Canada’s quest for a second Davis Cup is picking up speed as it notched a clinical revenge win over Finland in group-stage play.
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov took down Otto Virtanen and Eero Vasa respectively in singles matches to clinch the win in their Group D tie on Thursday in Manchester, England’s AO Arena.
Shapovalov started things off in the first match of the day, taking down Vasa 7-6 (2), 6-2 and Auger-Aliassime followed it up with a routine 6-2, 6-3 win, securing the victory for Canada before the sides suited up for the day’s doubles match.
Shapovalov was dominant on the serve, winning 41 of 51 (80 per cent) of his service points and capitalizing on Vasa’s 40 unforced errors.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, also did his damage on the serve, winning every single one of his service games while scoring seven aces to Virtanen’s three. He managed to wrap up the match in a tidy one hour, 11 minutes.
Auger-Alissaime and Shapovalov will take the court once again for the doubles match, facing off against Virtana and Harri Heliovaara.
With the win, Canada is poised to advance to the knockout stage after beating Argentina 2-1 in the first tie of Group D play on Tuesday. It will still have to face off against host nation Great Britain on Sunday, but barring a monumental collapse, the 2022 champions should be off to the next round.
In its quest to repeat in 2023, Canada was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Finland.