Félix Auger-Aliassime made short work of Miomir Kecmanovic on Saturday afternoon, propelling Canada to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup.
Auger-Aliassime confirmed the Maple Leaf’s advancement to the next round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the second singles match of the day, temporarily leveling the Canada-Serbia duel at 1-1 in the group stage.
To prevent Auger-Aliassime from playing a second doubleheader in as many days, Canadian team captain Frank Dancevic replaced him with Alexis Galarneau for the ultimate doubles match against Kecmanovic and Filip Krajinovic, in end of the day. Galarneau was paired with his compatriot Vasek Pospisil for the occasion.
Dancevic then made the decision to call off the doubles match as Canada trailed 1-2 in the first set, to prevent Pospisil from aggravating the injury he suffered the day before in their match. single against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
But whatever. Canada is guaranteed to advance to the next round in November in Malaga, Spain.
Canada is now 2-1 in Group B, the same as Serbia. Spain follow at 1-1, while South Korea languishes in last place with a 0-2 record.
In singles, Auger-Aliassime exploited his powerful serve to record 13 aces against Kecmanovic, who was cleared in this category. The 22-year-old tennis player was also more opportunistic than the Serb in a break situation, converting two of his four break points. In comparison, his opponent could not steal the Quebecer’s serve in two opportunities.
Auger-Aliassime, who had achieved a feat the day before by disposing of world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, thus broke the bad spell against Kecmanovic. The latter, 33rd racket in the world, now compiles a 2-1 career record against Auger-Aliassime, 13th player in the world.
Earlier Saturday, Quebecer Gabriel Diallo lost 6-2, 6-2 to Laslo Djere in the first singles match of the clash between the two countries.
It was the first match for Diallo, a six-foot-seven, 198-pound giant ranked 334th in the world, in this competition. And it was quite a baptism of fire.
Diallo got this opportunity to shine following Dancevic’s decision to rest Pospisil.
Djere, who is 66th in the world, took advantage of the inexperience of his 20-year-old opponent, a powerful puncher, to easily overcome after an hour and five minutes of play on the cement of ‘Pabellon Fuente de San Luis’ from Valencia, Spain.
The representative of the maple leaf notably let slip his three break points against Djere, who converted four in seven occasions. Diallo also managed a single ace, and committed three double faults. His rival recorded three aces, and was limited to a single double fault.
Nevertheless, Diallo is not offended. He won the Granby tournament last month, beating China’s Juncheng Shang 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the final. He was also ousted in the second round of the qualifying tournament for the National Bank Open.