Canada claim victory over Great Britain in ATP Cup

ATP Tour

Lucy Roberts
January 4, 2022

Canada made an excellent comeback to beat Great Britain 2-1 in the ATP Cup, with Felix Auger-Aliassime keeping his country’s hopes alive by seeing off opponents in the singles and doubles matches earlier today.

GB were 1-0 up after Dan Evans came out victorious in his match against Denis Shapovalov, beating him 6-4 6-4 and not giving him the opportunity for a single break point, which means the world No 25 now holds a 5-1 ATP Cup singles record.

“I love representing my country,” the British No 1 revealed during his interview after the match.

“It is the best thing you can do in any sport in my opinion.

“It is amazing to be out here with the fans, to have all the guys screaming, whoever you are screaming for, it has been great.”

This win meant that Canada would be out of contention to progress to the semi-finals of the competition if Auger-Aliassime failed to defeat Cameron Norrie in his first match of the day.

Although the pressure was on in this must-win match, the Montreal-born player put Canada back in the mix by breaking twice in the second set to help beat the British player 7-6(4), 6-3, which levelled things up to 1-1.

Not done yet…

🇨🇦 @felixtennis keeps #TeamCanada alive against #TeamGB, outlasting Cam Norrie 7-6(4), 6-3.#ATPCup pic.twitter.com/CSFlWSQR1l

— ATPCup (@ATPCup) January 4, 2022

“I am happy with the win, stepping onto court against a player like Cam, who plays really well,” the 21-year-old said in his on-court interview after his victory in the singles match.

“You try to find a way to win and the most important thing at the end of the day is the victory.

“I am happy to keep the team alive, but the work is not done.”

The work is done now however, Auger-Aliassime teamed up with Denis Shapovalov in the doubles match to beat GB opponents Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-1 after 70 minutes, with the Canadians winning 82% of their first serve points, making it 2-1.

Game, set, tie #TeamCanada 🇨🇦@felixtennis and @denis_shapo defeat Murray/Salisbury 6-4, 6-1 to secure a 2-1 victory in Group C. #ATPCup pic.twitter.com/6EPWA0H4N8

— ATPCup (@ATPCup) January 4, 2022

These results mean that all four teams in Group C have a 1-1 record going into the final ties on Thursday to decide who goes through to the semi-finals.

Great Britain now face the USA on Thursday, while Canada will play Germany to play for a place in the next stage of the tournament.

Only the top team in each group will go through to the semi-finals which will be played across January 7 and 8.