ATP Cup 2020: Canada suffers first loss in competition; swept by Australia

Rudi Schuller

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ATP Cup 2020: Canada suffers first loss in competition; swept by Australia image

Canada suffered its first defeat at the inaugural ATP Cup on Sunday, with Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov dropping their singles matches to host Australia. Auger-Aliassime and Adil Shamasdin later lost in doubles as the home side completed a three-match sweep.

Canada needs a win in its next tie, Jan. 7 against Germany, to stay alive in the 24-team competition.

Here's how the action played out for Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov in singles play:

Felix Auger-Aliassime loses 6-4, 6-2 to John Millman

Auger-Aliassime couldn't replicate his dominance from the first day of competition, when he downed Greece's Michail Pervolarakis in straight sets. Instead, the 19-year-old Montreal native failed in rather straightforward fashion as he struggled with second-serve return points and holding serve.

Millman was the first to have his serve broken, with Auger-Aliassime converting on his fourth opportunity to grab an early advantage in the opening set, but the 30-year-old Brisbane native fought back to break the Canadian teen twice in a row to bring the hometown crowd to its feet. 

The momentum shift was too much for Auger-Aliassime, who battled inconsistency and a motivated opponent in his first loss in the competition.

Denis Shapovalov loses 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 to Alex de Minaur

Unlike his fellow Canadian, Shapovalov's defeat came in a marathon. The match took exactly three hours to complete.

After taking a tough, gritty opening set in a tiebreak, Shapo dropped the next two sets, clinching Canada's first loss in ATP Cup history. Although de Minaur had home-court advantage, Shapovalov had a slight edge in ranking over his opponent (15th overall to de Minaur's No. 18th ranking).

Chris Guccione and John Peers defeated Auger-Aliassime and Shamasdin 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 in Sunday's night session (Sunday morning Canada time).

Rudi Schuller