Daniel Elahi Galan is celebrating a massive upset…
The 25-year-old Colombian tennis player, ranked No. 111 in the world, defeated American John Isner 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) on Sunday in Davis Cup Finals play.
While the Colombian team missed out on advancing to the quarterfinals, Galan and his compatriots can take pride in knowing they eliminated the record 32-time champion Americans from the competition after Americans Reilly Opelka and Jack Sock retired from the decisive doubles match while trailing 3-0 in the opening set against the accomplished Colombian pair of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
U.S. captain Mardy Fish hinted at a lack of passion within his team after the record 32-time champion Americans were eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals with a lopsided loss to host Italy and the humbling defeat by Colombia on Sunday.
“You can see the passion for Davis Cup, playing for their country,” Fish said of Colombia. “It’s infectious for them … These guys are giving fist pumps every other point. It’s impressive, and it’s something that I hope, as a captain, to strive for and get our players to do.”
Italy won the group, Colombia placed second and the U.S. finished last in Group E.
Meanwhile, Russia with second-ranked Daniil Medvedev beat Spain 2-1 in a result that eliminated the defending champion and allowed Serbia with top-ranked Novak Djokovic to advance as the second-best runner-up.
Russia, which is being called RTF (Russian Tennis Federation) for the event amid an ongoing doping suspension in international sport, will face Sweden, the best runner-up, in the quarterfinals.
The other quarterfinals: Italy vs. Croatia, Britain vs. Germany, and Serbia vs. Kazakhstan.
Played in three cities, each matchup on indoor hard courts is a best-of-three series featuring two singles and one doubles match. The six group winners plus the two second-place teams with the best records based on sets and games advanced to the quarterfinals.
The semifinals and final will be played in Madrid.
