Canada make history with first Davis Cup trophy win

Davis Cup
Davis Cup Canada

Canada were crowned Davis Cup champions for the first time in the nation’s history on Sunday.

Felix Auger-Aliassime put in a perfect week of tennis in the Davis Cup finals to set up the famous triumph.

Auger-Aliassime won his singles match to add to the win by Denis Shapovalov earlier on Sunday, and give Canada an unassailable 2-0 lead against Australia.

Credit must got to Auger-Aliassime as the match proved more testing than the 6-3, 6-4 scoreline suggested as Alex de Minaur earned eight chances to break the serve of Auger-Aliassime.

However, Auger-Aliassime found his serve came through when he needed it most, and his baseline game was also rock-solid.

“The emotions are tough to describe,” said Auger-Aliassime.

“Denis and I grew up together, dreaming of these types of stage, dreaming of winning the Davis Cup. It’s a great moment for myself and for the country.”

Shapovalov had come out firing against Thanasi Kokkinakis, establishing a 4-0 lead, and eventually running out a 6-2, 6-4 winner, having recovered from an injury scare in the last four battle.

The former Canadian No 1 wobbled when he suffered a break back at 5-2 in the second set, however he would steel himself to serve out the match at the second time of asking.

That set of circumstances left De Minaur needing to reproduce the heroics he came up with in the semi-final against Croatia, when he thrashed former US Open champion Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2 if he was going to take the final into a deciding doubles match, but he was unable to overcome Auger-Aliassime, who was the form player of the week without a doubt.

Shapovalov was also understandably thrilled with the result which is a big moment for the two young stars leading the Canada side.

“From when we were juniors, watching Vasek [Pospisil], Milos Raonic and Daniel Nestor play Davis Cup, we wanted to do the same, and maybe even to win it one day.

“It was tough to lose in 2019, it was an empty feeling and we wanted it badly this time,” he said.

For Vasek Pospisil, the elder statesman of the team, it was an emotional moment.

“We’ve been dreaming about this for several years,” he said.

“To be here as world champions, I’m speechless. These guys are not kids any more. They’ve been crushing it. You can’t win this event without tremendous team chemistry, going forwards as one unit, and all these guys represent exactly that.”

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Felix Auger-Aliassime

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