Part of Vernon’s history as Canada beats Australia to win its first Davis Cup tennis title

The Davis Cup is called “the world championship of tennis”.

And on Sunday, in Malaga, Spain, Canada beat Australia to victory.

The team, which was never even expected to reach the final, lifted the iconic trophy for the first time since their first participation in 1913.

Top players Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov withdrew after a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in March’s qualifiers. The final stage of the event saw defending his champion Russia ejected from the tournament following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Canadian, who was given a second life, made it through the qualifying rounds in Valencia in September and advanced to the last eight in Malaga this week.

They defeated Germany in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Italy in the semifinals on Saturday, and won two singles matches against Australia on Sunday to clinch the title.

“What a great year to end. It’s the Davis Cup, we’re champions, we’re world champions,” said Vasek Pospisil, a veteran of the group.

Captain Frank Dansbich, who has been in the Davis Cup for 14 years as a player, has vowed that the party will last all night until his 6 a.m. flight on Monday.

Young understudies Alexis Galarneau and Gabriel Diallo will no doubt fill their roles in the years to come.

Their unwavering and very vocal support from the sidelines, along with a large contingent of Tennis Canada employees, coaches and support staff, has become a true team effort.

“We faced a lot of obstacles this week. We lost a lot of games, but we kept fighting until the end and we got the trophy. said.

After a tense moment earlier in the week, Sunday’s final against Australia was mostly adversity.

Denis Shapovalov, who was physically beaten after being defeated in a three-hour, 15-minute effort on Saturday, had a new man out in the opening match.

He easily defeated a nervous-looking Tanasi Kokkinakis 6-2 6-4.

And to tie and win the cup, Félix Auger-Aliassime was equally impressive as he beat Australia’s No. 1 Alex De Minaur 6-3, 6-2.

His performances this week were impeccable, especially as he replaced Shapovalov in Saturday’s doubles match against the Italian team, giving Canada a chance to play in Sunday’s final.

“I saw the opening, and I thought, ‘This is it. I go for it That’s it,” Auger-Aliassime said of Match Point. “Then my leg fell on me.

The Canadian men’s players have excelled in team format competition in recent years, starting with a surprise run to the first ‘new format’ Davis Cup final in 2019.

They lost to a much more experienced Spanish team.

But Auger-Aliassime was 19 at the time. Shapovalov is only 20 years old.

Canada won the ATP Cup at the ATP Cup held in Australia last January. This is a new team competition with a similar format with even more of the world’s best players.

And on Sunday, it won the ultimate prize.

The Davis Cup has been held since 1900. Despite the radical and much-mocked change to the format in recent years, in the opinion of many, the event has turned into a pale shadow of its once-iconic self, but it remains the ultimate prize. increase.

Auger-Aliassime didn’t play in September’s preliminary final round until a surprise early exit from the US Open two weeks ago.

However, he made the date and led Canada to the qualifiers. Without it, Sunday would never have been possible.

He and Pospisil had to make it without Shapovalov, who didn’t play.

At 32, ten years older than the team’s younger stars, Pospisil has always answered the call of his country. And on a few occasions before they rose to prominence, he basically carried the entire team on his shoulders and led them to victory.

No wonder he was the most emotional on Sunday.

“Over the years, we have slowly approached the title. In 2013, we improved a bit and reached the semi-finals. Pospicil said. “It’s hard to explain, but I felt like I could win[at the beginning of the week]. This is what I had. Maybe a few other people had it too.”

The return of Shapovalov in the final stage allowed Pospisil to focus on doubles, giving Canada two top 25 singles players.

And Canada made the most of a team missing a key element.

In Germany, Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev has been out of action since June due to injury.

Italy lost their top two singles players, Yannick Sinner and Matteo Berrettini.

And notably, Nick Kyrgios was not included in the Australian line-up. He is the country’s highest ranked player in both singles and doubles.

As such, Canada boasted one of the best 1-2 single punches and one of the most advantageous punches in the event.

But the possibilities are one thing. Without on-court performance to back it up, it’s just theory.

On Sunday, Canada backed it up and became world champions.

Stephanie Miles, Canadian Press

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