Under the leadership of captain Gilles Müller, the Luxembourg team triumphed over Lithuania with a 3-11 victory at Coque, securing the country's promotion in the Davis Cup.
After the first day of the Davis Cup Playoff on Saturday, Luxembourg and Lithuania tied at 1:1. Chris Rodesch had lost his singles match, while Alex Knaff secured a win.
However, the Luxembourgish duo sealed their promotion with victories in both the doubles and singles matches on Sunday.
Rodesch and Knaff dominate doubles in straight sets
In front 1,020 spectators in a packed Coque gymnasium, both nations fielded their strongest teams. Lithuania had not communicated their lineup initially, but the match ultimately saw Rodesch/Knaff facing Butvilas/Gaubas. Luxembourg delivered an outstanding performance, securing victory in two sets.
A key advantage for the Luxembourgish duo was their powerful service game. In the first set, Lithuania had no break-point opportunities, while the Red Lions managed to break their opponents twice, securing the set with 6:2 in 32 minutes.
The second set saw Lithuania put up a stronger fight. At 2:3, Lithuania earned their first break opportunity, but it took four attempts to finally break Rodesch and Knaff's serve. Nonetheless, Luxembourg responded immediately with a re-break.
The set was ultimately decided in a tiebreak, where Rodesch and Knaff held their nerve to win 7:6. After one hour and 27 minutes, Luxembourg led the overall tie with 2:1 with a 6:2, 7:6 victory in doubles.
Chris Rodesch secures promotion
The decisive singles match featured the top-ranked players from both nations, Chris Rodesch (no. 282) and Vilius Gaubas (no. 192).
The opening set was fiercely contested: at 4:4, Rodesch managed to break Gaubas' serve for the second time, allowing him to close out the set 6:4 after 43 minutes.
The atmosphere in the Coque gymnasium was electric when Rodesch, showing improved form compared to Saturday, broke Gaubas' serve in the first game of the second set, without conceding a point. The Lithuanian struggled to find opportunities against Rodesch's dominant service game. His only break chance came at 3:4, but Rodesch successfully defended it.
Rodesch held his serve to the end, sealing the match with another 6:4 set after 1 hour and 30 minutes. This decisive victory confirmed Luxembourg's promotion to Davis Cup World Group I.
Watch Alex Knaff and Chris Rodesch's post-match interview (LU):
Further impressions from the Davis Cup Playoff between Luxembourg and Lithuania
