Compared to the Davis Cup, the ATP Cup is still in its infancy, but so far to date the tournament has succeeded in its goal. The event has provided thrilling team tennis right before the first major of the calendar year.
On Sunday in Sydney, Canada won the third ever ATP Cup, as Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario, and Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec led the Canadian squad to a win over Spain in the final. You could call it revenge for the Canadians, who lost to Spain in Madrid in the 2019 Davis Cup Final.
The Canadians were led by world number 11 ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec, and world number 14 ranked Novak Djokovic of Toronto, Ontario. Shapovalov opened the ATP Cup final with a straight set, 6-4, 6-3 win over Pablo Carreno Busta. Auger-Aliassime then won 7-6, 6-3 over Roberto Bautista-Agut.
The win over Bautista-Agut came one day after Auger-Aliassime was clobbered by Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the semifinals 0f the ATP Cup, 6-4, 6-0. However, Canada still came through with a 2-1 win when it came to matches as Shapovalov defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, and Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime teamed up to beat Medvedev and Safiullin in doubles, 4-6, 7-5, [10-7].
Even though Canada had no one ranked in the top 10 in the world prior to the tournament, they were one of three nations to have two players ranked in the top 15. The other nations are Russia (Medvedev and Andrey Rublev) and Italy (Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner). Now with the win, Auger-Aliassime climbed to number nine in the world.
The tournament win for Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov should give them confidence as they prepare for the Australian Open in only one week’s time. Still it is rather unfortunate the ATP Cup was overshadowed this week by the ongoing Novak Djokovic saga, which continues to make global sport headlines.
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