficient victories. Belgium\u2019s next-generation pairing of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/01\/11\/biggest-movers-in-the-atp-top-100-blockx\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Alexander Blockx<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/10\/18\/the-rise-of-raphael-collignon-brussels-semifinal-run-announces-his-arrival\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Raphael Collignon<\/a> swept Bulgaria 4\u20130. Blockx and Collignon look set to win matches as a team for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Jack <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/08\/jack-draper-impresses-on-return-with-confident-davis-cup-win\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Draper\u2019s return<\/a> to competition went smoothly as Great Britain blanked Norway 4\u20130, with Cameron Norrie also earning a singles win over rising talent <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/12\/15\/atp-next-gen-finals-player-profile-nicolai-budkov-kjaer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Nicolai Budkov Kj\u00e6r<\/a>. On clay in Santiago, Chile dominated Serbia 4\u20130 behind strong singles performances from Tom\u00e1s Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo, with Serbia lacking a top-100 player. Germany\u2019s veterans Yannick Hanfmann and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/08\/30\/age-is-just-a-number-djokovic-mannarino-and-struff-shine-at-the-2025-us-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Jan-Lennard Struff<\/a> led a 4\u20130 sweep of Peru.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jack Draper RETURNS! \ud83d\udd25 | Norway v Great Britain | 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k5oVpkCKHNw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Croatia advanced 3\u20131 over Denmark as next-gen standout <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/12\/16\/atp-next-gen-finals-player-profile-dino-prizmic\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Dino Prizmi\u0107<\/a> won both singles rubbers. Austria produced one of the weekend\u2019s better road wins in Tokyo, rallying from 2\u20131 down. Lukas Neumayer defeated Shintaro Mochizuki before Jurij Rodionov sealed the tie with a three-set win over Yoshihito Nishioka, who faded as the match progressed.<\/p>\n<h3>World Group 1 Winners, Including China and T\u00fcrkiye<\/h3>\n<p>A level below, World Group 1 delivered a truly global set of results:<\/p>\n<p>Luxembourg d. Ukraine 3\u20131<\/p>\n<p>Paraguay d. Romania 3\u20131 (world No. 104 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/en\/news\/vallejo-challenger-feature-2024-april\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Vallejo<\/a> played three matches and won all three; the former junior standout owns five Challenger titles and has flirted with the top 100 after a remarkable two-month run)<\/p>\n<p>Greece d. Mexico 3\u20131 (<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/01\/22\/the-end-of-tsitsipas-australian-open-sanctuary\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a> went 3\u20130 on the weekend as he seeks form)<\/p>\n<p>Colombia d. Morocco 3\u20131 (away on clay, Nicol\u00e1s Mej\u00eda <a href=\"https:\/\/old.reddit.com\/r\/tennis\/comments\/1qzl38d\/colombian_player_nicolas_mej%C3%ADa_reports_insults\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">survived a hostile crowd<\/a> to defeat Reda Bennani in the fourth match)<\/p>\n<p>Poland d. Egypt 4\u20131<\/p>\n<p>T\u00fcrkiye d. Slovenia 3\u20131<\/p>\n<p>Lithuania d. Israel 3\u20131 (21-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis.com\/news\/articles\/lithuanian-born-spanish-trained-vilius-gaubas-atp-challenger-tour\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vilius Gaubas<\/a>, at a career-high No. 126, proved decisive in the tie and owns three ATP Challenger titles)<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2213961884\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2213961884?et=KyOlRuELS8JBQOt663qQfQ&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=fTuBIQ9xQveMMQVTo2yqg7SrNY7FUELHRMqvoZsj7_I=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Monaco d. Kazakhstan 3\u20131 (<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/07\/vacherot-was-not-one-hit-wonder\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Valentin Vacherot<\/a> won twice, including a straight-sets victory featuring two tiebreaks over top-10 player Alexander Bublik)<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand d. Bosnia 3\u20132 (New Zealand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/sport\/586260\/tennis-nz-advances-in-davis-cup-after-felling-bosnia-and-herzegovina\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">engineered a stunning comeback<\/a>, winning the final three rubbers despite neither James Watt nor Anton \u0160epp being ranked inside the top 500)<\/p>\n<p>Taiwan d. Lebanon 3\u20131<\/p>\n<p>China d. Portugal 3\u20131 (<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/12\/23\/nuno-borges-in-2025-solid-but-no-real-breakthrough\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Nuno Borges<\/a> endured a difficult trip to Asia, losing all three of his matches)<\/p>\n<p>Finland d. Hong Kong 3\u20131 (Otto Virtanen earned two wins for Finland)<\/p>\n<p>Switzerland d. Tunisia 4\u20130<\/p>\n<p>Second round action for the 2026 Davis Cup returns in September, before the final 8 from the World Group in November.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo by Smartframe Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Davis Cup Round 1 qualifiers and World Group 1 ties concluded on Sunday, and the opening weekend of the men\u2019s tennis \u201cWorld Cup\u201d delivered drama in every time zone. Upsets, home-court chaos, and breakout performances defined an early phase that reminded fans why the Davis Cup remains one of the sport\u2019s most unpredictable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1442,"featured_media":97614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBkTkkrQwx\" style=\"width: 100%;max-width: 4961px;aspect-ratio: 4961\/3301\"><\/smartframe-embed><!-- https:\/\/smartframe.io\/embedding-support -->","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[282,2,9],"tags":[43538,18982,41701,19120,42022,10566,4476,789,292,43553,182,43552,17973,18099,913,4980,11131,4224,41731,2340,15671,15250,18766,7504,43490,304,1635,18095,42020],"class_list":["post-97606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-davis-cup","category-featured","category-news","tag-2026-davis-cup","tag-adolfo-daniel-vallejo","tag-alexander-blockx","tag-alvaro-guillen-meza","tag-andres-andrade","tag-arthur-rinderknech","tag-australia-davis-cup","tag-british-tennis","tag-canadian-tennis","tag-daniel-vallejo","tag-davis-cup","tag-dhakshineswar-suresh","tag-dino-prizmic","tag-gabriel-diallo","tag-hyeon-chung","tag-indian-tennis","tag-jack-draper","tag-jan-lennard-struff","tag-liam-draxl","tag-lleyton-hewitt","tag-nicolas-mejia","tag-nuno-borges","tag-raphael-collignon","tag-soonwoo-kwon","tag-south-korea","tag-stefanos-tsitsipas","tag-tommy-paul","tag-valentin-vacherot","tag-vilius-gaubas"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97615,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97606\/revisions\/97615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}