Canada, reigning Davis Cup champion, will meet Finland in the quarter-finals of the prestigious men’s tennis team competition.
That’s what Finland learned after surprising the United States and Croatia to advance to the Davis Cup qualifiers.
The Nordic country has never reached this stage of the competition before.
The draw for the quarter-finals was made on Tuesday. Serbia will face Great Britain, while the Czech Republic will face Australia. For its part, Italy will have a meeting with the Netherlands.
The Davis Cup quarter-finals will take place in Malaga, Spain from November 21-26.
The winning country of the duel between Canada and Finland will face Australia or the Czech Republic in the next round. The Czechs are the only ones to remain undefeated (9-0) in the group stage.
Canada beat Finland 4-1 on clay in their only previous Davis Cup match, in Helsinki, Finland, in 1966.
The only Finnish tennis player present in the ATP top-100 in singles is Emil Ruusuvuori (no. 57).
Otto Virtanen is next, at 126e rank. For his part, Harri Heliovaara is at 30e rank in the men’s doubles world rankings.
Canada sits atop the Davis Cup rankings, ahead of Spain, Australia, Croatia and Great Britain. Finland climbed seven ranks, to be established in 14e place.
The last country to successfully defend its Davis Cup title was the Czech Republic, in 2012 and 2013.