VALENCE, Spain – Félix Auger-Aliassime made short work of Miomir Kecmanovic on Saturday afternoon, propelling Canada into the Davis Cup quarterfinals in the process.

Auger-Aliassime confirmed the Maple Leaf’s advance to the next round with a 6-3, 6-4 win in the second singles match of the day on Saturday to tie the group stage game between Canada and Serbia at 1-1.

Canada sits atop Group B thanks to its pristine 2-0 record so far and needed just one win against Serbia to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Serbia is tied with Spain at 1-1, while South Korea languish in last place with a 0-2 record.

Canadian captain Frank Dancevic spared Auger-Aliassime a second doubleheader in as many days, selecting Alexis Galarneau to back Vasek Pospisil in the ultimate doubles match against Kecmanovic and Filip Krajinovic later in the day. Pospisil had to withdraw from this game due to injury.

The 22-year-old used his strong serve to hit 13 aces against Kecsmanovic, who was eliminated in that category. Auger-Aliassime was also more opportunistic than the Serb in break situations, converting two of his four break points. In comparison, his opponent was unable to steal Quebec’s serve on two occasions.

Auger-Aliassime, who had achieved a feat the previous day by dismissing world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, thus broke the bad spell against Kecmanovic. The latter, ranked 33rd in the world, now has a 2-1 career record against Auger-Aliassime, ranked 13th in the world.

Earlier on Saturday, Quebecer Gabriel Diallo lost 6-2, 6-2 to Laslo Djere in the first singles match of the clash between the two countries.

It was the first fight for Diallo, a six-foot, 198-pound giant ranked No. 334 in the world, in this event. And it was quite a baptism of fire.

Diallo got that chance to shine after Dancevic decided to rest Pospisil. The Vancouverite, who watched Diallo’s match, had sought the intervention of a therapist the previous day during his singles match with Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.

Djere, who is ranked 66th in the world, took advantage of the inexperience of his 20-year-old opponent, a powerful puncher, to easily overcome after one hour and five minutes of competition on the concrete of the ‘Pabellon Fuente de San Luis’. from Valencia, Spain.

The Maple Leaf representative let his three break points slip away against Djere, who converted four on seven occasions. Diallo also managed a single ace and made three double faults. His opponent recorded three aces and was limited to just one double fault.

However, Diallo is not offended. He won the Granby tournament last month, beating China’s Juncheng Shang 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the final. He was also eliminated in the second round of the qualifying tournament for the National Bank Open.

The Netherlands lead their group

Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor each won their singles match against Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul to ensure the Netherlands finished top of their group.

Van de Zandschulp sealed the tie by beating world No. 12 Fritz 6-4, 7-6(3), after Griekspoor set the tone for the clash by beating Paul 7-5, 7-6 (3).

The Dutch thus secured an insurmountable 2-0 lead, setting the stage for a meaningless one.

The United States and the Netherlands were already guaranteed to reach the quarter-finals after notching two wins each in Group D. The Dutch will now face the country that finishes second in Group C, either Australia or Germany.

The Americans will have a date with the winners of Group A, probably the Italians. On Sunday they will face Sweden in Bologna.

France defeated Belgium 2-1 in Group C, where Australia and Germany had already secured a place in the quarter-finals.

Croatia is close to the quarterfinals

Davis Cup finalists last year, Croatia took a big step towards the quarter-finals with their 3-0 win over Argentina on Saturday.

Croatia, the unlucky finalists of the 2021 edition against Russia, won a second in a row after it against Sweden (2-1) on Thursday, beating Argentina, the surprise winners of the Cincinnati tournament, 3-0. Borna Coric (26th) bringing the winning point from second singles.

After a heavy opening defeat by Italy (3-0), Croatia was able to bounce back despite the absence of Marin Cilic (16th in the world) to be very close to qualifying, ahead of Italy-Sweden on Sunday.