Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan Upsets John Isner in Davis Cup Play

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.

Daniel Elahi Galan 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.

Gonzalo Escobar & Diego Hidalgo Help Lead Ecuador to Davis Cup Finals

Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo have sealed the Davis Cup deal…

The Ecuadorian tennis players defeated Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-6(3), 6-3 in the doubles match at Bourbon Beans Dome on Saturday, to to complete a 3-0 victory over Japan and earn Ecuador a spot in the Davis Cup Finals in November.

Gonzalo Escobar & Diego Hidalgo

Emilio Gomezbeat Go Soeda7-5, 7-6(3) in the first match on Friday. Roberto Quirozdefeated Uchiyama in three sets, 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(8).

Former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori, who is currently building up to make his return from right elbow injury, did not play.

The match-up was played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus and world number 17s Japan were without key players against 27th-ranked Ecuador.

The Davis Cup Finals will be held in Madrid from November 23-29.

Rafael Nadal’s ATP Cup Mural Unveiled in Perth

Rafael Nadal’s face has found a special home Down Under

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, is one of the players being honored with a special mural in Perth, Australia.

Rafael Nadal Mural

The inaugural ATP Cupis set to take place between January 3-12 in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, bringing together some of the world’s leading players in both singles and doubles from 24 countries. 

Weeks before the start of the action, Nodal got his mural in Perth together with Kei Nishikori and other stars, with the organizers welcoming the 19-time Grand Slam champion.

Nadal is among those who’ll fight for the crown together with his teammates, fresh after conquering the first edition of the Davis Cup Finalsin Madrid.

Spain is the favorite to reach the quarters from Group B, battling against Japan, Uruguay and Georgia at RAC Arena in Perth and hoping to continue the competition in Sydney where eight strongest teams continue the quest for the title in the second stage of the event.

Backed by Roberto Bautista AugtPablo Carreno BustaAlbert Ramos-Vinolas and Feliciano Lopez, Nadal is eager to lead Spain towards another team competition crown, shining in front of the home fans in Madrid with eight victories from as many rubbers and delivering the sixth Davis Cup title for Spain.

In what was a wild race towards the finish line, Nadal and Djokovic fought for the year-end no. 1 spot for almost the entire season, with the Spaniard making the deciding move in Montreal and the US Open and keeping the lead in the ATP Raceuntil the ATP Finalswhere they both lost in the round-robin stage.

Rafa and Novak will continue their rivalry at the ATP Cup, joined by Gael MonfilsKei NishikoriDavid GoffinAndy Murray, Grigor DimitrovAlexander ZverevDenis ShapovalovFelix Auger-AliassimeNick KyrgiosAlex de MinaurDaniil MedvedevKaren KhachanovJohn IsnerMatteo BerrettiniFabio FogniniDominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzmanand others.

Shakira Gives Epic Performance at the Davis Cup Finals

Shakira has aced her latest performance…

The 42-year-old Colombian superstar, who’ll be performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show alongside Jennifer Lopez, delivered an epic performance on Sunday at the Davis Cup Finals closing ceremony in Madrid.

Shakira

Shakira kicked off her three-song medley with “She Wolf,” joining an all-female dance group to further prove that her hips don’t lie. Her on-point dance moves then transitioned to the feel-good “Tutu” melody, where she was joined by Colombian singer Camilo and Puerto Rican Latin Grammy winner Pedro Capó for the first-ever live performance of “Tutu (Remix).” Shak’s nearly 10-minute set came to an end with her party-starting dance track “Dare (La La La)” for which she once again flaunted her killer dance moves on stage.  

“So fun to perform today!!!” she later expressed on Instagram. “Thanks to the wonderful team that worked so hard and made this performance happen today!”

The Davis Cup is a tournament between national teams in men’s tennis. Spain won the 2019 title, defeating Canada in the final 2-0. 

Rafael Nadal Leads Spain to Davis Cup Title Over Canada

Rafael Nadalhas helped Spain win big…

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star, ranked No. 1 in the world, risked injury by playing eight matches — five singles, three doubles — in six days at the Davis Cup Finals, the new World Cup of tennis.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal won all of them, leading Spain to its sixth Davis Cup title after a 2-0 win over first-time finalist Canada on Sunday.

But in Nadal’s view, the only hero for Spain was grieving teammate Roberto Bautista Agut. He sent Spain on its way to victory by winning the first singles match on Sunday, three days after the death of his father.

“I’ve won the eight matches but the person who was vital in this Davis Cup was Roberto,” Nadal said. “For me, what he did was something almost inhuman. I don’t know how to explain it. It will be an example for the rest of my life. He had to leave, then his dad died, then he came back and practiced with us yesterday, and today he was ready again to play at a very high level. It was something incredible.”

Spain Davis Cup

Before Nadal defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6 (7) to clinch the title — Spain’s first since also winning at home in 2011 — Bautista Agut had given Spain a 1-0 lead by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime7-6 (3), 6-3.

Bautista Agut pointed his finger to the sky after winning the final point in his match, and was in tears while speaking briefly to the crowd, which chanted his name. And he was the Spanish player lifting the cup in the title celebrations.

Bautista Agut’s father died on Thursday — a day after his son had defeated Nikola Mektic of Croatia — with his health deteriorating quickly after an illness that stemmed from a 2016 accident.

Bautista Agut, No. 9 in the world, played as teammates Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers nursed injuries entering the final.

As for Nadal, he considered himself lucky to be able to play all matches.

“It’s true that I held up, but we know that playing so many matches in this [hard-court] surface is risky for me, something can happen at any time,” Nadal said. “That’s how it’s been in the past, but luckily I held up.”

Spain’s Granollers and Feliciano Lopezhad been scheduled to face Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisilin the now-canceled doubles match, although Nadal was likely to play if the title had been at stake. Nadal played in the decisive doubles on Friday and Saturday.

Voted the tournament’s best player, Nadal sealed the title with his 29th straight Davis Cup singles win, igniting the home crowd’s celebrations.

Tournament organizer and Barcelona soccer star Gerard Pique, his wife Shakira — who performed in the closing ceremony — and Spanish King Felipe VI were among those celebrating Spain’s triumph.

Spain’s other Davis Cup titles were in 2000, ’04, ’08, ’09 and ’11.

The new Davis Cup Finals is the result of a 25-year partnership between the International Tennis Federation and the Kosmos group co-founded by Pique.