The U.S. quad team is headed back to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup after sweeping South Africa on Wednesday at the Vilamoura Tennis Academy in Vilamoura, Portugal.
Bouncing back from a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the title-favorite Dutch on Tuesday, the U.S. secured its qualification with a 2-1 record in Group A, and advances to a semifinal clash with Israel, the winners of Group B. The Netherlands, looking for its third-straight title, will play Japan in the other semifinal.
Two days after securing a first World Team Cup doubles victory in his event debut, Andrew Bogdanov's three-set upset of Lucas Sithole, the 2013 US Open champion, in the opening singles match of the tie got the U.S. off to a bright start; playing in just his fifth professional wheelchair tennis event, Bogdanov nonetheless secured a 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 win over the former Top 10 stalwart in 1 hour and 44 minutes, and set the stage for David Wagner to clinch the overall team victory.
Read more at usta.com: Just three years into tennis career, Andrew Bogdanov ready for World Team Cup debut
But Wagner had to reverse a string of futility against his opponent to do it.
The world No. 3 entered the second singles match having lost five of his seven career matches against Donald Ramphadi, currently ranked No. 5; in the clash of Top 10 players, Wagner secured a 6-4, 7-6(4) win for his first hard-court victory over Ramphadi, and gave the U.S. an unassailable 2-0 lead. The foursome then returned to the court for doubles, where Bogdanov and Wagner won 6-0, 6-3.
Also in action on Wednesday were the American men, who faced off against the Netherlands, the two-time defending champions, for the top spot in Group D. In a rematch of last year's semifinals, the Netherlands took a 3-0 decision; Tom Egberink beat Conner Stroud in the first match 6-1, 7-5, before Ruben Spaargaren downed Casey Ratzlaff by a 7-5, 6-1 final score. Spaargaren and Maikel Scheffers then beat Stroud and Jason Keatseangslip 6-1, 6-2 to finish the tie.
The U.S. quad team was all smiles after their win.
In addition to the quad semifinal between the U.S. and Israel, the American men and women are also in action on Thursday. The men look to bounce back against host Portugal in their final round-robin match, while the U.S. women, who swept Chile in their opening group-stage match, return to the court as underdogs against Japan, which is led by world No. 2 Yui Kamiji.
For more from the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup, visit the USTA's event homepage or the ITF's tournament hub.
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