Article 05 Nov 2022

USA on the brink of twin glory after setting up showdown with Brazil

Ross McLean

05 Nov 2022

USA stand on the brink of something special after their boys produced an heroic performance to dispatch France and join the nation's girls in their respective Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by BNP Paribas final.

The United States were skating on thin ice after Frenchman Lucas Marionneau, playing his first singles match of the week in place of the injured Theo Papamalamis, recovered from a set down to beat Kaylan Bigun in the opening singles.

Left-hander Alex Razeghi then levelled matters following another three-setter, this time against Thomas Faurel, before joining forces with Meecah Bigun as the doubles was eventually settled by a tense match tiebreak.

Brazil, who overcame a hugely talented Italy team in their last-four showdown, await in the final. With the United States girls reaching the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Final with victory over Serbia, the nation is on the cusp of a twin triumph, which would be some story.

On only five previous occasions have the same nation won both the Davis Cup Juniors and Billie Jean King Cup Juniors in the same year, with the USA doing so most recently in 2014. For now, however, the joy and relief of reaching the final are the most palpable emotions.

“It has been an unbelievable day,” United States captain Jon Glover told itftennis.com. “I am unbelievably proud of my team. We came here wanting to get better as a team but also wanting to fight and show what it meant to play as a team.

“We don’t get many opportunities to play team tennis in the US, but these guys have really come together. The way they fought for one another and laid it all on the line today was so impressive.

“Kaylan lost a tough match after having match points and was really down about it, but he cheered the other guys on. The way Alex came back after his singles match to fight hard was equally impressive, while Meecah not hitting for hours but bringing the kind of effort that he did was amazing.

“Who knows what might happen tomorrow? We’re excited but we just need to see who is banged up and who is healthy. Just a word on France, they were so gracious in defeat. I don’t think we’ll ever forget this match.”

Having lost his opening singles match of the week to Türkiye’s Atakan Karahan, Razeghi has proceeded to win six matches across singles and doubles, and the 16-year-old admits he has allowed himself to dream of being crowned a Davis Cup Juniors champion.

“It sounds very good to be a Davis Cup Juniors finalist,” Razeghi told itftennis.com. “That is what we came here to do. We were one of the favourites here so it’s good to reach the final. I have imagined what it would be like to win, but the job is not finished yet.”

Brazil will certainly be no pushovers. Prodigiously talented Joao Fonseca has impressed this week and he was in blistering form once again, drawing his nation level with victory over Italy’s Federico Cina in the second singles match of their semi-final tussle.

He then united with Gustavo Almeida to outmanoeuvre Lorenzo Carboni, who had earlier defeated Pedro Rodrigues, and Cina to guarantee Brazil their best-ever finish at the Davis Cup Juniors by BNP Paribas Finals.

Brazil have never been crowned Davis Cup Juniors champions and finished third in 2006 after defeating Chile in a positional play-off so, for both teams, tomorrow’s final promises to be an intriguing encounter with significant rewards on offer.