(Valencia) Félix Auger-Aliassime made short work of Miomir Kecmanovic on Saturday afternoon, propelling Canada to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup.
Posted at 1:24 p.m.
Auger-Aliassime confirmed the Maple Leaf’s advancement to the next round by winning 6-3, 6-4 in the second singles match of the day on Saturday to tie the game at 1-1 between Canada and Serbia in the group stage.
Canada tops Group B by virtue of its pristine 2-0 record so far, and needed just one win against Serbia to secure its place in the quarter-finals. Serbia are tied with Spain at 1-1, while South Korea languishes in last place with a 0-2 record.
Auger-Aliassime, however, could not celebrate this feat for very long since he had to take part in a second doubleheader in as many days. The captain of the Canadian team, Frank Dancevic, has indeed planned to return him to the fray along with his compatriot Vasek Pospisil for the ultimate doubles match against Kecmanovic and Filip Krajinovic, at the end of the day.
The 22-year-old tennis player exploited his powerful serve to record 13 aces against Kecmanovic, who was shut out in this category. Auger-Aliassime 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, 33e racket, now compiles a 2-1 career record against Auger-Aliassime, 13e 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 game for Diallo, a six-foot-seven, 198-pound 334-rated giante 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. The Vancouverite, who attended Diallo’s match, had requested the intervention of a therapist the day before during his singles match against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Djere, who is 66e 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 the Pabellon Fuente de San Luis in 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.