Canada wins its first ATP Cup title by rolling through Spain

On Sunday, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime surged to a resounding victory over Spanish great Roberto Bautista Agut, giving his country its first ATP Cup trophy. Denis Shapovalov ended Pablo Carreno Busta's winning start to the season 6-4, 6-3 to set the stage for a tense second singles rubber in Sydney. During the competition, world number 11 Auger-Aliassime defeated third-ranked Alexander Zverev and then defeated 19th-ranked Bautista Agut 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 to help Canada win the title.

Serbia, led by Novak Djokovic, won the first edition of the team’s tournament in 2020, with Spain, headed by Rafael Nadal, finishing second. Last year, Daniil Medvedev's Russia won the event.

"The emotions are unbelievable there is no better feeling than winning, we left everything out there," Auger-Aliassime said.

"We lost our first four in this competition, but never stopped believing.”

"We trust each other, Denis and I, and everyone on the team, and I think that is very important. I'm super thrilled for everyone on the team and of course myself.

"Spain is always difficult; they’ve been the best nation in the world for some time.”

Canada qualified for the final after defeating Russia, the defending champions, on Saturday.

They also beat Zverev's Germany and the United Kingdom in group matches, rallying back after losing to the United States in their first encounter.

Auger-Aliassime put in a fantastic performance despite being heavily beaten by world number two Medvedev on Saturday, losing his last nine consecutive games.

Both he and Bautista Agut got off to a shaky start at Ken Rosewall Arena, as Auger-Aliassime was broken in his first service game, but he quickly recovered to tie the match.

In a tense set of long rallies, they went with serve, and the Spaniard came through a crucial ninth game, saving three break points to keep the match alive.

It went to a tie-break, with the Canadian storming 4-1 ahead and holding on to win the set in a thrilling 85 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime, who was only 21, was serving well and giving Bautista Agut, who was tired, a couple of chances.

He was, on the other hand, exerting pressure on the Spaniard's serve, creating opportunities with his thumping forehands, and it paid off with a break to go 5-3 up.

With triumph insight, he served for a well-deserved victory that elicited ecstatic scenes of high-fives and hugs from the squad.

Both Spaniards had been in blistering form, winning all four of their singles matches so far. And going into their match, Carreno Busta had a 4-1 advantage against Shapovalov, having won their previous three meetings, including a five-set thriller in the 2020 US Open quarter-finals.

But the young Canadian ranked 14th in the world, stepped up to take vengeance and bring his country within one win of the title.

To win, the tenacious 22-year-old saved eight of the nine break points he faced.

On Shapovalov's serve, the first game of the match proved crucial.

Carreno Busta had five break opportunities, each of which may have swung the game in his favor if converted. Shapovalov, on the other hand, stuck in there and went for his strokes to take the first set.