Canada has booked a spot in the ATP Cup semifinals for the first time after impressive wins by Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime over German opponents on Thursday in Sydney, Australia. Canada (2-1) will face defending champion Russia (3-0) in the semifinals on Saturday. Poland faces Spain in the other semi.
Montreal's Auger-Aliassime, the world No. 11, clinched Thursday's tie for Canada with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
It was the first top-five win of Auger-Aliassime's career.
"It feels good to beat Zverev," Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. "I played a great match. He is a great player and he has beaten me a couple of times before, so I am happy I was able to get the job done today, especially for the team. We started off on a tough day a couple of days ago, so to finish off strong and be through to the semis is special."
Earlier, Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., gave Canada the early edge with a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff.
Struff, ranked 51st, had won five of seven matches against the 14th-ranked Shapovalov coming into Thursday's duel.
"I knew I had to fight every point," Shapovalov said. "I have had a tough record against Struffi, he is a tough player to play and he always brings it against me. I think the level was really, really high so it was a great win to get."
Canada ended up winning 2-1 over Germany after Brayden Schnur and Steven Diez lost 6-3, 6-4 to Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in doubles.
Great Britain's 2-1 win over the United States earlier Thursday gave Canada a shot to win Group C and advance to the semis with a victory over Germany.
Canada lost 3-0 to the U.S. in its opening tie before beating Germany 2-1 on the strength of a doubles win by Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime.
The match against Russia, barring injuries, should lead to a rematch of a 2021 U.S. Open semifinal between world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime, which the Russian won in straight sets en route to his first major title.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://almosthuman99.com
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/babes/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/hunks/hunkofthemonth.html
No comments:
Post a Comment