Team Canada has a two games to none lead in the second round of 2026 Davis Cup qualifying at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec on Friday. Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ontario and world number five and two-time United States Open semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec came away with victories.
Draxl delivered a huge upset. Ranked 205th in the world, Draxl defeated world number 31 Arthur Rinderknech of France in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5. Draxl saw Rinderknech’s serve very well. Draxl broke Rinderknech three times in 10 opportunities. Rinderknech meanwhile only had one break point chance the entire match, and failed to capitalize.
Auger-Aliassime defeated Quentin Halys 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. Two key statistics were double faults and winning percentage on second serve. Auger-Aliassime only had one double fault, while Halys had six double faults. Auger-Aliassime also had a second serve winning percentage of 71%, while Halys was at 42%.
On Saturday, Canada can reach the group of eight at the Davis Cup finals in Italy in November with a doubles victory. Auger-Aliassime is teaming up with Duncan Chan of Markham, Ontario. They will be facing Benjamin Bonzi and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. There are then two singles matches afterwards. Whether or not they have meaning depends on the prior results. Auger-Aliassime is facing Rinderknech, and then Draxl is facing Halys.
We know two nations that are joining host Italy in the Davis Cup finals in November. They are Austria and South Korea.
