Photo: Martin Sidorjak
On Monday, Tennis Canada announced its official roster for the upcoming Final 8 stage of the Davis Cup Finals, set to take place from November 21-26 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga, Spain. Captained by Frank Dancevic, Team Canada presented by Sobeys will be comprised of Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC), Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON), Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC), Gabriel Diallo (Montreal, QC), and Alexis Galarneau (Laval, QC).
“I am honoured and thrilled to be able to captain such a great team at another Davis Cup Final,” said Team Captain Frank Dancevic. “After seeing what this group was able to do during the Group Stage, winning all three ties, and with the additions of Milos (Raonic) and Félix (Auger-Aliassime), we are confident that we have what it takes to win a second straight world title.”
Auger-Aliassime, 23, will be representing Canada at the Davis Cup for the sixth time in his career and currently holds a record of nine wins and four losses. In 2022, the Montreal native had a near-perfect Davis Cup record, losing his first Group Stage match before stringing together eight consecutive wins en route to clinching Canada’s first-ever title. This past week, Auger-Aliassime, ranked 19th in the world, reached his fifth quarter-final of the season at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo, Japan.
For the first time since 2018, Raonic, the former World No. 3, will be making his return to the Canadian squad. The 32-year-old veteran has been nominated 14 times to Canada’s Davis Cup team, winning 18 of his 24 matches. Despite missing the entire 2022 season due to injury, Raonic played high-level tennis this year, defeating the likes of World No. 55 Miomir Kecmanovic and World No. 14 Frances Tiafoe.
Pospisil, the second-most winningest Canadian in Davis Cup history, is once again part of Team Canada’s roster. The current World No. 287 played a key role during this year’s Group Stage, winning all four of his matches. Pospisil heads into Malaga with a record of 31 wins and 24 losses in Davis Cup action. This season, the 33-year-old British Columbian has played most of his matches on the ATP Challenger Tour and reached a final in February in Koblenz, Germany.
Diallo, 22, is sitting at No. 133 in the world rankings and will be taking part in his fourth Davis Cup event. The Montrealer earned his first and second Davis Cup victories during the Group Stage in September, beating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy and Sweden’s Elias Ymer. Earlier this month, Diallo won the ATP Challenger tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia – the second Challenger title of his career.
The team is rounded out by 24-year-old Galarneau, who will be making his fifth appearance at the Davis Cup. Ranked 185th in the world, Galarneau has a 5-2 record at the competition and won all five of his contests last month, helping Canada qualify for the Final 8 stage. He’s reached two ATP Challenger finals this season, winning one of them at the Granby National Bank Championships.
Canada will kick off their Final 8 stage against Finland on November 21. To find out more details about the Davis Cup Finals format, click here.
