ITF

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID DENIS SHAPOVALOV CAN "There are definitely pros and cons to the event, but that's the same with any tournament. For the first year that it's been running, they've done an unbelievable job. It's a cool concept to have all the teams together. It reminds me of a Junior Davis Cup but on a much bigger stage. In terms of the organisation, it's been spectacular." SAM QUERREY USA "People are going to learn about the event. I still don't think that my friends and family quite understand it, but it's the first year. Maybe as it gets more talked about, people will understand more about what it is and how great it could be." 16 ITFWorld // WINTER 2019/20 Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff celebrates Novak Djokovic and Serbia reached the quarter-finals Kyle Edmund fired Great Britain into a 1-0 lead in the semi-finals Canada fans roared their team on during the final D AV I S C U P B Y R A K U T E N M A D R I D F I N A L S "But our team is great. I don't see a lot of teams where all five players took part in the competition. Everybody played at least a match, and that makes this even more special because everybody in our team participated in the victory. "We knew that we needed to convert this opportunity, and we fought very hard. In my opinion, what Roberto did was out of this world." Bautista Agut contested two singles matches, beating Croatia's Nikola Mektic but losing to Andrey Rublev of Russia, before travelling to his father's side and then returning to propel his nation to silverware. "It was very difficult," said Bautista Agut. "I took the decision to go home but returned to support the team. I didn't think about playing. I came to support with all my heart, but once we qualified for the final I started to feel like playing. "I had the opportunity to play because all the players and the rest of the team were unbelievable since the first day. Everyone has participated in the victory, to get the trophy, and all of us worked very hard during the whole week." Canada qualified for the tournament's knockout phase following group-stage victories against Italy and USA, which preceded triumphs over Australia in the quarter- finals and Russia in the last four. Spain, however, proved a bridge too far, although captain Frank Dancevic believes Canada's exploits represent further proof of his nation's upward mobility and rapidly improving status within the tennis world. "Tennis is really hot right now in Canada," said Dancevic, whose side became the 23rd different nation to reach the Davis Cup Final. "We're known as a hockey nation. But with the results these guys have had, starting with Vasek [Pospisil] and Milos [Raonic] and then young guys like Felix and Denis coming up, Bianca [Andreescu] winning the US Open, it's brought a lot of attention to tennis. "It's great for our sport. It's wonderful to see this young generation playing so well and we have a bright future ahead of us. Our federation has been great at getting things going in the past decade. It's made a big difference." Neither finalist had a straightforward passage from the last four as Spain and Canada were both forced to recover from 1-0 down and rely on their doubles pairings. Nadal was required to quell the threat of Dan Evans after Great Britain surged into a 1-0 lead courtesy of Kyle Edmund's win against Lopez. That left Nadal and Lopez to unite to dispatch Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski, which they did 7-6(3) 7-6(8). Canada, meanwhile, were dependent on Shapovalov following Rublev's defeat of Vasek Pospisil in the opening singles match. He delivered by beating Karen Khachanov 6-4 4-6 6-4, before joining forces with Pospisil and overpowering Khachanov and Rublev in three sets. Champions Spain, Canada, Great Britain and Russia, together with wild cards France and Serbia, are guaranteed a place in the 2020 Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals. The remaining 12 nations will be determined by March's Qualifiers. n

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