(Málaga) Canada’s Davis Cup defense ended Tuesday following a loss to Finland in the quarterfinals.
Harri Heliovaara and Otto Virtanen defeated Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 in the final doubles match of the showdown.
Earlier in the day, Milos Raonic took over for Félix Auger-Aliassime, who suffered a lower body injury, and won 6-3, 7-5 against Patrick Kaukovalta.
Virtanen then created a 1-1 deadlock by beating Montrealer Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 7-5.
“The Finnish team played very well,” said Canada captain Frank Dancevic. Sometimes when you have injured players on one side and then healthy, confident guys on the other, even if they’ve never been in that situation before, they’re going to be hungry. »
In the final match, the Canadians were more erratic on serve than their rivals, committing six double faults and allowing 14 break points. The Finns broke the Canadians’ serve three times and suffered only one break.
Pospisil received treatment to his right shoulder and neck late in the first inning. He was subsequently the victim of a break of serve, while Finland converted their second set point.
“I was really hurting,” Pospisil said. I didn’t enjoy playing in pain.
“I would have preferred not to play if we could have had someone else healthy and ready to play, but I was healthy enough,” he added.
The Finns broke Pospisil’s serve again for a 5-3 lead in the second set, then closed the books on serve.
Finland will participate in the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time. She will face the Czech Republic or Australia on Friday. The final will take place on Sunday.
Canada caused a shockwave by winning the prestigious team competition last year, eliminating Germany, Italy and Australia in turn in the finals in Malaga.
This time, Canada surrendered in the first phase of the finals.
Auger-Aliassime confirmed Canada’s triumph against Australia in the final of the competition last year. This time he had to sit on the bench, depriving Canada of its only member of the world’s top 100 in singles attendance in Malaga. Auger-Aliassime is ranked 29th in the ATP rankings.
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., took over by appearing in a Davis Cup singles match for the first time since 2018. He needed just one hour and seven minutes to defeat Kaukovalta.
“I focused on my serve and created a few opportunities,” Raonic said. I tried to avoid getting into trouble, and it worked well. »
Raonic, the 318th-ranked player in the world, was much more incisive than Kaukovalta on serve: he dominated the aces column 18-11, and won 97% of the points with his first ball. The power hitter also converted two of his five break points against the 715th player in the world, who didn’t get a single break chance during the match. The representative of the maple leaf also managed a total of 16 winning shots, compared to only five for the Finn.
“You appreciate these moments a lot more when you know there aren’t many more to come,” said Raonic, who is 32 and competed in the Davis Cup for the first time in 2010.
Diallo, 139th in the world, could have secured Canada’s victory in the second game of the best-of-three duel against Virtanen, 171st. The Finn, however, proved to be more effective on serve, as evidenced by his 14 aces – compared to only two for Diallo.
The 22-year-old Quebecer was also unable to convert his only break point against Virtanen. The latter was slightly more opportunistic, with two breaks in five opportunities during the match which lasted an hour and 33 minutes on the cement of Martin Carpena Arena.
“You either win or you learn,” Diallo said. Today I learned. »
Canada was also deprived this week of Ontarian Denis Shapovalov, who won the opening match of the final last year. The Richmond Hill native is still recovering from a knee injury.