Canada captured its first Davis Cup title after Felix Auger-Aliassime gave Canada an invincible 2-0 lead against Australia in the finals in Malaga on Sunday.
The World No. 6 won both of his singles and doubles matches to guarantee Canada a spot in the championship match, and he followed that up with a resounding victory over de Minaur.
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Former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, who has been sidelined with injury for over a year, hailed his country’s performance.
The very best from a historic week for Canada 🇨🇦🏆
A thread 🧵👇#DavisCup #byRakuten #Final8 | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/awgxnTddqp
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 28, 2022
“Many Canadians have achieved a lot in tennis,” Raonic wrote. “This shows the strength of Canadian tennis at at an international team stage, winning the highest achievement.
“This is the greatest moment in Canadian tennis and I hope we get to see it happen many more times!”
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Before this, Canada had reached the championship match of the premier team event for the first time in 2019.
On that occasion, Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov were beaten by Roberto Bautista Agut and Rafael Nadal, respectively, to fall short of winning a first Davis Cup crown for their country.
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However, they ensured history didn’t repeat itself this week, with Shapovalov downing Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-2, 6-4 in the opening match of the tie to move Canada ahead.
In a dream week, Canada also defeated Germany and Italy. Australia overcame Croatia in the semi-finals to reach its first Davis Cup final since 2003.
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Auger-Aliassime ends his career-best season holding a 60-27 record. In a standout year, the 22-year-old won four tour-level titles and helped guide Canada to the ATP Cup trophy.
