Great Britain secured a straightforward win against Ecuador to confirm their spot at the Davis Cup Finals this November.
Following singles victories for Arthur Fery and Toby Samuel at London’s Copper Box on Saturday, Henry Patten and Neal Skupski clinched the tie at the first opportunity with a 6-3 6-4 win over Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in the doubles rubber.
Britain now joins three-time defending champions Italy, Canada, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Austria in the eight-team event scheduled for Bologna.
It is the first time Leon Smith’s squad has reached the quarter-finals since 2023, when they were defeated by Novak Djokovic’s Serbia in Malaga.
Regardless of who they draw—and as a non-seed they could face opponents like Italy or Spain—they will encounter a much tougher challenge than the one presented by Ecuador.
The South American underdogs gave their best effort in hopes of replicating their famous 2000 Wimbledon victory in the competition, but they were outclassed by Smith’s team.
Britain is a leading nation in men’s doubles, and it would have been a significant upset had world No 1 Patten and recent US Open champion Skupski not emerged victorious.
The pair had only played together once before—during Patten’s lone previous <a We're very, very happy to get it done in the first match," said Patten. "I think we played a good one."
