U.S. falls to the Netherlands in Davis Cup Finals; defending champs Canada improve to 2-0

SPLIT, Croatia (AP) — Frances Tiafoe was beaten for the second straight time and the United States lost to the Netherlands in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals on Thursday.

Tallon Griekspoor defeated Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3) to secure the Netherlands the victory in Group D in Split. Botic Van de Zandschulp had beaten Tommy Paul 7-6(2), 6-2 in the opening singles match. Tiafoe had lost to Croatian Borna Gojo on Wednesday in a tie the Americans won 2-1.

The Netherlands had opened with a win against Finland.

Defending champion Canada earlier defeated Sweden to take the lead in Group A.

Gabriel Diallo secured the Canadians the point with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Elias Ymer. Vasek Pospisil had given Canada a 1-0 lead by defeating Leo Borg 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2. Borg is the son of 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg.

Canada had opened its title defense with a win over host Italy on Wednesday in Bologna, while Sweden was swept by Chile on Tuesday.

Canada is trying to secure its spot in the quarterfinals for the third time in its last four appearances, while Sweden was looking to make it to the last eight for the second time in three years.

Sweden had won the two times that the nations faced each other, including in the group stage in Madrid in 2021, though Canada was without its top stars at the time—Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.

Australia defeated France 2-1 after Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match in Group B in Manchester. In the singles, Adrian Mannarino had defeated Purcell, while and Alex de Minaur beat Ugo Humbert.

The Czech Republic defeated South Korea in Group C in Valencia.

The top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to the Final 8 that will be played in November in the southern Spanish city of Malaga.