Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rubley notched singles’ victories to help Russia knock off Germany 2-1 at Madrid, Spain, on Saturday to make the Davis Cup finals.
Russia will face Croatia in Sunday’s championship. Both countries will be looking for their third Davis Cup crown.
Rubley had nine aces while beating Germany’s Dominik Koepfer in the first match of the day. Koepfer had two aces in the 48-minute match.
Medvedev followed with the clinching victory — 6-4, 6-4 over Jan-Lennard Struff. Medvedev had seven aces in the 66-minute match.
Germany won the anticlimactic doubles match as Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz defeated Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Croatia qualified for the finals on Friday with a 2-1 victory over Novak Djokovic-led Serbia.
Russia’s previous titles came in 2002 and 2006. Croatia won titles in 2005 and 2018.
“Croatia is a very strong team, it has always been at the Davis Cup,” Medvedev said. “I am not expecting anything easy, so we will have to play our best to have our chances to win.”
–Field Level Media