Shapovalov, Diallo Look to Power Canada at Davis Cup Final 8: Meet the Team – Tennis Canada

Team Canada’s depth has been on full display during the 2024 Davis Cup competition. Through four ties, four different men have won singles matches for the nation.  

For the third time in three rounds of the event this year, Canada will be rolling with a different combination of players at the Davis Cup, but given the results so far, there is no real cause for concern. Even with four different players having gotten the nod for a singles match, Canada is 9-0 in singles this year at the Davis Cup with the loss of just one set. 

Three of those four men, Denis Shapovalov, Gabriel Diallo, and Vasek Pospisil, will be in Malaga this November to try and bring home a second title in three years. Joining them are two players, Alexis Galarneau and Milos Raonic, with no shortage of experience and winning pedigree at this event. 

Let’s meet the men of Team Canada ahead of the 2024 Davis Cup Final 8. 

Denis Shapovalov 

• Rank: 78 
• Davis Cup Appearance: 11th  
• Davis Cup Record: 18-10 
• 2024 Record: 21-22 

2024 has not been the bounce-back year many may have hoped for from Denis Shapovalov, but he has been showing signs of progress over the last few months. 

The 25-year-old was brilliant during the Davis Cup Group Stage in Manchester, winning all three of his singles matches in straight sets, including the clinching point over Dan Evans in Canada’s final tie against Great Britain. He added a doubles win against Finland, finishing the week 4-1 (a doubles loss against Argentina in the opening tie). 

While he may not have fully carried that good form through the fall, he put up some good results, including qualifying for the Shanghai Masters and getting to the second round, as well as reaching his second quarter-final of the season in Basel, where he lost to the eventual champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. He followed that up with his best run since October 2022, coming through qualifying to reach the final at the ATP 250 event in Belgrade.

Shapovalov will be called upon to play the role of Canadian No. 1 for the first time at a Davis Cup tie since the 2019 Finals, when he powered Canada into the final with impressive performances in singles and doubles. 

Gabriel Diallo  

• Rank: 88 
• Davis Cup Appearance: 7th 
• Davis Cup Record: 4-4 
• 2024 Record: 11-14 

With Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime in attendance, Diallo’s lone match in the group stage was a dead doubles rubber on the final day against Great Britain. But the giant Montrealer has proven himself more than capable of stepping up for the national team, including earlier this year when he scored two crucial singles wins in the qualifying round to send Canada to Manchester. 

Since that trip to the UK, the 23-year-old has continued to make strides. He came through qualifying at a Masters 1000 event for the first time in Shanghai in October and added a couple of deep runs at ATP Challenger Tour Events.  

But the highlight was at the ATP 250 event in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Diallo reached his first final on the ATP Tour. He beat a former Masters 1000 champion and two Top 40 players on his way to the final, where he went toe-to-toe with veteran Karen Khachanov, coming up just short in three sets. 

As a result of the run in Almaty, Diallo broke into the Top 100 on the ATP rankings for the first time, even briefly jumping over Shapovalov before Basel. His game is well suited to the indoor courts in Malaga and he may benefit from opening proceedings as the Canadian No. 2. In four of his five previous singles matches in Davis Cup play, he was in the role of the nation’s No. 1 player. 

Alexis Galarneau 

• Rank: 216 
• Davis Cup Appearance: 8^th   
• Davis Cup Record: 5-5 
• 2024 Record: 2-3 

Like Diallo, Galarneau was limited to just one dead doubles match during September’s group stage. But the Lavallois has proven himself capable of stepping up for his country before, most notably during the 2023 group stage when he won two singles and three doubles matches. 

Read also: Fernandez, Dabrowski, Stakusic, Marino Back to Defend Billie Jean King Cup Title – Meet Team Canada

Since Manchester, Galarneau has been playing mainly on the Challenger Tour and has been relatively consistent, reaching the quarter-finals or better at four of seven tournaments. His best result came in the final week of October when he reached the semifinals of the Charlottesville Challenger. 

Galarneau has been one of the most consistent presences on the Canadian Davis Cup team since making his debut in March 2022. He has not missed a tie since the 2022 qualifiers against the Netherlands, a streak of eight consecutive nominations which is the longest active streak of any player on the Canadian squad. 

Milos Raonic 

• Rank: 238 
• Davis Cup Appearance: 16^th   
• Davis Cup Record: 19-6 
• 2024 Record: 6-5 

A year ago, the veteran was the bright spot for Canada in the Final 8, picking up the lone point with a classic, clinical serving performance in the 2-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Despite having not played since July, he arrives in Malaga tied for the most singles wins by a Canadian in Davis Cup play with 17 (tied with Sébastien Lareau).  

After making his return to the tour in 2023 after a multi-year absence, it has been a quiet 2024 for Raonic.  

He has had some moments of brilliance, including quarter-final runs in Rotterdam, where he pushed soon-to-be world No. 1 Jannik Sinner hard for a set before having to retire, and in s-Hertogenbosch. He also set a tour record for most aces in a best-of-three match during his thrilling first-round win at the Queen’s Club over Cameron Norrie. 

But injuries have been a problem too. His first three tournaments of the year ended with retirements and the last time his name appeared in a draw was in Montreal, where he withdrew prior to his first-round match. 

Raonic was meant to be part of the team in Manchester but was forced to withdraw due to a broken toe. His last match was at the Paris Olympics in July, a three-tiebreak first-round loss to Dominik Koepfer. 

Vasek Pospisil  

• Rank: 737 
• Davis Cup Appearance: 28^th   
• Davis Cup Record: 32-27 
• 2024 Record: 1-1 

It has been a slow year for the current Mr. Davis Cup as injuries are mounting up. Pospisil has been stop-start all season and has barely played since September’s group stage. In fact, he has only participated in one tournament, reaching the second round of the ATP Challenger event in Calgary where he lost to his Davis Cup teammate Galarneau. 

Pospisil has not played a tour event outside of Canada since April. 

The one competitive match he did play abroad of late was in Davis Cup play when he teamed up with Shapovalov in doubles against Argentina.  

While he will arrive in Malaga without much match play under his belt, Pospisil has a knack for defying the odds and playing his best with the maple leaf on his chest. Two years ago, he was a major piece in Canada’s title run with deciding doubles victories in both the quarters against Germany and semifinals against Italy.  

Team Canada will open their campaign in Malaga the same way they did during the 2022 championship run, with a quarter-final against Germany. The tie will take place on Nov. 20 at 12:00 pm local, 6:00 am EST. 

Viewers can watch Team Canada’s Davis Cup Final 8 ties for free on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Sports’ official YouTube channel. The ties will also be available in French, as TVA Sports and TVA Sports Direct will be showing Canada’s matchups, as well as all semifinals and finals.