After conceding losses in his first two individual matches in Malaga, the Canadian Denis Shapovalov finally gave his country a point, defeating Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first match of the final, 6-2, 6-4and thus put the North American team one step away from its first Davis Cup.
The two number one in their respective teams, Felix Auger-Aliassime (6 ATP) and Alex de Minaur (24), will play the next point at the Martín Carpena Sports Palace in Malaga. The Canadian won this year’s Cincinnati De Minaur with ease in two sleeves.
Four days after making his debut in the last eight, Shapovalov (18) is focused. He opened the game with two consecutive breaks and found himself at 4-0 which gave him the wings to continue to risk and the margin to do so meaningfully. Everything he practiced, the volley, the drop, the parallel, went well for him. In 33 minutes he had the set in his pocket.
Kokkinakis (95), who also lost his previous fight, lost patience and he lavished anger and helpless gesture, despite the enthusiastic support of his captain, Lleyton Hewitt, every time he sat on the bench.
Although he held his first serve in the second set, he was caught again to lose the next. He had three chances to make the ‘counter-break’, but Shapovalov sent his left foot to work and, although he committed heavy errors, he retained the advantage.
He roared like a lion when with a right hand he put the score at 4-2. The Australian tried to climb the net, with changes of pace and looking for corners, but the only thing he managed to do was find himself with another three break points, of which he saved only two.
At 5-2 and serving, Shapovalov dropped his serve for the first time with a double fault. With the new balls, Kokkinakis served and guarded, but was unable to stop the Canadian attacks. After an hour and a half of play, Canada advanced to the Salad Bowl.
Captains Hewitt and Frank Dancevic announced that, in the event of a tie break in the doubles match, Auger-Aliassime/Vasek Pospisil and Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson would play it.
The last pit is Australia, the second team to win the Davis Cup the second most times, with 28 titles, and another team that has never won it and is playing its second finals. In 2019, the Canadians lost the final match against Spain in Madrid.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
