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Cameron Norrie defeated Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland 6-4, 6-4 to secure Great Britain’s place in next year’s Davis Cup qualifiers. Norrie’s assured victory over the world No 484 established an unassailable 3-1 lead for Great Britain after they were forced to recover from the setback of starting the day with an unexpected defeat.
Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, the Wimbledon doubles champions, were upset 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) by Karol Drzewiecki and Jan Zielinski to present Norrie with the task of overcoming Pieczkowski to avoid a decider on the final day.
Victory in the best-of-five Group One tie means Britain, who are missing Jack Draper because of injury, go into February’s first round with a chance to win the 2026 tournament.
“The most important thing is that we got the job done in a tie like this,” said Great Britain’s captain, Leon Smith.
“We did a very professional job. It was good to get Arthur Fery his debut and it was a winning one which is a great experience for him.
“Then you have Cam Norrie in your team, who is so rich in experience. We didn’t drop a set in the singles, which shows the respect we gave the opposition.
“We can look forward now to the draw for next year. I sense there’s an appetite for the players to play which is really good, so hopefully we can go with a strong team and try and go as far as we can.”
Germany reached the Davis Cup final eight with a 4-0 rout of Japan as Argentina also qualified after knocking out last year’s finalists Netherlands, while Belgium took a commanding 2-0 lead over Australia in their second-round qualifying tie.
After Germany took a 2-0 lead on Friday in Tokyo, their victory was completed when Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz saved three set points in the second set to beat Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki and Takeru Yuzuki 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the doubles. Justin Engel then beat Rei Sakamoto 6-3, 6-7 (2), 10-7.
Last year’s semi-finalists Germany are the first team to enter the final eight through the qualifiers, joining the hosts, Italy, in the culminating round set for November in Bologna.
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Germany’s captain, Michael Kohlmann, said: “Right now, the locker room is dancing and singing. We’re looking forward to Bologna and hopefully we’re getting one step further.”
Argentina also qualified when Andrés Molteni and Horacio Zeballos beat the Dutch duo of Sander Arends and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 7-5 to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in Groningen.
