Denis Shapovalov worked hard, but he finally got the better of Russian Roman Safiullin in three sets of 6-4, 5-7 and 6-4 late Friday night to give the Canadians the first point.
Even if he faced an opponent who is 153 places behind him in the ATP standings, the 14th racquet in the world needed more than 2 hours 30 minutes to secure the victory.
After taking the first set honors with a break in the third game, Shapovalov was unable to play the same round in the next set. Rather, it was Safiullin who managed the only break in the set, in the 12th and last game. The scenario repeated itself in the third set, when there was only one break in the game. advantage of “Shapo” in the seventh game.
The Canadian did relatively well on his serve, winning 51 of 67 rallies when his first ball was in play.
With this gain, Canada leads its duel 1 to 0. This means that Félix Auger-Aliassime will have the chance to propel his team to the final if he manages to beat Daniil Medvedev overnight. In the event of a defeat, a double duel would decide between the two nations.
The winner of this clash will join Spain in the final.