(Málaga) It continues! Canada advanced to the Davis Cup semi-finals with a three-set victory of 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the deciding doubles match against Germany. Denis Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil faced Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz.

By virtue of the victory, Canada will face Italy, which defeated the United States and reached the semi-finals for the first time in eight years, in the next round.

The representatives of the maple leaf showed great tenacity to reach the semi-finals. Earlier in the day, Denis Shapovalov lost 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2) to Jan-Lennard Struff to give the Germans a 1-0 lead. Félix Auger-Aliassime, however, was responsible for reviving hope among the Canadians by defeating Oscar Otte in two sets of 7-6 (1) and 6-4.

Against Otte, 65th player in the world, Auger-Aliassime played with the same confidence that allowed him to win three tournaments in a row and 16 games in a row in October. Once again he was outstanding on serve, scoring 15 aces and only one double fault. He won 89% of the points after lodging his first ball in play, and 70% of the points after his second ball.

The 22-year-old Montrealer, sixth player in the world, only faced one break point in the very first game of the match. He erased it with a forehand winner in parallel.

Failing to threaten Auger-Aliassime when the latter was serving, Otte was effective in this facet of the game. In the first set, the German had only one difficult game on his serve, the eighth , during which he faced three break points. Each time he got away with it.

The story was different in the tiebreaker, however. Auger-Aliassime scored a first mini-break on the second point and collected two more, on the sixth and seventh points, to build a 6-1 cushion.

In the second set, Auger-Aliassime needed a single break in the seventh game to take control of the match. The Montrealer ended the duel when Otte sent a backhand into the net.

Canada’s best result in the Davis Cup was a participation in the final in 2019. For its part, Germany triumphed three times (1988, 1989 and 1993).

Irregular performance

In a roller coaster performance that saw him notch 18 aces and 30 game winners but also commit 10 double faults and 24 unforced errors, Shapovalov suffered his sixth loss in nine outings against Struff.

Struff knocks down Shapovalov in straight sets in Davis Cup quarterfinals

He got credit for a fight in the third set after he conceded a break in the fourth game which gave the 32-year-old German a 3-1 lead.

Facing a 3-5 decline and match point in the ninth game, Shapovalov managed to bring the duel back to even serve with a crucial break of serve, eventually securing a decisive tiebreaker.

In that break, Struff quickly took the lead with a mini-break on the third point, which he solidified four points later to give himself a 5-2 lead.

With four match points in hand, Struff wasted no time. He converted the first when Shapovalov sent a forehand into the net.

Shapovalov only gave his serve 10 points in the first set. Eight of those runs, however, were conceded in the first and ninth games and allowed Struff to score two breaks and save himself with the first set.

Limited to two break chances that he failed to exploit in the first 15 games of the match, Shapovalov managed to solve his opponent’s serve in the seventh game of the second set, and take a 4-3 lead. , using an uncrossed volley.

The double wins Italy

Earlier in the day, Italy had eliminated the United States and reached the semi-finals for the first time in eight years thanks to Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, who beat the duo of Tommy Paul and Jack Sock in straight sets identical from 6-4.

Taylor Fritz, the ninth-ranked player in the world, gave the United States the decisive doubles encounter when he took the measure of Lorenzo Musetti, ranked 23rd, 7-6 (8), 6-3.

Italy took the lead in the duel following Lorenzo Sonego’s 6-3, 7-6(7) victory over 19th-ranked Frances Tiafoe in the opener. in singles of the day.