Paris:
Germany overcame the absence of world number two Alexander Zverev to beat Slovakia in the opening match of the Davis Cup group stage on Tuesday, with Canada defeating Argentina.
Despite the absence of their top four players, including Zverev, the Germans dominated their Group C match 3-0 in Zhuhai, China. The group also includes the United States and Chile.
Canada, the 2022 champion, defeated Argentina 2-1 in Group D in Manchester, England.
German Maximilian Marterer won the first point over Lucas Klein 6-4, 7-5, while Yannick Hanfmann defeated Josef Kovalik 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Kevin Krawietz and Tim Boetz teamed up in doubles to beat Klein and Igor Zelenay 7-5, 6-3 and conclude the match.
The United States, the 32-time champion, opens its campaign against Chile on Wednesday, followed by Slovakia on Friday and Germany on Saturday.
Slovakia player Kovalik said: “We have a few days off so we can recover and do our best to win the next matches and still have a chance to reach the final.”
In Manchester, Canadian Denis Shapovalov defeated Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth set, before Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Sebastien Baez 6-3, 6-3.
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni defeated Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil in doubles 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Canada will play Finland on Thursday before facing host Britain on Sunday.
“I feel good,” Shapovalov said. “The last time I played in the Davis Cup we won the tournament, so it was nice to come back and play at such a high level. I want to build on this now,” he added.
Defending champion Italy will open the defense of its title on Wednesday in Bologna against Brazil, but without world number one Jannik Sinner, who won the US Open last weekend.
Italy is in the same Group A as Belgium, which came back from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Netherlands 2-1.
In the second group, France, the 10-time champion, lost to Australia 2-1, and lost the final of the 2022 and 2023 editions.