Davis Cup Day 6: Will Shapovalov play? Who does Hewitt bring?
Australia and Canada are playing the final of the Davis Cup 2022 in Malaga today. Both teams have open questions. The matches will be streamed live from 1 p.m. on ServusTV On.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 26, 2022, 10:51 pm
First of all, let's not forget that Canada wouldn't be at all in Malaga if Russia hadn't launched a war of aggression against Ukraine, which resulted in the exclusion of the Russian champions from the Davis Cup. Canada advanced to the second round, qualified for the quarter-finals in Valencia - and can play for the title against Australia this Sunday.
Deserved, of course. As against Germany, the Canadians showed strong nerves in doubles, after Denis Shapovalov had lost and Félix Auger-Aliassime had won in singles. The only change in the team: Instead of Shapovalov, Auger-Aliassime started alongside Vasek Pospisil, also with success.
Question mark behind Shapovalov
There is now a question mark behind Shapovalov, who narrowly lost his two previous singles against Jan-Lennard Struff and Lorenzo Sonego: Because the left-hander let himself be defeated in the third set of the game against Sonego, which took more than three hours of play treat back. Pospisil would probably be available as a substitute, who had gained game practice at the ATP Challenger in Drummondville last week.
The question mark with the Australians also concerns the first single: who brings Lleyton Hewitt? Jordan Thompson, who made the perfect start against Tallon Griekspoor in the quarter-finals? Or like against Croatia Thanasi Kokkinakis? There is no reliable data for this decision: Neither Kokkinakis nor Thompson have played against Shapovalov so far.
One thing is also clear: the Canadians could not only win the Davis Cup for the first time (they failed in the final against Spain with Rafael Nadal in 2019), but also repeat what Russia had done in 2021: winning the Davis Cup and ATP Cup in the same year. That will be impossible in the future: Because the ATP Cup is history again.