Canada near Davis Cup final eight after dominant win over Finland

VALENCIA, Spain: Canada took a significant step towards securing a spot in the Davis Cup Final Eight with a commanding 3-0 victory over Finland in Group D on Thursday. The 2022 champions were led by Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who won their respective singles matches before joining forces in the doubles to complete the sweep in Manchester.

Shapovalov kicked off the tie with a hard-fought win over Eero Vasa, prevailing 7-6(2) 6-2. Auger-Aliassime followed with an impressive 6-2 6-3 victory against Otto Virtanen. The pair then teamed up in the doubles to defeat Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara 6-2 7-5, avenging their loss to Finland in last year’s competition.

“Everybody’s in good spirits, so it’s very good,” Auger-Aliassime said after the win. “Any motivation is good but I think it’s a different year, a different time, and (last year’s loss) was behind us.”

With this dominant performance, Canada could advance to the next stage without needing to play another match, depending on results from other ties in the group over the next two days. Their final group stage clash is set against Britain on Sunday.