Canada, the new owner of the Davis Cup, with two talents that promise much joy

Sooner or later it was going to happen. It happened this year, now, in Malaga. Canada and its generation of talents found himself with an enormous opportunity, he did not waste it, and for the first time in his history he is the Davis Cup Champion. In the final that was played on Sunday at the José María Carpena Sports Palace, they beat Australia 2-0, a history of the competition, but which had been almost two decades -since 2003- without reaching the decisive instances. Happy Auger-Also, 6th in the ranking, got the decisive point by beating Alex de Miñaur (24th) 6-3 and 6-4; earlier, Denis Shapovalov (18th) beat Thanassi Kokkinakis (95th) 6-2, 6-4.

Thus, the North American team became the 16th country to raise the prized Dwight Davis salad bowl. It was a singular season for Canada, which last March they had been eliminated by the Netherlands (0-4). But the exclusion of Russia, the defending champions, sanctioned for the invasion of Ukraine, allowed them to return as a guest for the final phase of 2022. The Canadians, who had been beaten by Spain in their first final in 2019, then succeed Russia in the list of winners. On the way to the title, they beat South Korea (2-1), Spain (2-1) and lost to Serbia (1-2) in Group B, last September; Already in the qualifying rounds, they eliminated Germany in the quarterfinals (2-1) and with just enough to Italy in the semifinals (2-1) before beating the Australians.

Auger-Aliassime, 22, and Shapovalov, 23, long ago became a couple who could bring Canada great joy in tennis. They did it last January, when they won the ATP Cup, the team tournament held in Melbourne. The former completed a formidable season, with 60 wins and 27 losses, and the titles in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Florence and Basel, all on hard courts and indoors, as well as the ATP Cup and Davis Cup, and another final in Marseille. Trained by Toni Nadal and Frederic Fontang, he recently played in the ATP Finals, where he beat Rafa Nadal, the world number 2, for the first time; in Basel he had eliminated Carlos Alcaraz, the leader of the ranking.

His story is like that of many immigrants who landed in Canada. Marie, her mother, was born in Quebec and there she met a tennis coach named Sam Aliassime, from Togo (independent from France in 1960); both settled in Ancienne-Lorette. Sam began training Felix when he was 5 years old, but the boy’s innate talent prompted him to hand over supervision to Tennis Canada, the country’s federation, which summoned him to his National Center in Montreal.

Shapovalov had exploded before his partner: he was Top 10 in the world in September 2020. Of Russian parents, he was born in Israel when his mother, Tessa, who was also a professional tennis player, moved there from Russia. But the family settled in Toronto when little Denis was 9 months old. With Auger-Aliassime they shared the junior circuit and training at the National Center for many years.

He had a traumatic episode in the Davis Cup: in February 2017, in a match against Kyle Edmund, against Great Britain, he had no better idea than to throw a ball after missing a point, with such bad luck (and accuracy) that He hit chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the left eye, who should have disqualified him immediately. The impact was so strong that the umpire had to be operated on for an orbital fracture. Shapovalov, then 17, apologized between sobs. “I feel incredibly ashamed, I feel terrible that I have let my team and my country down. I promise this is the last time I do something like this,” he announced. And he complied.

Thus, Canada, which is also seeking to leave its mark on the women’s tour (Leylah Fernandez, former US Open finalist, is 40th in the world, and Bianca Andreescu, winner of Flushing Meadows in 2019, is 45th in the ranking), joins a list of champions headed by the United States, with 32 titles, followed by Australia with 28, as well as being the first new winner since Argentina celebrated in 2016, coincidentally on this same date.

“Emotions are very difficult to explain. These guys and I, except for Vasek (Pospisil, one of the doubles players) who is older, grew up together in Canada dreaming of winning the Davis Cup, for me personally and I think for everyone. It is an impressive moment for my country”, commented Auger-Aliassime. And Shapovalov, vindicated for that youthful error five seasons ago, recounted: “I am living a dream. A few years ago (in 2019) it was hard to lose and we were left very empty. And captain Frank Dancevic did not hesitate: “It is a historic moment for us. I am very proud of all the effort they have put in. They have left their soul on the field. Everyone who has helped us, the fans has been amazing. I do not know how to describe it. It’s amazing to be a part of this, it’s a historic day for Canada.” A country that used to excel in ice hockey and basketball now also shines in the world of rackets.