BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA -- Canada's Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies 6-3, 7-6 (4) in doubles action on Tuesday to clinch a 2-1 victory over Germany and jump into second place in their group at the ATP Cup tournament.
The doubles match was needed after Canada split its two singles matches against other German players earlier in the day.
Auger-Aliassime, the No. 21-ranked player from Montreal, began the day with a 6-1, 6-4 loss against No. 35 Jan-Lennard Struff before No. 14 Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated No. 7 Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-2.
The doubles win gave Canada a shot at qualifying for the quarterfinals of the tournament, depending on the records of the other teams. The Canadians would have been eliminated with a loss.
The six group winners and two best second-place finishers advance to the Final Eight in Sydney. Two quarterfinals are set for Thursday and two more on Friday. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday and the final on Sunday at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Belgium and Canada held the last two spots entering play Wednesday. Both teams will have the day off.
Canada went ahead 6-1 in the tiebreak of its doubles match, but the German pair fended off three match points before losing serve and handing Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime the victory.
Shapovalov's win over Zverev was the German's third singles loss of the tournament. Zrevev had seven double-faults in Tuesday's match.
Canada began the tournament by beating Greece last week before losing to Australia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2020.
