VALENCE, Spain — Félix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil combined in doubles action to defeat South Korea and give Canada its first win in the group stage of the Davis Cup finals on Tuesday.
Auger-Aliassime and Pospisil defeated the duo of Nam Ji Sung and Song Min-Kyu 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a clash that lasted two hours and 18 minutes.
In the deciding set, the two South Koreans had taken the lead thanks to a break in the first game, before seeing Auger-Aliassime and Pospisil recover that break in the sixth game. late before closing out the duel in the ninth game without conceding a SINGLE point.
In one of two singles matches on the day’s schedule, Kwon Soonwoo leveled South Korea at 1-1 with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Auger – Aliassime.
Earlier, Canada took a 1-0 lead when Pospisil defeated Hong Seong Chan 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) after a long 2:36 duel.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked 13th in the world, led 4-1 in the first set after winning the first three games to nil. He looked to be in control of the game until Kwon, ranked 74th in the world, turned things around.
The South Korean won six of the next eight games and 12 of the last 17 in the match to force the doubleheader presentation.
After taking the second set, Pospisil, in his 24th Davis Cup appearance, quickly fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 in the third set. But he clawed his way back into the draw and the 32-year-old veteran’s experience eventually allowed him to win the tiebreak.
“It was one of those games where I’m glad I was able to keep my composure,” Pospisil said in his post-match press conference.
“I fought well,” he added. I didn’t let myself down, even though I had to work hard to beat a player who was lower than me, but who obviously plays very well. »
For the rest of the group stage, Canada, who compete in Group B, have dates with Spain on Friday and Serbia on Saturday.
Spain is led by Carlos Alcaraz, the rising star of men’s tennis and winner of the US Open singles final on Sunday in New York.
Serbia, however, are without the services of Novak Djokovic, who announced his retirement from the competition last week for personal reasons.
The top two countries from each of the four groups will advance to the finals, scheduled for November 21-27 in Malaga, Spain.
