Tennis Canada - Pospisil and Shapovalov undefeated in singles
 
Madrid, November 19, 2019 – After surprising Italy yesterday, the BMW Canadian Davis Cup team was back on the courts barely 18 hours later to take on the United States. Canada triumphed 2-1 to enter the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals, which are underway at Caja Magica in Madrid until November 24.
 
For the second showdown, Frank Dancevic once again chose Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON) and Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC) to play in singles. US captain Mardy Fish brought in Taylor Fritz (No. 32) and Reilly Opelka (No. 36).
 
Pospisil posted his second victory in two days over a member of the Top 40. Obviously fatigued, he fought hard and hung on against his towering 6’11” opponent. Currently ranked World No. 150, the 29-year-old Canadian gave the nation its first point at the outcome of a match with no break points (7-6(5), 7-6(7)). Pospisil was strong in the key moments, taking 5-0 and 5-2 leads in the tiebreakers. With the win, he brings his total Davis Cup conquests to 19. 
 
“When I came back from injury, I never thought I could play at this level. To be honest, my goal was to finish the year healthy,” said Pospisil afterwards. “I was optimistic but I never thought it would be this fast. I’m playing great tennis in the last few months and my body feels as good as it probably felt in years”.
 
Next up was Shapovalov, who seized Canada’s winning point by overpowering Taylor Fritz in two sets (7-6(6), 6-3). The Canadian No.1 was constant at the baseline and managed to avoid Fritz’s forehand. Shapovalov started out with a breakpoint, but the American battled back all the way to a tiebreaker—the fourth the Canadian had to play in as many sets this week. After taking the first set, a confident Shapovalov coasted to victory.
 
“I feel like I’m in great shape and I’m playing great tennis. I’m very happy with the matches I’ve played here so far,” affirmed Shapovalov. “I felt like today I was struggling with my serve a little bit but I felt solid from the grounds and also with my returns. Hopefully, I can keep that up and bring it to the quarterfinals.”
 
“Our players played with heart again today, but it was hard on their bodies. We have a few injuries to take care of but nothing too serious. There was a risk of more serious injury and that’s why we didn’t play the doubles match,” revealed Dancevic. “I’m proud of my players again today. The conditions were tough after yesterday. The Americans were fresh but we got big wins.”
 
Today’s matches were the first between Canada and the US since 1965. The nations had met 15 times in past, with the Americans winning every time.
 
The Canadian squad now has a well-deserved day off before hitting the courts on Thursday in its quarterfinal duel against the winner of Group D, made up of Belgium, Australia and Colombia. At the time of writing, Belgium had defeated Colombia 2-1 and Australia vanquished Colombia 3-0.

About Davis Cup
Davis Cup by Rakuten is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in sport, with 133 nations entered in 2019. The competition is 119 years old, having been founded in 1900. In 2019, the all-new Davis Cup by BNP Paribas finals will be hosted at the iconic La Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain. Twenty-four nations will contest the Qualifiers on 1-2 February, competing in 12 locations around the world on a home-and-away basis. The 12 winning teams will join the 2018 semifinalists plus two wild card teams in an 18-nation Davis Cup season finale.
 
About Tennis Canada
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and a vision to become a world-leading tennis nation. We value teamwork, passion, integrity, innovation and excellence. Tennis Canada owns and operates the premier Rogers Cup presented by National Bank WTA and ATP World Tour events and one professional ITF sanctioned event. Tennis Canada also owns and financially supports 13 other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates junior national training centres/programs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the International Wheelchair Tennis Association, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Fed Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development. For more information on Tennis Canada please visit our Web site at: www.tenniscanada.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
 
 

 
Media contacts
 
Valérie Tétreault
Director, Communications and Media Relations, Tennis Canada
514-273-1515, ext. 6259, vtetreault@tenniscanada.com

Victoria Jaklin
Coordinator, Communications and Media Relations, Tennis Canada
514-273-1515, ext. 6291, vjaklin@tenniscanada.com

Oliver Wheeler
Coordinator, Communications, Tennis Canada
514-665-9777, ext. 4545, owheeler@tenniscanada.com