Canada surge into ATP Cup semis

SYDNEY, Jan 6: Felix Auger-Aliassime fired Canada into the semi-finals of ATP Cup on Thursday, upsetting World No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to earn the first Top 5 win of his career.

Following Great Britain's 2-1 triumph against the United States earlier on Qudos Bank Arena, Canada knew victory against Germany would seal a semi-final spot.

With the pressure on, Auger-Aliassime backed up Denis Shapovalov's victory over Jan-Lennard Struff by showing great resilience against Zverev in a statement win. With his victory, Canada has clinched the Group C tie 2-0 and will play reigning champion Russia on Saturday in Sydney.

"It feels good to beat Zverev," Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. "I played a great match. He is a great player and he has beaten me a couple of times before, so I am happy I was able to get the job done today, especially for the team. We started off on a tough day a couple of days ago, so to finish off strong and be through to the semis is special. The atmosphere was great at the end, that is what we play for."

In an entertaining match, the 21-year-old recovered from squandering four break points at 3-3 in the second set, hitting with great power and depth in the third set to triumph after two hours and 32 minutes.

The World No. 12, who kept Canada's ATP Cup bid alive with his singles victory against Cameron Norrie on Tuesday, was strong on serve throughout, winning 76 per cent (41/54) of points behind his first delivery. The 21-year-old maintained a high and consistent level in a tense deciding set, breaking in the seventh game as he reduced his ATP Head2Head series deficit to 2-4 against the German.

It is the first time Canada has reached the last four at the 16-team event. In the other semi-final, Poland will play Spain on Friday.

Earlier, Shapovalov boosted Canada's ATP Cup semi-final hopes, overcoming Struff 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3.

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