Canada won the ATP Cup against Spain on Sunday, succeeding Russia in this young team tournament, which began in 2020, after Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov won both singles matches.
It was Auger-Aliassime, 21 years old and 11th in the world, who brought the point of victory by winning 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 against Roberto Bautista (19th). A little earlier, Shapovalov (14th) had the better of Pablo Carreno (20th) 6-4, 6-3. The two teams therefore did not have to play a decisive double.
The competition had not yet started under the best auspices for the Canadians, fallen into a very dense pool and beaten by the United States in their inaugural meeting. But they then recovered well, triumphing over Alexander Zverev’s Germany and Cameron Norrie’s Great Britain, before defeating defending defending Daniil Medvedev’s Russia in the semi-finals on Saturday.
“We lost our first four games in this competition, but we never stopped believing in it. The emotions are incredible, there is no better feeling than winning, we really gave everything ”, welcomed a radiant Auger-Aliassime after his meeting.
The young Canadian, in full progress but who for the moment has never won an individual title on the circuit, had notably achieved this week a convincing victory against Zverev, world No.3.
Second disappointment for Spain
Although beaten sharply on Saturday by Medvedev, world No. 2, he was able to regain his spirits on Sunday. First dominated, Auger-Aliassime showed composure after losing his service at the start to pick up, saving 8 of 9 break points against him in the inaugural round to pocket the win in the first set after 1:26 of fight.
Then using his powerful serve (9 aces), he put pressure on the Spaniard, who ended up cracking at 5-3 in the second set. He then did not shake to end the game on his serve on his second match point.
Against Carreno, still very consistent, Shapovalov, 22, also showed resistance, also saving 8 of 9 break points against him during the match to win in 1h40.
Spain, deprived of Rafael Nadal engaged in Melbourne in preparation for the Australian Open – a tournament he won on Sunday – but who started as favorite after winning all his singles this week, thus fell for the second time in the final of the ATP Cup, after losing to Serbia in 2020.