For the second time in the 111-year history of the Davis Cup, Canada will be in the final. After losing to Spain, which won of the sixth time in 2019, Canada is in the final on Sunday from Malaga, Spain, where they will face 28-time champion Australia. However, one should realize that Australia has not won the Davis Cup since 2003.
On Saturday in the semifinals, Canada beat Italy two matches to one. The Canadian victories came from Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal in singles, and Auger-Aliassime, and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, British Columbia in doubles. Auger-Aliassime defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4, and then immediately thereafter teamed up with Pospisil to beat the Italian duo of Fabio Fognini and Matteo Berretini 7-6, 7-5. The fact that Berrettini was used for Italy came as a huge surprise, because he was dealing with a foot injury.
There is no doubt that Nick Kyrgios’s absence at the 2022 Davis Cup will give Canada a mental boost. Kyrgios was in the Wimbledon final this year. The Australian team will be led on Sunday by singles player Alex de Minaur, the 24th ranked player in the world. Head-to-head, Auger-Aliassime defeated de Minaur in their one prior meeting. It came in the second round of the 2022 Cincinnati Masters, where Auger-Aliassime was victorious, by a rather convincing scoreline of 6-3, 6-2.
