Konstantin Zhzhenov makes Davis Cup debut for Russia at the age of 14
The first edition of Davis Cup Qualifiers will kick off next Friday, with 24 countries fighting for 12 places at Davis Cup Finals in November in Madrid where we already have six teams who have secured the final berth. 2002 and 2006 champions Russia travels to Switzerland, losing three of the last four ties in the previous two season but standing as the favorites against weak Switzerland that will host them in Biel on an indoor hard surface. Without Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in the red jersey, Switzerland will have to rely on Henri Laaksonen, Marc-Andrea Huesler and Sandro Ehrat, hoping for a miracle against the well-balanced Russian squad led by top-20 stars Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.
Andrey Rublev (he played in the doubles before with Konstantin Kravchuk and Karen Khachanov) will be in Biel as well together with Evgeny Donskoy, forming a young team that certainly looks old when we check the fifth player drafted to the Russian squad. Namely, the captains have invited more than 100 players for Davis Cup Qualifiers overall and the youngest one among them is Konstantin Zhzhenov, born in April 2004! If he gets a chance to play a dead rubber, Konstantin should become the youngest Davis Cup player from Russia, passing Andrey Rublev who made a debut against Portugal in 2014 just before turning 17.
Konstantin finished third on the Tennis Europe 2018 season-ending U14 list behind Miki Poljicak and Luca Van Assche, winning three singles titles and dominated at both singles and doubles at 2018 U14 European Summer Cups in July where he just missed a chance to win the title for Russia. Zhzhenov won many U12 and U14 titles in 2016 and 2017 and this should be an excellent experience for him, having a chance to feel the Davis Cup magic at such a young age before becoming one of the leaders of the pack in seven or eight years.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2DyE8Xq
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