Canada advance past Finland

Former champion Canada defeated Finland 2-0 on Thursday as Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime shoved aside US Open disappointment to come good in Davis Cup group play.

The pair who turned in lacklustre first-round losses in New York rose to the occasion in Malaga as they contributed to the 3-0 win by the 2022 tournament champions.

No. 100 Shapo defeated dispatched Finn Eero Vasa 7-6(2) 6-2 while FAA posted a 6-2 6-3 win over Davis debutant Otto Virtanen.

Shapovalov, who once reached 10th in the world, was pleased to taste victory.

“It means a lot to be back after I missed out on the Davis Cup last year,” he said.

“To represent Canada always means a lot and it’s probably one of the most fun weeks that we have on Tour.”

Canada captain Frank Dancevic was hoping for history to repeat itself in November at the finals.

“We couldn’t ask for more today,” the former player said.  “It’s never easy to win any match in the Davis Cup and Denis got us off to a great start. 

He wasn’t 100 percent feeling great, but he found a way to get through.

“Felix had an amazing performance in the singles and the guys stepped it up in the doubles. It was phenomenal. 

“It was such a clean day. There isn’t much more I could ask for as a captain.”

Finland was unable to repeat its 2023 upset of Canada in the international competition.

“The better team won and we were far from the victory,” Finnish skipper Jarkko Nieminen said. “Both of the guys from Canada played really well in the singles. They didn’t miss a ball today.”

Canada next play Britain in Group D, with the top two teams of the four-nation group advancing to the finals in Malaga.