Canada progressed to the Final 8 of the Davis Cup on Sunday, sweeping aside Great Britain 2-1 before a home crowd in Manchester, thanks to singles wins by Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Great Britain needed to sweep the 2022 champions in order to advance, but instead it was Canada that emerged as Group C winners, having gone undefeated (3-0), beating Finland and Argentina beforehand. Canada’s match record was 7-2, after Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau dropped the meaningless doubles match to Henry Patten and Neal Skupski, 7-5, 6-4.
Shapovalov started Sunday’s tie with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Daniel Evans. Auger-Aliassime followed that up with a 7-6 (8), 7-5 win against Jack Draper, who previously defeated the Montrealer in a match in Cincinnati last month that ended in controversy.
“Yeah, I’m definitely very happy to get the win. Obviously, Daniel [Evans] is an extremely tough player, he’s a tricky opponent, he fights so well. You saw that in the second set, he was clawing his way back,” said Shapovalov in a statement from Tennis Canada. “But I don’t think I’ve ever played a cleaner first set in my life, so I’m definitely happy with the level I was able to bring, and I’m super happy to be able to get this win.”
The Final 8 tournament will take place in Malaga, Spain in November.
“Obviously, you’re a bit more relaxed, you know, not as much tension,” Auger-Aliassime said, knowing Canada had already qualified. “The ultimate goal of this week is done, but you still try to play a good match and win. I still felt tense in that first set tiebreak, I’m not going to lie, but for sure it was great that Denis [Shapovalov] got that win before me.”
The U.S., Germany, Spain, Australia, Argentina, and Italy have also secured spots in the final, with either the Netherlands or Brazil getting the final invite.