It was only Aliassime’s second win in five games for the competition.
Photo: Disclosure
* Updated at 8:30 p.m. with Canada’s win in doubles
Valencia (Spain) – Carlos Alcaraz’s first match at world number 1 ended in defeat. The US Open champion was selected for the clash between Spain and Canada in the Davis Cup group stage in Valencia, and was overtaken by Felix Auger-Aliassime. Current 13th in the standings, Aliassime scored the partials of 6/7 (3-7), 6/4 and 6/2 in 2h50 of the match.
It was only the second Davis Cup match won by Aliassime, who is 22 and has five singles matches for the competition. Alcaraz, just 19 and having won his first Grand Slam last Sunday, now has a win and a loss at Davis.
Additionally, Aliassime maintains his unbeaten record against Alcaraz on the circuit, now leading the record by 2-0, and celebrated his tenth career top-10 victory and his fourth of the season.
Felix flies high! 🤩🇨🇦
Auger Aliassime fights back from a set down to win an exhilarating match, 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3 🙌#Davis Cup #byRakuten | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/pzNDj3srde
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 16, 2022
The first set went entirely without a break, and Alcaraz even saved a set point when leading 6/5 before forcing the tie-break. In the decisive match, the Spaniard lost 3-1, but won the last six points disputed.
Aliassime’s reaction came in the second set, which only counted one break. Alcaraz was the one who confirmed his service games with the greatest ease, but he didn’t take advantage of the break point he had in the sixth game. Still, he was two games away from winning when he led by 4/3, but ended up suffering a break late in the set and saw the Canadian win the last three games of the partial.
At the start of the third set, Aliassime broke again and went down with 2/0. Shortly after, the Canadian escaped five break points to prevent Alcaraz from equalizing. The advantage was even greater after the former top 10 broke again to make it 5/1 and headed for comeback victory.
You will not pass ✋#Davis Cup #byRakuten | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/RE5yU85fNC
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 16, 2022
Perfect round for Aliassime and the Canadians leading the field
Friday was perfect for Aliassime, who also celebrated a doubles victory alongside Vasek Pospisil. They beat Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez by 4/6, 6/4 and 7/5 and defined the series by 2 to 1. In the first match of the day, Roberto Bautista Agut had scored the first point for the Spanish team , beating Vasek Pospisil by 3/6, 6/3 and 6/3.
With this result, Canada ends the second round of Davis’s group stage as the isolated top of Group B of the competition and very close to qualifying for the quarter-finals, which will be played in Malaga, also in Spanish territory. at the end of the year. . .
On Saturday, the Canadians will face Serbia, who have one win and one loss in rounds already played. Spain, on the other hand, will play again next Sunday, against South Korea, who have not won any confrontations in this edition of Davis.
This reaction is everything 😍🇨🇦
Auger Aliassime/Pospisil fought back to win an incredible tiebreak, 4-6 6-4 7-5 🙌#Davis Cup #byRakuten | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/UyWf1y6LIr
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 16, 2022
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