Felix fires Canada to victory in Davis Cup | ATP Tour

Davis Cup group stage

Felix fires Canada to victory against Finland in the Davis Cup

Germany defeated Chile 3-0 in the opening match

September 12, 2024

Felix Auger-Aliassime moved Canada to the brink of qualifying for the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage on Thursday in Manchester, where he outlasted Otto Virtanen 6-2, 6-3 to give the former champion a 2-0 Group D victory over Finland.

Canada enters its second game in Manchester after a 2-1 win against Argentina. With the top two in Group D advancing to the Final 8 in Malaga in November, Auger-Aliassime was quick to give her country a second point after Denis Shapovalov defeated Eero Vasa 7-6(2), 6-2 in the day’s opener.

Auger-Aliassime was outstanding in his victory throughout the 73 minutes, saving three break points he faced and winning with 86 percent (32/37) of the points after his first serve.

The 24-year-old, who was part of the team that beat Australia in the Davis Cup Finals title match in 2022, now has an 8-3 record in Davis Cup singles matches. He will face Great Britain’s Jack Draper in Canada’s final Group D match on Sunday. Great Britain beat Finland 2-1 in their first match.

Earlier, Shapovalov backed up his victory over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo by defeating Vasa in straight sets. The former No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings has rediscovered his form in Manchester following disappointing first-round exits in Montreal and the US Open last month.

Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov will face Wimbledon champion Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen in the doubles rubber.

In Group C, Germany backed up their first 3-0 win against Slovakia with a 3-0 win against Chile on Thursday.

Straight sets victories for Maximilian Marterer, Yannick Hanfmann, and the doubles team of Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz, left the former champion sitting above the United States, Slovakia and Chile.

“Before our first game we said ‘OK we need six games out of nine’,” said Germany captain Michael Kohlmann. “Now we have won six out of six games. I think that’s great. Especially Yannick, getting this win today from (Alejandro) Tabilo, who is a Top-20 player, the way he played, the way he handled the situation after maybe not playing his best game on Tuesday was very impressive.”

Hanfmann was at his best defeating Tabilo 7-5 6-3 in 90 minutes. His third Davis Cup singles victory came after Marterer had beaten Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1 6-3 in an 80-minute match earlier.