Canada's Felix Auger Aliassime returns the ball to Britain's Jack Draper during their Davis Cup group stage finals match, at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, on Sept. 15.Mike Egerton/The Associated Press
Canada’s top male tennis players have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup.
The Canadians defeated Britain 2-1 on Sunday to win the final tie of the international tennis tournament’s group stage. Canada finished atop the Group D standings and advanced with Argentina to the Davis Cup’s final eight.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., routed Daniel Evans 6-0, 7-5 in the day’s opening singles match before Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime held off Jack Draper 7-6 (8), 7-5.
“I’m definitely very happy to get the win,” said Shapovalov during his on-court interview. “[Evans] is an extremely tough player, he’s a tricky opponent, he fights so well. You saw that in the second set, he was clawing his way back.
“But I don’t think I’ve ever played a cleaner first set in my life, so I’m definitely happy with the level I was able to bring, and I’m super happy to be able to get this win.
“It definitely wasn’t easy to play against so many Britons,” said Shapovalov, who kept his cool in front of a partisan crowd of around 15,000 fans.
“I’ve experienced it in the past as well. … I just tried to stay focused, tried to stay in my bubble and tried to stay ahead as much as I could because I could feel Dan getting pumped up and the crowd getting pumped up.
Henry Patten and Neal Skupski beat Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles match but the tie’s result was already decided.
“Obviously, you’re a bit more relaxed, you know, not as much tension,” Auger-Aliassime said when asked post match about his mindset knowing Canada had already qualified for the Final 8. “The ultimate goal of this week is done, but you still try to play a good match and win. I still felt tense in that first set tiebreak,
“I’m not going to lie, but for sure it was great that Denis [Shapovalov] got that win before me.”
Canada emerged from the group stage undefeated, having also beat Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday and Finland 3-0 on Thursday.
Canada and Argentina advanced from Group D. Finland and Britain was eliminated.
Four groups have been playing in four cities to qualify for the eight-team Finals. The Final 8 knockout stage will be held in Malaga from Nov. 19-24, with a draw taking place this week to determine ties. The top two in each four-team group advance. Italy, Spain, Australia, the United States and Germany have also qualified.
It is Canada’s fifth consecutive appearance in the Davis Cup Finals, having won its only title in 2022. The Canadians defeated South Korea 3-1 in February’s Davis Cup qualifiers in Montreal to reach the group stage of the finals.
With a file from Reuters