Canada on Thursday became the first team to make the semi-finals of the new Davis Cup as they clinched a tense and decisive doubles rubber to defeat Australia in Madrid.
Earlier this week, Nick Kyrgios had declared Australia capable of winning the tournament, but he played no part against Canada, perhaps due to injury, and his country crashed out in the quarter-finals.
World No. 150 Vasek Pospisil of Canada was the star of the show as he beat John Millman 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 in the singles and then formed a winning team with Denis Shapovalov in the doubles, the pair beating Jordan Thompson and John Peers 6-4, 6-4.
Photo: AFP
In between those matches, Alex de Minaur gave Australia hope of a comeback, as he battled from a set down to outlast Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“We just went out there and from the first point, we were just going maximum intensity, energy, focus,” Pospisil said. “Denis and I played extremely well. I think we clicked perfectly.”
A first victory in 10 meetings with Australia means that Canada faces Serbia or Russia in today’s last four, for a place in tomorrow’s final.
“We’re just playing really well,” Pospisil said. “We’re in form.”
Yesterday morning, Serbia and Russia were to face off before the other two last-eight ties with Great Britain against Germany and Spain versus Argentina.
Earlier on Thursday, Britain rested Andy Murray and squeezed out of Group E after winning an all-or-nothing doubles rubber to beat Kazakhstan.
The British team knew defeat would ensure an early exit just as France, the tournament’s top seeds, had already crashed out a few hours before at the hands of Serbia and Djokovic.
Jamie Murray and his partner, Neal Skupski, who was making his Davis Cup debut, held their nerve to prevail 6-1, 6-4 over Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin, who might have felt the strain after returning to the court following their singles.
“It was obvious that Andy wasn’t at his best on court yesterday,” British captain Leon Smith said. “It’s tough to recover from that as well and when you’ve got someone like Kyle as an option, for me it was obvious to go and use him in that situation.”
Djokovic booked Serbia’s place in the quarters as he eased past Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-3 to send France home.
“This was the ideal scenario for us,” Djokovic said. “Winning both singles and not being really pressured by the doubles. Russia are definitely one of the best teams here. It’s going to be a big challenge.”
Joining Serbia in the last-eight were Germany, who secured the one rubber they needed against Chile as Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-3 in the singles.
One of the problems of this week’s new format at La Caja Magica has been longer ties running on into the early hours of the morning.
Italy’s last doubles match against the US on Wednesday finished at 4am on Thursday, making it the second-latest finish in top-level tennis history.
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