Nice Britain wrapped up a simple victory over Ecuador to ebook their place on the Davis Cup Finals in November.
After singles victories for Arthur Fery and Toby Samuel on Saturday at London’s Copper Field, Henry Patten and Neal Skupski clinched the tie on the earliest alternative with a 6-3 6-4 win towards Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo within the doubles rubber.
Britain subsequently be a part of three-time defending champions Italy, Canada, Czech Republic, South Korea and Austria in reserving their spot for the eight-team occasion in Bologna.
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Arthur Fery displays on his Wimbledon expertise, his huge climb up the world rankings and the tournaments he is planning to play subsequent
It’s the first time Leon Smith’s facet have reached the quarter-finals since 2023, after they had been overwhelmed by Novak Djokovic’s Serbia in Malaga.
Whoever they draw – and as a non-seed they may discover themselves up towards the likes of Italy or Spain – they’ll face a a lot stiffer take a look at than that offered by Ecuador.
Toby Samuel celebrates his win
The South American outsiders gave their all to the duty within the hope of repeating their well-known victory within the competitors at Wimbledon in 2000 however had been outclassed by Smith’s males.
Britain are the main nation in males’s doubles and it could have been an enormous upset had world No 1 Patten and new US Open champion Skupski not prevailed.
That they had performed collectively solely as soon as earlier than – Patten’s sole earlier look – in a tie towards Canada two years in the past however gelled rapidly, breaking serve on the first alternative.
Fery additionally gained for Nice Britain
There was a second of competition on the primary level of the second set when umpire Marijana Veljovic dominated that Escobar had hit a volley whereas leaning throughout the web, awarding Britain the purpose.
The Ecuador duo put their anger apart to carry serve however a return winner from Skupski earned them one other break within the ninth sport, and Patten served out the victory.
“We’re very, very glad to get it completed within the first match,” mentioned Patten. “I feel we performed an excellent one.”