The defending champions Canadians advanced to the Davis Cup round of 16 on Saturday, but the Americans were eliminated by Finland, who reached the quarterfinals for the first time, winning 3-0.
Otto Virtanen saved two match points in the decisive tiebreaker to defeat MacKenzie McDonald 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (7) and Emil Ruusuvuori beat Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 6-4.
Virtanen scored on his fourth match point, giving debutant Finland a historic victory in Split, Croatia, in the group stage of the tournament final.
Finland joined the Netherlands among the advanced nations in Group D. They reached the round of 16, which will be held in the Spanish city of Malaga in November.
“They can hear the fans. This means a lot for the whole country and for tennis in Finland. “It’s something big,” Ruusuvuori said. “Let’s go to Malaga. »
Canada beat Chile 2-1. Alexis Galarenau defeated Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first match, which was enough to punch his ticket to Malaga.
Nicolás Jarry leveled the match by beating Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-4, but a 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory for Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil over Marcelo Tomás Barrios Vera and Tabilo allowed Canada to secure first place in the group. A
Italy could join Canada in group qualifying if it wins at least one match on Sunday in Bologna.
Last year’s runners-up Australia also secured their return to the round of 16 with a 3-0 victory over Switzerland in Manchester.
A defeat in either match would have left Australia dependent on the outcome of Britain’s clash with France scheduled for Sunday.
Thanasi Kokkinakis put Australia on the path to victory by beating Dominic Stricker 6-3, 7-5 and Alex de Minaur beat Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-4, 6-3.
Max Purcell and Matt Ebden then won their third match of the week in straight sets, beating Huesler and Stricker 6-2, 6-4 to secure one of the top two spots in Group B.
The Czech Republic beat Serbia 3-0 to secure first place in Group C. Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek beat Novak Djokovic and Nikola Cacic 7-5, 6-7 (5), 10-3.
Both countries were already advanced, with two victories each in Valencia.
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