MADRID, February 15, 2019 (Tennis Canada Press Release)
The official draw ceremony for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Finals took place on Thursday in Madrid. The 18 countries who have qualified for the finals have been divided into six groups, with three nations in each group. Canada is in Group F along with the United States and Italy and will thus face both of these countries during the round robin stage. The Davis Cup finals will take place from November 18 to 24, 2019 on the hard courts in Caja Magica.
“It will be difficult because all of the teams participating in the finals are strong. There are no weak opponents. In our group, the US and Italy are both tough teams with top level players in singles and doubles. We will need to have all of our top guys participating in order to go deep in the competition. We’ve come close in the past, having reached the semi-finals, and the next step is to win it one day. I believe that we have the players and the fire power to do it. We have a good mix of young and experienced players and this is a good combination to go far in the finals,” stated the Canadian Team Captain, Frank Dancevic, following the draw.
“I don’t think that it’s the best draw for us” says Italian #DavisCup captain Corrado Barazzutti.
Italy 🇮🇹 was drawn in Group F with United States 🇺🇸 and Canada 🇨🇦 for November’s #DavisCupMadridFinals pic.twitter.com/mYwaqfA1iQ
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) 14. Februar 2019
The winners of the six groups along with the two next best nations (depending on the number of wins and the percentage of sets and games won/lost) will qualify for the quarter-finals which will take place on Friday. The semi-finals will be played on Saturday and the final on Sunday, November 24. Each of these match-ups will consist of two singles matches and a doubles match all played as a best of three sets.
The Canadian team secured their spot in the Davis Cup finals when they defeated Slovakia by a score of 3-2 on February 1-2. In the win, Denis Shapovalov won both of his singles matches and Félix Auger-Aliassime signed the crucial victory in the decisive match.
