Davis Cup Round-Up: Corentin Moutet's heroics carry France, Germany and Argentina rely on doubles

The Davis Cup Finals qualifiers have been decided, with four more countries advancing to the elite round of the top eight. They will join defending champion Italy, who has already secured its spot as the host nation in Bologna for the tournament that will be held from November 18-23.

There were seven remaining spots to be decided this weekend, and we now have four of the qualified teams. The first was Argentina, who eliminated the tournament’s first seeds, the Netherlands, with a remarkable effort from Tomas Etcheverry and Francisco Cerúndolo.

An impressive Germany joined them, proving to be far superior to Japan (who were without Kei Nishikori) and securing an easy series with four consecutive wins. The French team, for its part, found a hero in Corentin Moutet, who was key with two singles victories against the Croatians Marin Čilić and Dino Prižmić, securing France's qualification.

Finally, the most closely contested tie was between Austria and Hungary, which was decided in the fifth match in favor of Jurij Rodionov, who surprised the favorite, Márton Fucsovics, in straight sets.

The South Americans return to the Finals for the second consecutive year after a strong campaign in 2024 that ended in the quarterfinals against the eventual champions, Italy. Argentina is one of the most balanced teams, this time with wins from Tomás Etcheverry against Jesper de Jong (6-4, 6-4) and Francisco Cerúndolo against Botic van de Zandschulp (7-6, 6-1).

With a 2-0 singles lead over the Europeans—the first seeds of the qualifiers—Argentina sent out its doubles specialists on Saturday morning. They secured the victory thanks to a win from Andrés Molteni and Horacio Zeballos (current doubles No. 5 and former No. 1). Once Argentina's qualification was confirmed, one last match was played in which Jesper de Jong salvaged a win for honor against Francisco Comesaña.

The match between Germany and Japan was marked by the absences of the best singles players from each team. While Japan mourned the absence of former No. 4 Kei Nishikori, Germany had known for a couple of weeks that it would not have Alexander Zverev on this occasion. Nevertheless, the Europeans showed they had more depth to face the series and secured four consecutive wins against the Asians.

Jan-Lennard Struff opened with a tight victory against Yoshito Nishioka (6-4, 6-7, 6-4), and in the second match, Yannick Hanfmann defeated the lesser-known Shintaro Mochizuki (6-3, 6-3), securing an important 2-0 lead on the first day.

This Saturday, doubles specialists Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz (No. 12 and 13 in the doubles ranking) demonstrated their skills, effortlessly defeating Yosuke Watanuki and Takeru Yuzuki and securing the Europeans' qualification. In the fourth match, Justin Engel claimed an honorary victory against Rei Sakamoto (6-3, 6-7, [10-7]).

The series between France and Croatia had important absences, as the No. 1 player from each country was not present. The Croatians lamented the absence of Borna Ćorić, while France was without either Ugo Humbert or Arthur Fils, calling up Corentin Moutet and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the last minute.

Moutet was the hero of the series, debuting with a victory against the young Dino Prižmić by 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. In the second match, former US Open champion Marin Čilić came out looking for the equalizer but could not overcome the inspired Arthur Rinderknech, a recent surprise at the US Open after reaching the fourth round—his first appearance at that stage of a Grand Slam.

In the doubles, former No. 1s Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić brought hope back to Croatia, defeating Bonzi and Herbert (6-3, 7-5). In the fourth match, Čilić had the mission of keeping his country alive, but he could not defeat the irrepressible Moutet, who became the French hero and one of the figures of the weekend's Davis Cup, defeating the former major champion 7-5, 6-4.

This was the tightest series of the Davis Cup weekend so far, with Austria comfortably taking the lead on Friday with wins from Jurij Rodionov over Fábián Marozsán (6-2, 5-7, 7-5) and Lukas Neumayer against Márton Fucsovics (6-3, 3-6, 7-6). Both were surprise victories, considering the Hungarians started with a better ranking than their opponents.

In the doubles, Marozsán and Zsombor Piros teamed up to restore hope for Hungary, defeating their neighbors Erler and Miedler in two tie-breaks. Piros himself then increased Hungary's chances, overcoming Neumayer 7-5, 7-6 and sending the tie to a decisive fifth match that would determine the series and qualification for the Davis Cup Finals. It was there that Rodionov played his best tennis. Despite the crowd being against him, he secured an impressive 6-2, 6-1 victory over the experienced Fucsovics, sealing Austria's qualification for the Finals for the first time since 2021.