Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil were part of Canada’s team that finished runner-up to Spain in the 2019 Davis Cup final. Now, the trio looks poised to finish the job.
Canada eyes its first-ever Davis Cup title when it faces Australia on Sunday in Málaga, Spain.
Like the previous rounds of the tournament, the final showdown is also a best-of-three beginning with a pair of singles matches followed by a doubles match, if necessary.
Here’s a rundown of how both teams made it this far plus the keys for Canada to come out on top.
Canada’s road to the final
Canada kicked off its week in Spain with a tough 2-1 victory over Germany during the quarterfinals Thursday.
Shapovalov fell to Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening singles match with the German needing a third-set tiebreaker to win 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2). After Auger-Aliassime beat Oscar Otte 7-6 (1), 6-4, Shapovalov avenged the earlier defeat by teaming up with Pospisil to down doubles specialists Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz. Although the German pair controlled the first set, Shapovalov and Pospisil bounced back to secure a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory to advance.
Saturday’s semifinal showdown against Italy also came down to the decisive doubles match as Auger-Aliassime and Pospisil knocked off Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini 7-6 (2), 7-5.
Lorenzo Sonego also needed three sets to solve Shapovalov 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-4 in the opening singles match with Auger-Aliassime drawing things level with a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Lorenzo Musetti.
Australia’s road to the final
Australia will play in its first final since 2003 when a team led by Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis helped win the nation’s 28th title. Only the United States team has won more since the inception of the event in 1900 with 32 championships.
Hewitt, who is now Australia’s captain, has had to make do without Australia’s top-ranked player: Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios.
Nevertheless, Australia was able to get past Netherlands 2-0 in singles alone during the quarterfinals. It wasn’t a breeze though as both matches required three-set comeback wins. Jordan Thompson defeated Tallon Griekspoor 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and Alex de Minaur emerged victorious over Botic van de Zandschulp 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Croatia, which swept host Spain 2-0, awaited Australia in the semis and took the opening singles match with Borna Coric beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 6-3. De Minaur evened things out by cruising past 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2 then Max Purcell and Thompson teamed up to take down Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in doubles 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4.
Keys to a Canadian victory
Canada’s optimism entering the week was at an all-time high and for good reason. Auger-Aliassime, ranked sixth in the world, has had a breakout season on tour and aims to add one more trophy to his impressive haul before the year ends.
The 22-year-old from Montreal won his first ATP tour title at the Rotterdam Open in February and had an October to remember capturing three consecutive titles in Florence, Antwerp and Basel.
His impressive 16-match undefeated run ended in Paris Masters semifinals against Holger Rune, however, Auger-Aliassime qualified for the ATP Finals where he scored an upset victory over Rafael Nadal during the group stage. Based on his performance so far this week, Auger-Aliassime has plenty left in the tank.
Meanwhile, Shapovalov is also ranked within the top 20 at No. 18 and helps give Canada a solid 1-2 singles lineup. Although the 23-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., went through a difficult stretch losing eight of nine matches from May to mid-August, Shapovalov returned to form with runner-up results in Korea and Vienna during the fall.
Pospisil also arrived in Spain riding a confidence boost after winning the Challenger de Drummondville just last week on home soil to climb back into the top 100. The 32-year-old from Vernon, B.C., has assumed the Daniel Nestor role as the veteran mixed double specialist and for good reason, too. Pospisil won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title with Jack Sock in 2014.
De Minaur is Australia’s top-ranked player competing at No. 24 in the world and is likely to face Auger-Aliassime to start things off. The two have only faced once with Auger-Aliassime winning 6-3, 6-2 during the Cincinnati Masters this past August.
While Canada has finished things off in doubles play twice already this week, they’ll really want to do their best to avoid a third consecutive rubber match. Australia has a deeper lineup and could deploy Purcell and Matt Ebden, who are the reigning Wimbledon men’s doubles champions.
