Germany, Australia, Canada and Belgium earn victories in Davis Cup openers

VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Germany beat Slovakia 3-0 despite the absence of No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev, and 2023 runner-up Australia came out on top in its duel with France on Tuesday as the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals kicked off.

Four groups play across four cities this week to qualify for the Final 8 knockout stage to be held in Malaga, Spain, in November. The top two in each four-team group will advance.

Germany and Slovakia were the first teams in action on Tuesday playing in China in Group C, which also includes the United States. The U.S. plays Chile on Wednesday.

Germany sent out Maximilian Marterer in the first singles match and the 104th-ranked player won 6-4, 7-5 against Lukas Klein. Yannick Hanfmann then saved a match point and rallied from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) against Jozef Kovalik in the second singles match.

U.S. Open doubles finalists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz completed the German win by claiming a 7-5, 6-3 against win over Klein and Igor Zelenay.

After finishing runner-up the past two years, Australia is again among the favorites and beat France 2-1 in Group B in the Spanish town of Valencia.

Thanasi Kokkinakis gave Australia a 1-0 lead with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) win over No. 25-ranked Arthur Fils.

Kokkinakis, ranked 78th, fought back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to record a first top-30 win in the team competition.

“Arthur is a great player, he’s going to be leading the French team for a while, so I knew it was a tough challenge,” Kokkinakis said. “I just tried to hang in there and I think I played steady on the big moments. There wasn’t much in it.”

Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin saved a match point then took the second set of the decisive doubles match but ultimately lost to Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. Purcell and fellow Australian Jordan Thompson won the men's doubles title at the U.S. Open last weekend.

Among the big names competing this week are Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and British player Jack Draper, who made it to the U.S. Open semifinals last week.

Italy beat Australia for the 2023 title.

Playing in Group D, Denis Shapovalov converted all four break points to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-3 and give Canada an early lead. Felix Auger-Aliassime then beat Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-3 to clinch Canada's victory. It ended 2-1 after Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni came from behind to beat Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in doubles.

In Group A, Belgium beat the Netherlands 2-1.

Eds: Note this story corrects U.S. opponent on Wednesday to Chile.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Max Purcell, left, and Jordan Thompson, of Australia, hold up the championship trophy after defeating Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz, of Germany in the men's doubles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Belgium's Raphael Collignon plays Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp during their Davis Cup tennis match at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp, top, plays Belgium's Raphael Collignon during their Davis Cup tennis match at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

Belgium's Raphael Collignon plays Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp during their Davis Cup tennis match at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp plays Belgium's Raphael Collignon during their Davis Cup tennis match at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

Argentina's Sebastian Baez in action against Canada's Felix Auger Aliassime, during the Davis Cup group stage finals match at the AO Arena, Manchester, England, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2024. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Canada's Felix Auger Aliassime returns the ball to Argentina's Sebastian Baez during the Davis Cup group stage finals match in Manchester, England, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2024. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

BRAUNSCHWEIG, Germany (AP) — A German court on Tuesday acquitted a man who is also under investigation in the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann in a trial on charges of unrelated sexual offenses.

The Braunschweig state court acquitted the 47-year-old German national, who has been identified by local media as Christian Brueckner, of two counts of rape and two of sexual abuse.

However, Brueckner will remain in prison another year because he is still serving a seven-year sentence for rape in a different case, German news agency dpa reported.

Brueckner had been on trial since February over offenses he is alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Defense lawyers had pointed to what they labeled a lack of evidence and witnesses who weren’t credible, and suggested he might not have been charged if he hadn’t also been a suspect in the McCann case.

Prosecutors had argued he should be given a 15-year prison sentence and kept in preventive detention once he has served it.

The verdict can be appealed, dpa reported.

Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder. He spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance there in 2007. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.

He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2019 by the Braunschweig court for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005.

The Braunschweig state court has jurisdiction because Brueckner had his last German residence in that city in Lower Saxony.

Christian Brueckner, center, stands in the courtroom at Braunschweig District Court before the start of the trial, in Brunswick, Germany, Tuesday Oct. 8, 2024. (Michael Matthey/dpa via AP)