Egypt have made a big statement – massive in fact – and, by stunning Australia with a pulsating victory, the North African nation stands on the brink of history at the Davis Cup Juniors by BNP Paribas Finals in Antalya.

Enterprising duo Ahmed Monsef and Nour Fatthalah were the stars of the show, dispatching Charlie Camus and Hayden Jones respectively to fire Egypt into an unassailable lead before Australia replied with a doubles triumph.

Egypt’s success blows Group A wide open and victory against Mexico in the final round-robin tie tomorrow would go some way towards them securing a place in the knockout phase. Australia face top seeds Spain, who have won both their ties so far.

Should Egypt reach the quarter-finals, they would be guaranteed a top-eight finish at the Davis Cup Juniors Finals, something they have never previously achieved. Their best result to date is the 11th-placed finishes they managed in 2001 and 2006.  

However, talk about the latter stages can wait. Today is about Egypt’s commanding and hugely significant victory, the scale of which was not lost on Fatthalah, who collapsed to the ground in celebration after converting match point.

“I was about to cry,” Fatthalah, who sits more than 200 places below today's opponent Jones in the ITF world junior rankings, told itftennis.com. “I didn’t know how I was going to win as I was cramping all over my body, but I found a way.

“This is the best victory in my career. I was down pretty much all the match and was about to lose, but I did it – my captain was telling me to take it point by point and game by game.

“It is also one of Egypt’s biggest wins in Davis Cup Juniors and we did a great job. All my family and friends have been in touch already to congratulate me, and I am so grateful and thankful to be here representing Egypt.”

Egypt captain Mohamed Mousa was equally buoyant following his nation’s triumph, and believes his charges can take huge confidence from today’s victory, not only into the rest of the Finals but the remainder of their careers.  

“This means a lot,” he said. “It is a big step towards the professional stage and they need to believe in themselves and believe they can do it. They need to believe they can compete with top players.

“I am just very proud because I have two players who have just beaten two top players who are ranked inside the top 100. We played an amazing two matches and we won. We played amazingly.”

Spain, meanwhile, top Group A following a resounding victory over Mexico, which included another powerful singles performance from reigning US Open boys’ champion Martin Landaluce.

Elsewhere, the other three groups have been resolved in so far as who has qualified for the quarter-finals, with Italy, Czech Republic, Brazil, France, USA and Japan all chalking up their second wins of the week. Final group placings still have to be resolved, however.

Results

Davis Cup Juniors Finals – day two

Group A

Spain 3-0 Mexico

Egypt 2-1 Australia

Group B

Italy 3-0 India

Great Britain 0-3 Czech Republic

Group C

Brazil 3-0 Paraguay

Morocco 0-3 France

Group D

USA 2-1 Argentina

Türkiye 0-3 Japan

Click here for a full breakdown of results