By Dominique Olaleye
Canada Crush GB’s Davis Cup Finals Dreams
On Sunday 15th September, I had the pleasure of attending the Davis Cup tie between Canada and Great Britain held at the AO Arena in Manchester. With both teams vying for the qualification spot to advance from their group, we were given some fantastic tennis and an incredible atmosphere from the crowd.
The Davis Cup is widely recognised as “The World Cup of Tennis” and sees the top players from each participating country compete in both singles and doubles against other nations. The format is qualifiers, which advance to group stages, where a round robin is played. From here, the top two teams from each group advance to the “Final 8”; this year, the finals take place in Malaga in November. The countries in each group were as follows:
Group A: Belgium, Brazil, Italy & The Netherlands
Group B: Australia, Czechia, France & Spain
Group C: Chile, Germany, Slovakia & USA
Group D: Argentina, Finland, Canada & Great Britain
As a result of matches and group standings earlier in the week, the match tie for GB against Canada was a must win to secure and confirm their place in the “Final 8.” Not only did they have to win the match tie, but they had to win all three rubbers. Entering this tie, Canada had won all matches played so far and Argentina had won two out of three of their matches, including beating Great Britain. There was a lot of pressure for Great Britain but playing in front of a home crowd with over 15,000 people supporting them, they had a chance.
Rubber One
The first match was played between Britain’s Dan Evans (177) and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov (101). The atmosphere inside of the stadium was electric and the crowd knew that they had to play whatever part that they could in helping GB get over the line as winners. Evans and Shapovalov have played each other several times in the past with Dan Evans leading the head-to-head 3-2. Shapovalov stormed through the first set, playing a near perfect set of tennis to take it 6-0. Evans was hitting too many unforced errors to get a good start against the consistent and composed Canadian. Serving four aces and winning 100% of his first serve points, Shapovalov’s form looked unstoppable entering the second set and Evans needed to make a change and quickly.
After losing the first set very convincingly Evans needed the crowd behind him, and they did not disappoint. In the second game of the second set, Evans held his serve for the first time in the match and got his first game on the scoreboard to which the crowd erupted. With each point that Evans started to win, and each game he held serve, the crowd cheered more and more knowing how crucial this win was. At 4-4 on the Canadian’s serve came arguably the deciding game of the match. Dan Evans had two break point opportunities to give himself a chance to serve for the second set but was unable to convert either of these points. Shapovalov held his serve, forcing Evans to serve to stay in the match at 4-5. He held serve to level the score once again at 5-5, but Shapovalov did not lose sight of what he wanted – a win for his country. He comfortably held his serve to go 6-5 up and was able to not only break the British No.2’s serve, but to break the hearts and chances of Great Britain advancing to the “Final 8”. Winning 6-0, 7-5, Denis Shapovalov confirmed Team Canada and Team Argentina’s places in the “Road to Malaga” with an impressive showcase of tennis.
Rubber Two
Despite GB’s hopes of advancing out of the window, there were still two exciting matches to be played. The next match was between British No.1 Jack Draper (20) and Canadian No,1 Felix Auger-Aliassime (21). We were almost guaranteed a nail-biting match given the close rankings of these two players and the excitement and drama of their last meeting. Their last meeting was in Cincinnati where Draper won in three sets after a controversial match point.
The crowd (including myself) were on the edge of our seats during much of this match. During the first set there was little that separated each player, and neither was able to break serve. Both players were striking the ball beautifully and able to save any break points they faced. The quality of tennis, variety of skill and pure athleticism on display was applaudable, and we should consider these two players as future grand slam champions. As we approach what some may consider a “changing of the guard”, if the next generation are represented in ability shown by the 24- and 22-year-old, then we are in for a treat. The first set was forced to a tiebreak due to the lack of service break. Auger-Aliassime got an early mini break and was able to maintain that up to 6-3. The set looked all over for Draper but with a couple of big serves and smart play, he clawed it back to 6-6. The Canadian always seemed to be slightly ahead however, and managed to close out the set 10-8 against the home favourite to which Draper’s racket felt the emotion of this.
The second set was all to play for, and we were looking forward to another set of exciting and entertaining rallies. The second set started with Auger-Aliassime bringing the momentum from the first set into the second and taking an early 2-0 lead. With the crowd behind him, Draper was not about to let this set run away from him and quickly made the score even once again. With both facing break points in their next service games there was little that could divide the quality of tennis being produced from either end of the court. Serving at 5-5, Draper crucially lost his serve to give the Canadian the chance to serve for the match. Felix Auger-Aliassime grabbed this opportunity with both hands to close it out 7-6 (8), 7-5. This was a disappointing end for Draper but a fantastic win for Canada’s No.1.
Rubber Three
The final match of the day was a doubles match played between Neal Skupski and Davis Cup debutant Henry Patten against Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau. At this stage Canada was leading the tie 2-0, but GB were not going to let the crowd go home without a home win. After a fast start in the opening set, the Canadian team looked consistent and were rewarded with an early 5-3 lead. They seemed to gel quicker than the British team, but the crowd did not count them out! Skupski and Patten fought back to level the score at 5-5 and stretch the set to a tiebreak. They were a wall in the tiebreak and got everything back not letting the Canadian team win more than four points to close out the set 7-6 (4).
The British team carried the momentum from the first set into the second and this time they were ones who took an early 3-1 lead. The Canadian duo were effective in closing out points quickly with a big serve followed by a dominant volley and used the 6”8 height of Gabriel Diallo to their advantage. It was not enough to beat the British pair however, and Skupski and Patten closed the set 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Despite GB not advancing into the “Final 8”, the day was still filled with some incredible tennis and great match ups. The atmosphere within the stadium was infectious and it made me really appreciate live tennis. The knockout stage of the Davis Cup takes place 19-21 November. Joining Argentina and Canada will be Italy, Australia, USA, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.
