Davis Cup: Shapovalov, Diallo fail as Germany beats Canada to reach semi-finals
Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff take Germany over the line against Canada in the quarter-finals
Denis Shapovalov (Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic)
Germany advanced to the semi-finals of the 2024 Davis Cup by avenging its 2022 loss to Canada in the quarter-finals of the annual event on Wednesday, November 20, at Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain.
The Germans, helped by Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff, defeated the Canadians 2-0 under the roof to set up a semi-final showdown with the Netherlands that overcame host Spain in its quarter-final effort.
Altmaier and Struff downed Canada’s Gabriel Diallo and Denis Shapovalov, respectively.
Match 1: Altmaier puts Germany on the scoreboard
Altmaier, the world No 88, started the proceedings for Germany on a positive note, defeating Canada’s Diallo 7-6 (5), 6-4.
It took a marathon effort from the German to see the back of world No 86 Diallo in the opening set. The two remained in a tussle for an hour, 15 minutes in the first set. They notably fought for a staggering 25 points in the ninth game, with the Canadian saving six break points to stay on serve after the duo had broken each other in the third and fourth games.
The first set tiebreaker witnessed nerve-wracking drama as Altmaier raced to a 5-0 lead but Diallo recovered to 6-5. The German, however, edged out eventually.
The second set saw both players tread carefully, remaining on serve until the world No 88 induced a match point on return in the tenth game and succeeded.
Match 2: Shapovalov commits 13 double faults
The responsibility to rescue Canada fell on former world No 10 Shapovalov‘s shoulders and he got the Canadian going by taking the first set against Germany’s Struff.
Shapovalov looked in control for the majority of the second set as well but Struff landed a critical blow by breaking the former in the 11th game. The world No 43 held in the following game to force a decider.
The German drew first blood in the third set, converting a break point in the seventh game but Shapovalov broke back in the tenth to get back on serve. The two then remained unbroken as the match went into a tiebreaker.
It was a close affair in the dying moments of the match but Shapovalov committed a double fault, his 13th for the evening, on the match point to lose 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) after two hours, 10 minutes, marking the end to Canada’s hopes of another Davis Cup glory.
Interestingly, the result was a repeat of Struff’s success against Shapovalov in the Canada-Germany tie at the 2022 Davis Cup as the German had defeated the Canadian 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2) in the opening encounter of the quarter-final match-up.
Jan-Lennard Struff sends his team into the semi-finals ✨
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 20, 2024
He beats Denis Shapovalov 4-6 7-5 7-6#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/ZjpdB9VMno
