Giron, McDonald, Michelsen, Krajicek, Ram Named to US Davis Cup Team

Written by Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Monday, January 6, 2025
Photo credit: Mark Howard

A group of top 50 singles players and two doubles veterans will lead the United States Davis Cup team.

Captain Bob Bryan today it is called Alex Michelsen, Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald, Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the American team in its qualifying match for the First Round of the 2025 Davis Cup vs. Chinese Taipei.

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The tie is scheduled for January 31-February 1 on the indoor hard court at the Taipei Tennis Center in Taipei City.

The fact that this Qualifier begins days after the end of the Australian Open on January 26 may be one reason why American stars ranked in the Top 40 including Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda and Brandon Nakashima are not playing Davis. Cup starter.

The USA-Chinese Taipei tie – one of 13 home-and-away ties played around the world as part of the first round of Qualifying – is a best-of-five series.

The tie begins with two singles matches on Friday, January 31. The doubles match and two singles matches back to back will follow on Saturday, February 1, with the first country to win three matches advancing to the second round of the Qualifiers – a new format change this year.

The winner of USA-Chinese Taipei will play the winner of Korea and Czechia in the Qualifying Second Round, held September 12-14, also in a home-and-away format. The winners of the Second Qualifying Round then advance to the Final 8 of the eight-nation Davis Cup that will take on this year's Davis Cup title in November in Bologna, Italy.

Italy are the two-time defending Davis Cup champions.

This will be the first meeting between the USA and Chinese Taipei in the Davis Cup. Chinese Taipei was chosen as the host country through a random drawing. Both countries compete in the Qualifying pool in 2024. The US team advanced to the Group Stage of Finals and the Final on November 8, falling to Australia in the quarterfinals. Chinese Taipei lost in the Qualifiers but won their first World Group match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in September to return to Qualification this year.

Here are USTA Team USA player bios:

Alex Michelsen20, is currently ranked No. 41 in singles and will be making his Davis Cup debut. The Laguna Hills, Calif., native has reached three ATP singles finals in the past two years and broke into the Top 50 for the first time this summer, becoming the youngest American to do so since Sam Querrey in 2007.

Marcos Giron31, is currently ranked No. 45 in singles and will be making his Davis Cup debut. A two-time Olympian from Thousand Oaks, Calif., Giron won his first ATP singles title this past summer in Newport and reached his top singles ranking of No. 37 in August.

Mackenzie McDonald29, ranked No. 130 in singles but was ranked as high as No. 37, fall 2023. McDonald, of Piedmont, Calif., made her Davis Cup debut in 2023 and went 3-1 in singles. across four different ties, most recently the 2024 Finals Group Stage.

Rajeev Ram40, is a former doubles world No. 1 currently ranked No. 28. Has gone 10-3 in Davis Cup doubles since debut in 2021. Ram, from Carmel, Ind., is a four-time Grand Slam men's singles champion and two-time ATP Finals champion and earned his second Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics this past summer, winning silver with Krajicek.

Austin Krajicek34, is also a former world No. 1, currently ranked No. 42. He has gone 6-2 in the Davis Cup twice since his debut in 2023. A native of Tampa, Krajicek won the men's title at the 2023 French Open and earned his own. first Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics this past summer, winning silver with Ram.