Defending champion Canada advanced to the Final 8 of the Davis Cup on Saturday but the United States was eliminated by Finland, which reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 3-0 win.
Otto Virtanen saved two match points in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (7) and Emil Ruusuvuori defeated Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 6-4 — sealing the result on his fourth match point — to give debutant Finland a historic win in Split, Croatia, at the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals.
Finland joins the Netherlands in advancing out of Group D and reaching the Final 8 in the southern Spanish city of Malaga in November.
“You can hear it from the (fans). It means a lot for the whole country, for tennis in Finland. It’s a huge thing,” Ruusuvuori said. “We’re going to Malaga!”
Source: ESPN
