(Bologna) Despite the absence this week of Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, its two best players, Canada will be able to defend its Davis Cup champion title in a little over two months, in Spain.
The team led by captain Frank Dancevic achieved this feat following the victory of Laval player Alexis Galarneau in two sets of 6-3, 7-6 (5) against Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, a player born in Toronto , as part of the group stage of the tournament, Saturday in Bologna, Italy.
“It was special. I’ve known Alejandro since junior level,” Galarneau said. “He grew up in Canada and I knew what to expect. I know he is a great fighter. »
When Tabilo sent a backhand volley into the net on match point, Galarneau leapt into the air and shook his right fist.
He then grabbed with his right hand the Tennis Canada logo embroidered on the right side of his red sweater, kissed it briefly before proudly pointing it in the direction of his teammates, including Shapovalov, on site even though he could not not play due to a knee injury this summer.
Dancevic then came over to Galarneau to give him a warm hug near the net before quickly passing his hand over the top of his head.
“First and foremost, it’s another chance to win the title,” Galarneau said when asked what he thought about Canada qualifying for the quarterfinals of the tournament. tournament elimination.
“Plus, it proves that it wasn’t a fluke last year — we shouldn’t be taken lightly. We are number one in the world, so we didn’t want to detract from that ranking and I think that’s what we’re doing at the moment,” he added.
For Galarneau, it was a second singles victory this week. On Tuesday, during Canada’s first match, he surprised Italian Lorenzo Sonego, 38th player in the world, in two sets. Galarneau also collected two doubles victories with veteran Vasek Pospisil, against Italy and Wednesday against Sweden.
“This victory, for sure, takes a little pressure off the team in general. But coming here, winning four matches, ideally a fifth in doubles, it confirms all the work I put in, the work of my team too. It’s encouraging for the future,” analyzed Galarneau, who teamed up again with Pospisil in the decisive doubles against Chile.
In the second singles match on Saturday, Montrealer Gabriel Diallo lost in two sets of 6-4, 6-4 against Nicolas Jarry, 22nd player in the world.
Ranked 158th in the world, Diallo a six-foot-eight giant, just 21 years old, had won his two previous singles matches this week, against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, ranked 18th in the world, and Swede Elias Ymer, ranked 175th. . Each time, he had achieved the feat in two sets.
Despite this defeat for Diallo, and even if he were to lose in the decisive doubles duel, Canada is assured of finishing among the first two teams in Group A, following its victories by identical scores of 3 -0 against Italy and Sweden.
Seven other nations will take part in the knockout stage, from November 21-26 in the Spanish city of Malaga.
Led by Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov, Canada won the Davis Cup for the first time in its history last year thanks to a final victory against Australia.
Ranked 200th in the world, Galarneau held off Tabilo, who entered the competition ranked 124th in the ATP rankings.
The 24-year-old from Laval ignored his rival’s eight aces — who committed no double faults — and his success rate of 79% in first serves to score two breaks of serve, both in the first set.
This second break by Galarneau allowed him to give himself a 5-3 lead and concluded a sequence of three games during which both players lost their serve.
Galarneau secured the first set after 43 minutes of action when Tabilo sent a forehand into the net.
The second round lasted 62 minutes and was hotly contested. The two rivals played service with aplomb until Galarneau was the first to find himself in a precarious position in the 10th game.
Tabilo managed to give himself two break chances, but each time, Galarneau forced him to send a backhand into the net. The same scenario repeated itself two points later when the Laval player faced a third break point.
In the tiebreaker, Galarneau built cushions of 4-0 and 5-2 before seeing the Chilean reduce his lead to 6-5.
A final blunder from Tabilo would allow Canada to celebrate another appearance in the final round of the Davis Cup.
