In 2025, the Portuguese team was close to reaching this stage, but after defeating Monaco (3-2) in the playoff, they ultimately lost to Peru in the main phase, 3-1, with Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral securing the only point for Portugal in the doubles match.
In theory, Portugal is favored to win the playoff, currently ranked 27th in the Davis Cup, against China, which is ranked 59th. However, playing away, in a different time zone, and on a fast surface chosen by the Asians could play a decisive role in the tie.
“We are aware that it will be a very difficult tie against a team with experienced players who have shown they can play at a very high level. We are going with a team that is very committed when representing the national team. We know that playing away is always challenging,” admitted the Portuguese captain, Rui Machado, at the time of the call-up.
For the first confrontation with China, Rui Machado has promoted the debut of Tiago Pereira (270th in singles and 189th in doubles) while maintaining the selections of Nuno Borges (45th in singles), Francisco Cabral (21st in doubles), Jaime Faria (145th in singles), and Henrique Rocha (157th in singles).
China is fielding three former top-70 players: Yunchaokete Bu (139th), Yibing Wu (144th), and Juncheng Shang (262nd), who was once among the top 50 in the world, along with Yi Zhou (220th) and Zhizhen Zhang (367th).
Similar to the matches against Monaco and Chile in 2025, Rui Machado is expected to rely on Nuno Borges, who has nine wins and nine losses in the Davis Cup, and Jaime Faria, still in search of his first victory, for the singles matches, with Borges expected to team up with Cabral (four victories in eight) in the doubles.
Portugal’s first participation in the Davis Cup occurred in 1925, and they have attempted to move up to the top tier on five occasions (1994, 2017, 2019, 2023, and 2024) but have always been unsuccessful.
