Canada Eliminated by Germany in Davis Cup Quarter-Finals

Photo : Martin Sidorjak

For the second year in a row, Team Canada was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Final 8. This time, it was at the hands of Germany, who won both singles matches to take out the Canadians 2-0.

Gabriel Diallo and Denis Shapovalov got the call for Team Canada in the singles but neither was able to pull out a win. Diallo lost the opening match to Daniel Altmaier in straight sets while Shapovalov fell to Jan-Lennard Struff in three.

In the first match, Diallo was outplayed at the end of each set as Altmaier came up clutch to score a 7-6(5), 6-4 win and claim the first point for Germany.

Consistency was a problem for Diallo as he had 40 unforced errors to 33 winners and only put 63 per cent of his first serves in play. He also only converted one of his six break point chances. Altmaier committed just 17 unforced errors.

The early stages of the match were dictated by the players’ ability to make first serves. Diallo was under 50 per cent in his first two service games and in the second, double-faulted at 30-40 to surrender an early break. While Altmaier was making first serves, he lost every single point in his first two service games when missing his initial delivery which allowed the Canadian to break right back.

Altmaier had a chance to make it three breaks in a row with a look at break point in the fifth game but shanked a backhand. Up 4-3, Diallo had three looks at break points on the German’s serve but could not convert any of them.

In the following game, Diallo had to battle through a marathon on his own serve that required nine deuces. He initially rallied from 15-40 down with back-to-back 221 KMH aces and ended up saving five break points in the game.

A couple of early errors from the Canadian in the tiebreak cost him as Altmaier raced out to a 5-0 lead. Diallo upped his aggression and very nearly clawed the tiebreak back. After rallying to 4-5 and then saving a set point on the German’s serve to close to 5-6, he had a backhand put-away volley to tie the breaker only to punch it wide.

Diallo had a chance to flip the momentum in the opening game of the second set when Altmaier missed a backhand to go down 15-40. However, the German ripped a backhand winner to save the first break point and Diallo missed a forehand on the second. That was the last chance the Canadian had to break in the match.

Unlike the first set, where Diallo faced constant pressure on serve, the Canadian cruised through most of the set. He did not face a break point until the worst possible time as he served at 4-5, slicing a backhand long to set up a break and match point. Diallo drove a backhand into the bottom of the net to hand the opening point to Germany.

Shapovalov Can’t Close Out Nemesis

In order to extend the tie, Denis Shapovalov was going to have to reverse his result against Jan-Lennard Struff from their 2022 encounter in Malaga, won by the German in three sets. Despite a stretch of spectacular serving, Shapovalov broke down late and once again fell in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5).

The loss was the final nail in Canada’s coffin at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.

At times, Shapovalov’s serve was untouchable in the match. He had 27 aces, including several on his second serve, and won 90 per cent of his first serve points. He struggled overall on the second serve though, winning just 48 per cent of those points and double-faulting 13 times.

Even though he opened the match with an ace, it took Shapovalov some time to find his rhythm on serve. At 2-2, he double-faulted twice to bring up a break point only to save it with an ace.

In the eighth game, the Canadian sent a backhand passing shot up the line that caught a generous net cord to bring up love-40 on the German’s serve. However, Shapovalov fired his return into the net on all three break points. He teed off on a return to give himself another look, but Struff put away a volley, going on to hold.

The serve bailed out Shapovalov again in the following game when, after the German crushed a return to set up a break point, the Canadian unleased a rocket down the T to erase the threat. He then went back to work on the German’s serve as Struff served to stay in it at 4-5. A massive return from Shapovalov brought up a set point and then he sprinted down a drop volley from Struff, curling a forehand around the big German to seal the opening set.

Shapovalov had a chance to take a tight grip on the match when Struff double faulted to hand him two break points early in the second set. But the German conjured up a volley winner and rifled an ace to deny the Canadian an early break lead.

Still, the Canadian No. 1 seemed to be in full flow on serve, seemingly delivering aces at will, even on his second serve. At 3-3, he had two second serve aces in the game. In his next service game, Shapovalov hit back-to-back aces to climb out of a love-30 hole and after shanking a forehand to go down break point, he fired another ace. He also closed out the game with an ace.

But at 5-5, he finally cracked. A huge return winner from Struff set up a break point and this time, no ace was to be found. Shapovalov netted a backhand to surrender the break and the German promptly served the match into a decider.

After serving lights out for the better part of the previous hour plus, the Canadian’s serve abandoned him at 3-3 in the decider. Shapovalov hit back-to-back double faults to hand the break to Struff.

It seemed as though that would be as Struff stepped up to serve for the match at 5-4 but the German played a sloppy game, missing a volley and then double-faulting to put the set back on serve. Shapovalov nearly gifted the break right back in the following game with a couple of double faults but he refound his serve in time to save two break points.

Just like in 2022, a third-set tiebreak was needed to separate the two. The first eight points went to the server before Struff ripped a forehand to score the first minibreak. Shapovalov responded though with a forehand winner of his own to get back to 5-5. Serving down match point at 5-6, the Canadian hit one final double fault, his 13^th of the day, to bring an end to Canada’s 2024 campaign.

As Germany has an unassailable 2-0 lead, the doubles was not played.

CLICK HERE for everything you need to know about the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.

Written By

Pete Borkowski