Canada Defeats Britain to Win Group D at Davis Cup Finals – Tennis Canada

Team Canada is heading back to Malaga for the third year in a row after Canada defeated Great Britain in their final tie of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage on Sunday courtesy of singles victories from Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime. Canada will finish the group stage 3-0, winning Group D. 

Coming into the last day of the event, Canada needed just a single match win out of three against the host Brits to clinch top spot in Group D and claim their place in the Davis Cup Final 8. Shapovalov put an end to the potential drama early, beating Evans in straight sets to punch Canada’s ticket and eliminate Great Britain. 

After Finland and the Brits themselves failed to score wins that would have guaranteed Canada’s spot in the Final 8 on Friday and Saturday, Shapovalov wasted no time in delivering the knockout blow. Facing both Evans and a sellout crowd of loud British fans at the AO Arena, Shapovalov got out to a quick start and never looked back, leading wire to wire in a 6-0, 7-5 win. 

Shapovalov played a strong, aggressive game, winning 89 per cent of his first serve points and firing 19 winners, 10 more than his opponent. He also limited himself to just 15 unforced errors despite some impressive defence from the Brit. The Canadian never dropped serve in the match.  

Read also: Auger-Aliassime, Shapovalov Dominate as Canada Sweeps Finland at Davis Cup

Both men were playing nervy tennis in the early stages of the match but it was Shapovalov who started to settle in first. In Evan’s first service game, the Canadian whipped out a clever drop shot to set up a break point where the Brit fired a forehand into the net to surrender the early break. 

With the wind at his back, Shapovalov found a comfortable level and began to dominate. His serve throughout the opening set was almost untouchable, as he lost just two points on serve and won all 10 of his first-serve points. On return, he continued to take advantage of a passive Evans, who sprayed a forehand to surrender a second break. When he served to stay in the set at 0-5, Shapovalov fired a backhand return winner past the Brit to open the day with a bagel. 

Evans started to swing a bit more freely in the second set, finally getting on the board with a hold in the second game. He upped the intensity on the forehand and did a good job of using his variety with the slice backhand to keep Shapovalov from unloading his powerful shots. As a result, the two began trading routine holds. 

The Brit had his first true look on Shapovalov’s serve at 4-4 when a couple of forehand errors from the Canadian gave Evans his first and only break points of the day. On both occasions, Shapovalov found his best hitting to escape the jam. 

Read also: Auger-Aliassime, Shapovalov Back with a Bang at Davis Cup

As the potential tiebreak approached, Evans began to tighten again. He gritted through a tough 10^th game but as he served to stay in the match again at 5-6, Shapovalov pounced. The Canadian raced out to a love-30 lead and while the Brit fought back, some clever volleying got Shapovalov to match point where Evans punched a volley long to give the Canadians the point they needed. 

Despite the results of the group being decided, the remaining two matches of the tie will still be played. Félix Auger-Aliassime will face Jack Draper in the second singles match with doubles to follow. 

Auger-Aliassime Denies Draper at Home 

With the result of Group D already assured, Félix Auger-Aliassime still came to play and saw Canada through to a 3-0 overall record by defeating recent US Open semifinalist Jack Draper in straight sets to claim the tie. 

Read also: Canadian Doubles Steal the Show in Toronto

It was a battle of heavyweights with the pair slugging it out in highly-physical exchanges from the baseline. Auger-Aliassime proved the slightly more opportunistic of the two, avenging his two previous defeats to Draper with a 7-6(8), 7-5 win. 

Like the first match, the Canadian got off to a quicker start although he was unable to secure an early break. In each of Draper’s first two service games, Auger-Aliassime had a look at a break but was unable convert, missing a backhand on his first chance and watching an ace zoom past him on the second. 

From there, the two men settled for trading big serves and body blows from the baseline as the opening set ploughed towards a tiebreak. 

Read also: Team Canada Downplays Revenge in “Phenomenal” Davis Cup Win over Finland

A spectacular laser of a forehand passing shot gave Auger-Aliassime an early minibreak lead. He never trailed in the tiebreak although Draper continued nipping at his heels. The Brit managed to fight back from 6-3 down and saved five set points before finally at 8-9 sending a forehand long and proceeding to smash his racquet. The first set was almost as long as every full singles match played by the Canadians so far in the entire group stage. 

Auger-Aliassime seemed well positioned to run away with the match when he scored the first break of the day in the opening game of the second set, but suddenly both men were struggling on serve. At 2-1, the Canadian played his sloppiest game of the day, shanking a forehand to go down love-40 before eventually being broken. 

Read also: Shapovalov, Auger-Aliassime Power Canada Past Argentina at Davis Cup

Both men saved break points in their next service game after getting back on serve before returning to the status quo of routine holds. At 5-5, the Canadian made a late move, setting up a break point with a forehand out wide. Draper missed a volley to set up Auger-Aliassime to serve out the match, which he managed to do despite falling behind love-30. 

Canada did not lose a set in singles all week. 

Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau will get their first taste of action at the 2024 Group Stage in the final match of the week as they will play doubles in place of Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime.