Hamad Medjedovic earned the highest-ranked win of his career Friday when he defeated World No. 12 Holger Rune 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the Davis Cup qualifiers first round.
Competing on Danish soil, Serbians Miomir Kecmanovic and Medjedovic each scored comeback wins to give their home country a 2-0 lead. Kecmanovic opened the tie with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory against Denmark’s Elmer Moeller before Medjedovic upset four-time tour-level titlist Rune.
In a heavy-hitting clash, the 21-year-old Medjedovic remained the more consistent in baseline rallies and held his nerve in crucial moments, fending off seven of the nine break points he faced.
Medjedovic, who was crowned champion at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, began this season by lifting an ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Oeiras, Portugal. That triumph secured Medjedovic’s Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings. Medjedovic’s victory against Rune marks his second Davis Cup match win in as many appearances.
In other Davis Cup action, Argentina capped a dramatic 3-2 win against Norway, fuelled by Mariano Navone’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 heroics in the deciding rubber against 18-year-old Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.
"I don’t know what to say. I’m grateful for the team. I’m enjoying this party, it’s incredible,” Navone said. “Argentinians are very passionate people. I’ve never had a feeling like today. This is the happiest day of my life."
Argentina’s Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos began the day with a 6-2, 7-5 victory against Viktor Durasovic and Casper Ruud. Then Ruud, Norway’s highest-ranked player in PIF ATP Rankings history, breezed past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3.
In the final rubber, Budkov Kjaer, the 2024 WImbledon boys’ singles champion, let slip a double-break lead in the deciding set against Navone. The 23-year-old Argentine appeared the fresher of the two as the match progressed, perhaps due to the teenager spending three hours and 50 minutes on court yesterday in a heartbreaking defeat to Etcheverry.
Alex de Minaur and Aleksandar Vukic earned straightforward wins to give Australia a 2-0 advantage against Sweden. De Minaur, fresh off a quarter-final run at his home Slam, downed Mikael Ymer 7-5, 6-1. The 28-year-old Vukic followed suit, ousting Leo Borg 6-4, 6-4.
"Leo is a very good player. He made it very tough,” Vukic said. “It’s tough to play in front of the opponent’s home crowd. It was a match that I’m very happy to win."
Top 25 players Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Machac put Czechia 2-0 ahead against South Korea. Lehecka defeated Gerard Campana Lee 6-3, 6-3 before Machac raced past Soonwoo Kwon 6-2, 6-2. Croatia leads Slovakia 2-0 following wins by Duje Ajdukovic and #NextGenATP Dino Prizmic. Ajdukovic beat Lukas Klein 7-6(4), 6-3 and Prizmic downed Jozef Kovalik 6-2, 6-2.
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