FILE PHOTO: Sep 5, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Diego Schwartzman of Argentina hits a forehand against Botic Van De Zandschulp of the Netherlands (not pictured) on day seven of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
September 18, 2021
(Reuters) -Belarusian Daniil Ostapenkov, a teenager who had not played professional-level match before, stunned world number 15 Diego Schwartzman 6-4 6-3 in their World Group I Davis Cup match against Argentina on Saturday.
The 18-year-old became the latest young gun to cause an upset following a U.S. Open where teenagers seized the spotlight and 18-year-old Briton Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
Ostapenkov fired down three aces and saved seven break points to defeat Schwartzman on his home turf at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, although Guido Pella levelled the tie at 1-1 with a convincing win over Erik Arutiunian.
Slovakia completed a 3-1 victory over Chile with Norbert Gombos thrashing world number 17 Cristian Garin 6-0 6-1 for his second win of the tie in Bratislava. The Slovaks must now wait to see whether they are automatically into the February qualifiers to reach the 2022 Finals.
Norway were also triumphant with Casper Ruud’s 6-3 6-1 victory over Sanjar Fayziev handing them a 3-1 lead and keeping alive their hopes of reaching the 2022 Finals.
The eight highest ranked winners from the World Group I ties will go into the Davis Cup qualifiers next February where they will attempt to qualify for the 2022 Finals.
The other four nations will contest an additional knockout round in November with the winners entering the qualifiers.
South Korea guaranteed a place in the qualifiers as they overcame New Zealand 3-1. Finland completed a victory over India although they must wait to find out whether they are automatically through to the qualifiers.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
