The United States swept its way into the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals on Saturday, getting the winning point in a 4–0 victory over Uzbekistan from the doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
They beat Sergey Fomin and Sanjar Fayziev 6–2, 6–4, after Tommy Paul and Mackenzie McDonald had won singles matches Friday in Tashkent.
Stan Wawrinka punctuated his return to the competition he helped Switzerland win alongside Roger Federer in 2014 by winning the deciding match against Germany. Serbia, France, Britain, and Sweden also closed out victories Saturday.
Ram is No. 3 in the ATP Tour doubles rankings and partnered with Joe Salisbury to win the last two U.S. Open men’s doubles titles. But the Americans opted not to use Ram last year in the final round, when they dropped the doubles match in a 2–1 defeat against Italy in the quarterfinals….