Canada has officially punched its ticket to the Davis Cup Final 8 this November, and F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime had a lot to do with it.<\/p>\n
The world No. 5 capped a remarkable two days of tennis by rallying past Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 Saturday at the Videotron Centre, clinching Canada\u2019s 3-1 victory over France in its best-of-five second-round qualifier.<\/p>\n
The decisive victory came just 35 minutes after Auger-Aliassime had walked off the court following a doubles loss alongside Duncan Chan. It was his third match in two days, having also defeated Quentin Halys in three sets Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really have words,\u201d said Canada captain Frank Dancevic. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible for the Davis Cup, for the country to have a player like that who can play at his level, playing singles and doubles and being in shape to play three matches over two days. It\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime\u2019s efforts this weekend were also not lost on the opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to play singles Friday, commit to playing doubles and then returning to play singles afterward,\u201d said French captain Paul-Henri Mathieu. \u201cWe have to give him credit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime fired 17 aces and committed just one double fault in his two-hour, 21-minute victory over Rinderknech, winning his 10th consecutive Davis Cup singles match in the process. He now owns a 15-5 record in the competition.<\/p>\n
Rinderknech took the opening set after breaking Auger-Aliassime in the ninth game, but the Canadian responded by squeaking out the second-set tiebreak after falling behind 3-0.<\/p>\n
Another ninth-game break proved decisive in the final set. Auger-Aliassime converted the opportunity, then held serve to send Canada through to the Final 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told myself to stay calm,\u201d Auger-Aliassime said of serving for the match. \u201cThe fans were celebrating as if the match was already over. There was still a game left to be played.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rinderknech credited Auger-Aliassime for coming through when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix is a really great player,\u201d said Rinderknech. \u201cHe proved today why he is so difficult to beat. I knew I was capable of beating him. I\u2019ve done it before. It just didn\u2019t go my way today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victory capped an especially significant weekend for Auger-Aliassime, who was playing Davis Cup competition for the first time in two years and in his home province for the first time.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old has close ties to the area. His father, Sam, operates a nearby tennis academy where Auger-Aliassime spent much of his childhood training.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt carries a lot of significance for me,\u201d Auger-Aliassime said. \u201cYes, we will probably remember our level or the ups and downs of the match, but I think we will remember more the emotions we lived through as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Quebec crowd certainly made its presence felt. A total of 22,340 fans attended over the two days, establishing a new Canadian Davis Cup attendance record and surpassing the previous mark of 21,842 set over three days in Ottawa in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Canadian crowd and the fans in Quebec have no ego or jealousy when it comes to supporting their sports heroes,\u201d Auger-Aliassime said. \u201cWherever I go, when I see Canadians, there\u2019s always a positive word said to me. It is the energy you want as a tennis nation and a community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime also remains hopeful this weekend\u2019s tie will have long-term ramifications for the sport, both provincially and nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal of hosting the Davis Cup is to inspire tennis players, young and old and to allow tennis to shine on a large stage,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope that a tie like this will have an even greater impact.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s about more than two days of tennis. If it can inspire a youngster to play tennis, go to university because of tennis or become a professional, it would be magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n
After dropping just two points through his opening four service games, Auger-Aliassime quickly found himself in trouble during the ninth game of the set.<\/p>\n
The world No. 5 fell behind 0-40 thanks to a handful of unforced errors, including his lone double fault of the match, to ultimately go down a break.<\/p>\n
Rinderknech would serve out the opener, making good on his second set point.<\/p>\n
The top-ranked Canadian had two break points of his own early in the second set, but was unable to convert on either.<\/p>\n
The set went to a tiebreaker, with Rinderknech taking the first three points and four of the first six. However, Auger-Aliassime battled back to win five of the next six to force a pivotal final set.<\/p>\n
Just like in the opening set, the ninth game of the frame proved pivotal. This time, however, it went Auger-Aliassime\u2019s way as the Canadian earned the crucial break, much to the delight of the raucous Quebec City faithful.<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime would hold serve for the win and the tie moments later.<\/p>\n
Canada has reached the Davis Cup Finals for the sixth time in its history and for the first time in two years.<\/p>\n
For France, it marks another upsetting finish at the prestigious tournament. The ten-time champions failed to reach the Final 8 for the sixth time in the last seven years.<\/p>\n
It also marks their first Davis Cup loss to Canada in four matchups.<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime opened Saturday\u2019s schedule in doubles with Chan, falling to French veterans Benjamin Bonzi and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (4), 6-3.<\/p>\n
The French pair saved a set point before taking the opening-set tiebreak and then secured the lone break of the second set in the eighth game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were serving incredible,\u201d Chan said. \u201cI really couldn\u2019t get comfortable on the return because they were just stretching me, putting away everything and not making any mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defeat marked France\u2019s first Davis Cup loss to Canada in four meetings. The 10-time champions also failed to reach the Final 8 for the sixth time in the last seven years.<\/p>\n
Canada, meanwhile, will make its return to the Davis Cup Final 8 for the first time since 2024.<\/p>\n
For Auger-Aliassime, however, the weekend was about more than the end result for Team Canada. It was also about the people who came out to experience it alongside them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are witnessing a successful time period for tennis in Canada,\u201d he said. \u201cI am happy that people are coming to encourage us during these moments. I felt it all throughout the weekend. No matter what was happening on the court, throughout the ups and downs, the crowd was with us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada has officially punched its ticket to the Davis Cup Final 8 this November, and F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-902361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}