Denis Shapovalov went 2-0 for Canada on Tuesday, earning his second Top 10 victory of the season in singles and teaming up with countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime in doubles to clinch a 2-1 ATP Cup tie victory versus Germany.
Auger-Aliassime/Shapovalov defeat reigning Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies 6-3, 7-6(4) to give Canada a 2-1 team record in Brisbane. Canada keeps alive its hopes of making the Final Eight, which starts Thursday in Sydney.
All six ATP Cup group winners, in addition to the two best second-place teams, will compete in Sydney. Australia, 2-0, won Group F on Sunday. “I’m really happy to get the win and hopefully we can go through. I feel like we’re definitely one of the top teams, and I feel like we definitely deserve to go to Sydney. Hopefully, if we do get that chance, we can do some really big damage,” Shapovalov said.
Shapovalov beat World No. 7 Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-2 to force the deciding doubles.
The 20-year-old, who defeated No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier in Brisbane, won 91 per cent (30/33) of his first-serve points and dominated Zverev’s second serve. The German claimed only 29 per cent (7/24) of those points and hit seven double faults.
“There’s a lot of things that I still need to improve, but it’s the start of the season,” Zverev said. “I need to find my rhythm.”
Jan-Lennard Struff continued his impressive start to the 2020 ATP Tour season and put Germany ahead. The 29-year-old swept #NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-4, needing only 75 minutes to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Struff hit six aces and faced only one break point, which he saved, despite landing a little more than half of his first serves. The 6’6” German won 73 per cent of his second-serve points.
