Davis Cup 2026: qualifiers kick off — the racquets of Prague, Quebec City and Halle
The Davis Cup Qualifiers start Friday: seven ties to decide who joins Italy in Bologna's Final 8. Shelton, Auger-Aliassime, Machac and Zverev in action with racquets that are already in our catalog.
Redacción PalaComparer · · 5 min read
Four weeks after the US Open final, team tennis takes center stage: from September 18 to 20 the Davis Cup Qualifiers are played — seven home-and-away ties (best of five rubbers, two singles on Friday, then doubles and two more singles on Saturday) whose winners reach the Final 8 in Bologna (November 24-29), where defending champions Italy are already waiting. And in three of the most anticipated ties — Prague, Quebec City and Halle — catalog racquets are on court. (Sources: daviscup.com, USTA, Tennis Canada.)
Prague: Fritz-less USA storms the O2 Arena
Friday's main event is at Prague's O2 Arena, where the United States — 32 titles, but a 19-year wait for the next one — face Czechia (USA lead the head-to-head 5-2, though the Czechs won the 2025 tie in Delray Beach). A late-round shake-up: Taylor Fritz (No. 10) and Tommy Paul pulled out, and captain Bob Bryan called up the two US Open revelations, Learner Tien (No. 13, age 20) and Martin Damm (No. 104), who pushed Tiafoe to five sets in New York.
Day one brings two blockbusters: Tien vs Jakub Mensik — a rematch of their US Open fourth-round duel, won by the American 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 — and Ben Shelton vs Jiri Lehecka, five days after Shelton's Grand Slam final. The US Open runner-up plays the Yonex EZONE 98 — Yonex EZONE 98 (8th gen)from 247,99 € —: 98 sq in, 320 g and Yonex's enlarged sweet spot for the most electric serve on tour. In the Czech team, captained by Tomas Berdych, the third man is Tomas Machac, a fixture of the Yonex VCORE family — in our catalog, the VCORE 100 Yonex VCORE 100 (8th gen)from 261,99 €, the same line Rybakina and Paolini use. Alongside him, Mensik and Lehecka both carry Wilson frames (Blade and Six.One 95).
Quebec City: the hometown hero, with Alcaraz and Rune's Pure Aero 98
Friday's other big ticket is the first Davis Cup tie in Quebec City since 1975: Canada host France at the Centre Videotron behind the ultimate local. Felix Auger-Aliassime, world No. 5 and raised in the city, plays his first professional matches at home and holds nothing back: Thursday's draw put him down for both singles and doubles (debuting as a partnership with Duncan Chan), with Liam Draxl as the second singles player after Gabriel Diallo withdrew.
France — Arthur Rinderknech (No. 32) and Quentin Halys in singles, Bonzi-Herbert in doubles — will face the weekend's flashiest gear stat: FAA plays the 2026 Babolat Pure Aero 98 — Babolat Pure Aero 98 (Gen 9)from 269,99 € —, the same racquet as Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune (source: Babolat). A 98 sq-in frame with a 16x20 pattern and 323 g strung: control and spin for players who take the ball early. His player page, felix-auger-aliassime, is brand new in the catalog.
Halle: Zverev, from the New York salad bowl to the Gravity
On Saturday the baton passes to Germany vs Croatia in Halle (indoor hard) with the man of the moment: Alexander Zverev, world No. 2 and double Grand Slam champion in 2026 — Roland Garros and the US Open — leads the hosts alongside Hanfmann, Krawietz and Puetz. His racquet is already a catalog item: the Head Gravity Tour Zverev 2026, gold and purple, limited edition, with the first open 16x19 pattern in Gravity family history — Head Gravity Tour Zverev 2026from 228,95 € —, the same frame he lifted the Arthur Ashe trophy with. Across the net: veteran Marin Cilic and the Pavic-Mektic doubles pair.
Vienna: Blockx's TFight, Belgium's breakout star
Friday also opens Austria vs Belgium on Vienna clay, with the toughest head-to-head of the round (Austria lead 5-0). Belgium travel with their new star: Alexander Blockx, US Open 2026 quarterfinalist (he retired with a rib injury against Khachanov with a semi-final in sight) plays a Tecnifibre TFight — the same frame family as the catalog's TFight 305S Tecnifibre TFight 305Sfrom 209,99 €, Daniil Medvedev's racquet — and arrives in the best form of his 21-year-old career.
Meanwhile, Spain (without its top players, led by Rafael Jodar, No. 11, and Landaluce) visits Chile in Santiago on clay, and Great Britain host Ecuador in London.
The seven winners meet in Bologna from November 24 to 29 for the Final 8. Before that, the tour's next stops: the Laver Cup in London (September 25-27) and the start of the Asian swing.
