South Korea’s men’s tennis team reached the Davis Cup Finals for the first time in its history after defeating India 3-1 in Seoul, ending a 66-year wait for a place among the competition’s final eight teams. The tie was played on September 18 and 19 at Olympic Park. South Korea entered the second day needing one more victory after taking both opening singles matches, then sealed the result when Kwon Soon-woo beat Sumit Nagal 6-1, 6-2.
Kwon supplied two of South Korea’s three wins across the tie. He had opened with a three-set victory over Dakshineswar Suresh before returning on the second day to beat Nagal in 68 minutes. Chung Hyeon added the other singles victory on the first day. India kept the tie alive by winning the doubles match, but Kwon’s second singles win ended it before a fifth rubber was needed.
A breakthrough built in Seoul
The result carries unusual weight because South Korea first entered the Davis Cup in 1960 and had never previously reached this stage. The team has spent decades moving between qualification rounds and the broader world-group structure, but the 2026 run produced a first appearance in the Finals, which the Korean reports describe as the world’s last eight.
Home advantage also gave the milestone a visible setting. The decisive match was played at Seoul Olympic Park, where Kwon returned after reporting pain in his right leg the previous day. Rather than forcing the tie into a final match, he controlled the deciding singles from the start and closed the series in straight sets.
South Korea now moves from qualification into a stage it has never played before. The immediate achievement is already fixed: three wins against India, two of them from Kwon, have taken the national team into the Davis Cup Finals for the first time since the country began competing 66 years ago. The remaining question is how the team handles a field reduced to the strongest eight nations.