Canada is closing in on their maiden ATP Cup title after battling past Russia in a roller-coaster showdown on Saturday.
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov secured the 2-1 victory after prevailing in a tightly contested doubles clash. Heading into the final match, both countries were level at 1-1 with Russia relying heavily on world No.2 Daniil Medvedev to get them though.
Denis Shapovalov gives Canada the lead
Denis Shapovalov got the first win of the tie over his Russian opponent Roman Safiullen 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Hitting 51 winners and serving 13 aces in a match that went two hours and 39 minutes.
The Toronto native applied the pressure early on against the world number 167 and had chances to break in the very first game but the Russian stood tall and was able to hold serve.
At 1-1, Shapovalov continued to work on Safiullen serve, and on his third break point of the game was able to get the first break of serve of the match for an early lead. That one break was enough for the world number 14 to serve out the first set and take a 1-0 set lead.
The second set was another tightly contested battle and at 6-5 it was the Russian who was putting pressure on the Canadian serve and a superb forehand winner down the line gave him a set point. He won the very next point to take the second set and force a third and deciding set.
The third set stayed on serve and at 2-1 Safiullen had six chances to break but couldn’t convert as the Canadian played some amazing tennis to avoid getting broken and held serve. At 3-3, it was the world number 14 turn to look for the crucial break of serve and he was able to get it. That was enough for him to serve out the match and give Canada a 1-0 lead.
After the match in his on-court interview, Shapovalov gave a lot of credit to his Russian opponent.
”That was super tough and obviously Roman (Safiullen) is playing with a lot of confidence and he is a great player who I think is going to have an amazing season so I am happy to get the win.” He said.
Medvedev evens it up for Russia
Medvedev kept Russia alive in the tie after beating the world number 11 Felix Auger Aliassime 6-4, 6-0 in 69 minutes. Hitting 22 winners and serving six aces while the Canadian hit 13 unforced errors.
Both players did a good job of holding serve in the opening set. Locked at 4-4 the Montreal native played a poor service game and the Russian pounced. Grabbing the decisive break of serve and served out the first set.
It was a match of offence vs defence and the world’s number two defensive skills were on full display as the Canadian couldn’t find his groove after recording a win over Alexander Zverev earlier in the week.
The second set was one-way traffic for the Moscow native who broke three times in the set and served out the match to send the tie into a deciding doubles match.
”It was really tough for me and at one point I was thinking how I was going to break his serve but I knew I had to stay in the match and try to do what I want to do against his big game and that was key today,” said Medvedev.
Canada wins decisive doubles match
The Canadian duo of Auger Aliassime and Shapovaolov confirmed Canada’s spot in the ATP Cup final after beating Safiullen and Medvedev in a match tiebreaker 4-6, 7-5, 10-7.
The Canadians combined for 22 winners and five aces in a match that lasted one hour and 38 minutes.
The first two games of the first set went on serve and it was the Russians who got the first break of serve in the match. That one break of serve was good enough to take the first set.
The second was even more competitive and tight as both teams improved on their service games but the Canadians managed to grab the crucial break at 6-5 to send the match into a match tiebreaker.
The first four points of the tiebreaker went on serve and again riding the momentum of winning the second set the Canadians got a break of serve and pushed again and sealed the win.
”I think we did a good job to fight, and it was awesome and we kept fighting and we have great team support and team chemistry so it helped us a lot”.
Canada will now face Spain in the final on Sunday. The last time these two countries met in international competition was the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid in 2019 where Spain won 2-0.
