With the pressure on, Denis Shapovalov delivered for Canada on Sunday to fire the former champion to the Davis Cup Final 8 in Malaga. Needing one point from its winner-takes-all tie against Great Britain, Shapovalov moved past Daniel Evans 6-0, 7-5 to give Canada a 1-0 lead in its Group D tie.
Argentina advanced from Group D in Manchester on Saturday, with its 3-0 victory against Finland leaving Great Britain needing to defeat Canada by the same scoreline to join Guillermo Coria’s side.
However, Evans struggled to impose himself on Shapovalov, who fired 25 winners and saved both break points he faced to earn the crucial point for his nation.
Felix Auger-Aliassime then put the icing on the already-qualified cake when he overcame US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper 7-6(8), 7-5 in two hours and seven minutes. Auger-Aliassime, who avenged his Cincinnati defeat to British lefty Draper, has impressed on the hard courts in Manchester this week, not dropping a set in all three matches.
In the doubles, British pair Neal Skupski and Henry Patten defeated Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau 7-6(4), 6-4.
[ATP APP]In Group A, Flavio Cobolli ensured Italy finished top, while Italy's opponent Netherlands qualified in second. The No. 32 player in the PIF ATP Rankings clawed past Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 to give the defending champion a 2-0 lead after Matteo Berrettini had won the opening match.
Netherlands had to win one of the three rubbers to qualify in second ahead of Brazil in sets won and Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp stood up to the task in the doubles, defeating Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(6), 7-5 to ensure it joined Italy in the Final 8, with Brazil and Belgium missing out.
In the first match of the day, former Top 10 star Matteo Berrettini earned a comeback 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win against van de Zandschulp to move Italy ahead. Van de Zandschulp upset Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open but was unable to cope with Berrettini’s power.
The 28-year-old embraced Jannik Sinner following his win after the World No. 1 arrived in Bologna to cheer on his countrymen. Sinner, who won his second major at the US Open last week, earned victories against Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur to help guide Italy to glory in the Davis Cup last year.
These two 🫶🇮🇹 @MattBerrettini and @janniksin celebrate together after Berrettini's win 🥹#DavisCup https://t.co/hU7f8WBFqv pic.twitter.com/FiIfTe6gXH
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 15, 2024Canada, Italy and Netherlands join Australia, Spain, United States, Germany and Argentina in the Final 8.
In Group C, United States and Germany had already sealed the top two spots and qualification for the Final 8 in Malaga when Chile faced Slovakia on Sunday in Zhuhai.
Nicolas Jarry’s return helped Chile claim a 2-1 victory over Slovakia in the concluding match, partnering Tomas Barrios Vera to take a marathon doubles win over Norbert Gombos and Lukas Klein 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(5).
The Chileans squandered three match points in the second set before saving one in reply en-route to the third-set tie-break, in which they won.
The result, twinned with Cristian Garin’s opening victory over Gombos, means that Chile sealed third place in the group ahead of Slovakia, improving their chances of claiming a seeded spot in the 2025 Qualifiers draw.
In Group B, Australia faced Spain in Valencia, where both countries had already qualified for the Final 8 prior to Sunday. Pablo Carreno Busta overcame Jordan Thompson 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) in the opening match to give Spain a 1-0 lead before Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin defeated Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-4 to level for Australia.
In the deciding doubles rubber Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez beat Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Purcell recently won the US Open title with countryman Thompson.
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