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The United States Davis Cup team has played against China before, but it has never played IN China before…until 2024.
You may not have heard but the U.S. Davis Cup team, the most successful nation in the history of the storied competition with 32 total championships. were drawn to play in Zhuhai, China in the Davis Cup Group Stage in September, the week after the U.S. Open. Playing in the same group as the United States will be Germany, Chile and Slovakia, with the top two teams advancing into the year-end Davis Cup Final, which is really the quarterfinals in the single-elimination draw.
While the United States has never played in China, all members and potential members of the team, of course, have competed in China before, either at the ATP Tour’s Beijing Open, the Rolex Shanghai Masters or perhaps other ATP events or challengers in China..
The United States has played two previous Davis Cup matches against China, in 1928 and 1935, both matches resulting in 5-0 white-wash wins for the United States. In fact, one of these matches did in fact feature a white-wash result as American George Lott from Illinois registered the first of three “triple bagels” in U.S. Davis Cup history when he beat Paul Kong 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 in the opening rubber of the 1928 USA vs. China match played in Kansas City. In 1935, the United States played China in Mexico City and also registered a 5-0 win in a match that was significant as it marked the U.S. Davis Cup debut by future Grand Slammer Don Budge.
With regard to the 2024 U.S. Davis Cup team campaign in China, surprisingly, there was no announcement of the U.S. team next round of play in China from the U.S. Tennis Association via a press release and there is no story about it on its USTA.com website as of March 24, four days after the draw was determined by the International Tennis Federation. Bob Bryan, the U.S. Davis Cup captain, was also not made available by the USTA to comment on the upcoming draw and give media and fans a preview of what was to come for Team USA.
The USA advanced into the round by beating Ukraine 4-0 in a match that was played in Vilnius, Lithuania due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read more about the match here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/22761
Zhuhai China is a city located on the west shore of the Pearl River, across from Hong Kong and just north of Macau. The city will also host the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships ATP 250 event the week after the Davis Cup matches September 18-24 which will be easy transition for those players in this Davis Cup group to stay and compete in another event.
