Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime despatched over a dozen aces as he beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4 to degree their Davis Cup semi-final tie with Italy at 1-1 on Saturday after Lorenzo Sonego overcame Denis Shapovalov 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-4 in a marathon encounter.
A doubles match with Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil taking over Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini will resolve which nation reaches Sunday’s remaining in opposition to Australia on Sunday.
World quantity six Auger-Aliassime had few points in opposition to Musetti, by no means dealing with a break and profitable all however three of his first-serve factors, as he transformed an opportunity late in each units to get the 2019 finalists on the board in Malaga, Spain.
Sonego made a sluggish begin however battled again from an early break down after discovering his groove on serve once more to seize the opening set within the tiebreak when an error-prone Shapovalov despatched a forehand lengthy.
World quantity 45 Sonego, who misplaced in three units to Shapovalov when the pair final met in Rome earlier this yr, saved 5 set factors to carry for 5-5 and took the second set right into a tiebreak, however spurned a number of alternatives to shut out the competition.
With the match crossing the three-hour mark, Sonego switched on the after-burners to seize a decisive break within the remaining sport and ship the Italian followers within the crowd wild.
On Friday, Australia reached the ultimate for the primary time in 19 years with a 2-1 win over Croatia.