Team Canada survived a battle against Korea to advance to the finals of the 2024 Davis Cup tennis competition for the fifth straight year.
Vernon own’s Vasek Pospisil played a role in the victory, as he won his opening singles rubber, 6-4, 6-3 against Seonghchan Hong on Friday, Feb. 2.
Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo dispatched Soonwoo Kwon in the other singles match on Friday, 6-4, 6-4, to give Canada a 2-0 lead heading into Saturday.
Pospisil teamed up with Alexis Galarneau in doubles, but lost to the Korean team of Jisung Nam and Minkyu Song, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6. Song and Nam didn’t hold back against the Canadian duo, combining to hit 37 winners and converting on 75 per cent of their first serves, helping to keep the Republic of Korea’s hopes of advancing alive.
Diallo was called again in singles to hopefully clinch the victory for Canada in the third singles rubber. The world number 132 defeated Hong 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour match.
“We have a pretty good record in Davis Cup and we’ve had a lot of upsets and our team just feels like they can beat anybody,” said team captain Frank Dancevic. “I really truly feel like we can beat anybody in the world. So, it’s a great feeling to have, and we’re looking forward to the group stage in September and I’m very proud of everybody for their effort.”
Canada will now await the draw for the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage to discover which countries they will face in September. At the group stage, 16 nations will compete in four groups of four across four different venues, with the winner and runner-up in each group advancing to the Davis Cup Final Eight knockout stage in Malaga, Spain in November.
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