Rogers Cup Tournament Director Karl Hale was one happy camper last week, watching the Canadian Davis Cup squad reaching the first-ever final of this competition. The Canadians were among the teams to beat during the first edition of the Davis Cup Finals at Caja Magica, defeating four strong teams and giving their best against the host nation Spain in the title match before losing 2-0 to finish runner-up.
Led by Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov, Canada prevailed against Italy in the first tie and did the same against the USA to march into the quarter-final, gathering boost and confidence ahead of the next clash versus Australia that they won 2-1 thanks to a doubles triumph.
In the semis, Vasek and Denis prevailed against Russia in the tie break of the deciding doubles rubber to find themselves in the title clash where they faced Spain and their partisan crowd at Caja Magica. Despite a great effort from Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, the Spaniards forged a 2-0 victory thanks to Roberto Bautista Agut and Rafael Nadal who delivered the crucial point for the home nation in their first Davis Cup celebration since 2011.
Speaking about this massive success, Karl Hale acknowledged it as one of the most significant results in the history of the Canadian sport, backed by the US Open crown that Bianca Andreescu claimed and high year-end ranking positions by Andreescu, Shapovalov, and Auger-Aliassime.
Hale believes the future should be even brighter with all those youngsters around and that the sport will only grow bigger in the following years. “It’s a historic moment. Probably one of the greatest achievements by a Canadian team ever, in sport,” Rogers Cup Tournament Director Karl Hale said. Read More
