Felix Auger-Aliassime clinched the ATP Cup title for Canada on Sunday evening with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory against Roberto Bautista Agut to give his country a 2-0 win against Spain.
Canada lost its first four matches of this year's competition and could have been eliminated before playing the third Group C tie. But thanks to favourable results, the Canadians still had a chance and they seized their opportunity.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov won a deciding doubles against Russia on Saturday to knock out the defending champions. And with the trophy on the line, they played their best tennis to defeat two-time finalists Spain.
"The emotions are unbelievable. There's no better feeling than winning. We left everything out there. We came back from far in this competition, losing our first four matches. But we never stopped believing," Auger-Aliassime said. "I think that's very important. We trust each other to the highest level. Denis and I, everybody in the team -- Brayden [Schnur] played in singles, Steven [Diez] played in doubles and they've been supporting us all week. They've got a tournament next week, but they're here every day ready to practise, ready to support us."
"All their egos are aside and we really trusted each other along the way and it came down to the perfect result. I'm super thrilled for everybody in the whole team and myself, of course," he added.
Earlier in the tie, Shapovalov captured the No. 2 singles match with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Pablo Carreno Busta. Carreno Busta entered the No. 2 singles showdown with a 4-1 ATP Head2Head lead against his 22-year-old opponent. Two of the Canadian's losses had come in the fourth round or later at the US Open.
But Shapovalov shone brightly on the big stage at Sydney Olympic Park, where he used his high-flying game to great effect over one hour and 39 minutes. The dynamic lefty saved eight of the nine break points he faced to triumph.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor