Davis Cup Finals 2021 Results: Thursday’s Round Robin Scores and Reaction

Despite not having a player ranked better than No. 171 in the world on its team, Sweden took care of a Canadian team that may have been one of the top contenders with a fully intact roster.

A 2-1 win would have been a huge accomplishment for Sweden, but it completed the sweep when Andre Goransson and Robert Lindstedt beat Pospisil and Brayden Schnur 7-6 (5), 6-4 in doubles.

While Pospisil has enjoyed a great deal of singles and doubles success in the Davis Cup over the years, Goransson and Lindstedt were a well-oiled machine Thursday:

By virtue of the Group B win, Sweden moved closer to potentially winning its first Davis Cup title since 1998 and its eighth overall.

Sweden will officially advance to the quarterfinals with a win over Kazakhstan on Saturday. Canada and Kazakhstan will then meet in the final tie of Group B on Sunday.

Croatia 3, Australia 0

Like Sweden, Croatia turned in a dominant performance Thursday, shutting out an Australian team thought to perhaps be the favorites in Group D.

The opening match between No. 61 Alexei Popyrin and No. 276 Borna Gojo looked like a clear advantage for the Aussies, but Gojo scored a huge 7-6 (5), 7-5 upset in favor of the Croatians.

Gojo staved off five break points in the match and fired off 10 winners, including this backhand up the line:

The next match was the premier clash of the day, with No. 30 Marin Cilic and No. 34 Alex de Minaur going head-to-head.

Cilic came out of the gates firing and won the first set 6-1, only for de Minaur to counter and win the second 7-5. Cilic rebounded and put de Minaur away 6-4 in the third, however:

The 33-year-old Cilic had the advantage over de Minaur in terms of big-match experience, as he won the U.S. Open in 2014 and reached two other Grand Slam finals.

Ultimately, Cilic was the more aggressive player, and it showed in the stats, as he had 30 winners to de Minaur’s nine.

Once Gojo and Cilic won, a clean sweep was essentially a foregone conclusion, as Croatia put the two best men’s doubles players in the world up against de Minaur and John Peers.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic began teaming this year, and it has been a fruitful partnership, as they won Wimbledon and Olympic gold.

They cruised once again Thursday, beating de Minaur and Peers 6-3, 6-1 and clinching the shutout for Croatia.

Australia will look to bounce back and give itself a chance to advance to the quarters when it faces Hungary on Saturday. Meanwhile, Croatia’s pursuit of a second Davis Cup title since 2018 will continue Sunday against Hungary.

France 2, Czech Republic 1

While the first two ties of the day were blowouts, France and the Czech Republic went down to the wire in Innsbruck.

The action started with a singles match featuring a massive disparity in experience. France sent out 35-year-old veteran and three-time Grand Slam semifinalist Richard Gasquet, while the Czechs countered with 21-year-old Tomas Machac.

As the elder statesman and the No. 86 player in the world, Gasquet seemingly had the advantage, but the No. 143-ranked Machac pulled off the 7-6 (3), 6-2 upset.

Machac expertly broke Gasquet three times and impressively had only four unforced errors in the entire match.

That loss put France in a tough spot since, like Canada, it was without its top three singles players in No. 21 Gael Monfils, No. 35 Ugo Humbert and No. 46 Benoit Paire.

France put its faith in another veteran in the second singles match in 33-year-old Adrian Mannarino against Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely.

Vesely took the first set 7-6 (1) in a tiebreak, but Mannarino stormed back to take the second set 6-4. While Mannarino had Vesely on the ropes in the third, the Czech continued to battle and stave off break points:

Mannarino finally came through and broke Vesely twice in the third set, however, and won the set 6-2 to take the match and even the tie at 1-1.

France undoubtedly liked its chances entering doubles, as it chose No. 5 Nicolas Mahut and No. 8 Pierre-Hugues Herbert to take on Czech Republic’s Machac and Jiri Lehecka.

As a pairing, Mahut and Herbert have won five Grand Slam doubles titles, including the French Open earlier this year.

Despite that, Machac and Lehecka got off to a fast start, winning the first set 6-3 thanks to shots like this lob winner:

Mahut and Herbert managed to bounce back and win the second set 6-4, which forced a third and decisive set for the entire tie.

Ultimately, the experience and track record of success Mahut and Herbert have enjoyed as a team proved too much for the Czechs to overcome, as France won the third set 6-3.

France is now in control of Group C, and it will try to clinch the group Saturday against Great Britain. Czech Republic and Great Britain will then meet Sunday in the final tie of group play.