Felix fires Canada to victory against Finland at Davis Cup

Felix Auger-Aliassime moved Canada to the brink of qualification in the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage on Thursday in Manchester, where he moved past Otto Virtanen 6-2, 6-3 to give the former champion an unassailable 2-0 lead against Finland in Group D.

Canada entered its second tie in Manchester off the back of a 2-1 opening win against Argentina. With the top two in Group D advancing to the Final 8 in Malaga in November, Auger-Aliassime was quick to secure his nation a second point after Denis Shapovalov defeated Eero Vasa 7-6(2), 6-2 in the first match of the day.

Auger-Aliassime was dominant on serve throughout his 73-minute win, saving all three break points he faced and winning 86 per cent (32/37) of points behind his first delivery.

The 24-year-old, who was part of the team that beat Australia in the Davis Cup Finals title match in 2022, now holds a 8-3 record in Davis Cup singles matches. He is set to face Great Britain’s Jack Draper in Canada’s final Group D match on Sunday. Great Britain beat Finland 2-1 in its opening match.

Earlier, Shapovalov backed up his win against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo by overcoming Vasa in straight sets. The former No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has rediscovered his form in Manchester following disappointing first-round exits in Montreal and at the US Open last month.

Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov will team against Wimbledon champion Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen in the doubles rubber.

In Group C, Germany backed up its opening 3-0 win against Slovakia with a 3-0 victory against Chile on Thursday.

Straight sets victories for Maximilian Marterer, Yannick Hanfmann, and doubles team Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz, leave the former champion sitting above the United States, Slovakia and Chile.

“Before our first match we said ‘Okay we need six matches out of nine’,” German captian Michael Kohlmann said. “Now we have won six matches out of six. I think that’s pretty impressive. Especially Yannick, to get this win today against (Alejandro) Tabilo, a Top-20 player, the way he played, the way he handled the situation after maybe not playing his best match on Tuesday was very impressive.”

Hanfmann was at his free-flowing best in defeating Tabilo 7-5 6-3 in 90 minutes. His third career singles victory in Davis Cup clinched the tie after Marterer had blitzed Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1 6-3 in an 80-minute contest earlier.

The Netherlands rallied past Brazil 2-1 after dropping the first singles match. Dutchmen Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp secured the victory for their home country by defeating Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-6(5). Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca downed Van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-6(3) to open the day before Tallon Griekspoor beat Thiago Monteiro 7-6(2), 6-4.

Australia swept Czechia 3-0 in Group B action. Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3 and Alexei Popyrin led Thomas Machac when the 23-year-old retired after the first game. Machac yesterday retired against Carlos Alcaraz due to cramps. Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated Jakub Mensik and Adam Pavlasek 6-4, 6-2.

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