Young talent propels Canada into the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup.
The Canadian men’s tennis team is one step closer to repeating as Davis Cup Champions after beating Italy, Sweden and Chile in group play to reach the quarterfinals.
The reigning “World Cup of Tennis” winners were without Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 14th–ranked men’s player in the world, and the 31st–ranked Dennis Shapovalov who was sidelined with a knee injury. Captain Frank Dancevic had to rely on the veteran, 188th–ranked Vasek Pospisil and rising stars; then-21-year-old Gabriel Diallo and 24-year-old Alexis Galarneau to propel Canada past the group stage.
In their opening draw against the Italians, team Canada won all three of their contests. Opening the matchup, Galarneau faced Lorenzo Sonego, the 38th–ranked player in the ATP tour. The first set went the distance as the Laval-native won 10-8 in a tiebreaker, with the second set being much easier for the Canadian, as the 202nd–ranked player won 6-4 to secure Canada’s first win in the group.
Galarneau’s teammate Diallo followed suit cruising to a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Lorenzo Musetti in under 90 minutes. The six-foot-eight righthander from Montreal won an impressive 94 per cent of his first serve points compared to the Italian’s 74 per cent and had 12 forehand winners, eight more than Musetti.
However, the Canadians faced some adversity in the doubles match of the draw. Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker which included five double faults – an inexcusable amount. Nonetheless, the duo quickly rebounded, winning the second set 6-4 and edging out Matteo Arnaldi and Simone Bolelli in a third-set tiebreaker.
The momentum from the sweep of the Italians carried into the following day’s matches against Sweden.
Pospisil opened the draw for Canada, competing in his first singles match in over two months due to various injuries. The 33-year-old showed some rust early, squeaking by the first set before dropping the second set to the 362ndranked Leo Borg. Revelations of the former world number-25 were shown in the final set as the British Columbia-native dominated play, with four aces, nine total winners, and 90 per cent of first serve points won en route to the 6-2 victory.
Diallo then steamrolled to another sensational win in his match, setting up a fierce doubles’ matchup.
Both sets needed tiebreakers, but the Galarneau-Pospisil pair showed up when it mattered most. They ultimately won the match in straight sets; 7-6(9), 7-6(3).
After sweeps of both Italy and Sweden, Canada headed into the final games against Chile just needing one win – and they did just that.
Galarneau wasted no time, taking care of business against a higher-ranked opponent, which was the theme of the group stage for Canada. The two youngsters combined to go 4-1 in singles’ matches, along with Galarneau’s three doubles wins.
The Canadians ended up winning eight of nine matches in the group, qualifying for the quarterfinals after earning top spot in Group A.
In the quarterfinals, Canada will face Finland in November. The Finnish squad is booming with confidence after a surprising second-place finish in Group D. The 14th–ranked men’s tennis nation in the world picked up a 2-1 series win against Croatia, the fourth-ranked nation, and followed that with a 3-0 sweep of the United States.
Against the USA, Finnish underdogs Emil Ruusuvuori and Otto Virtanen defeated formidable opposition in straight sets; 13th–ranked Tommy Paul and 39th–ranked Mackenzie McDonald on route to qualifying for the next round.
Team Finland will be no pushovers for the Canadian squad that is flourishing with confidence themselves.
Canada will be hoping that Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov join the team for the matchup with Finland, but regardless of if they will be able to compete, the Canadians are in a great position to overcome Finland and compete for another Davis Cup Championship.
For more information on Team Canada and the Davis Cup click here.