Team Canada presented by Sobeys have begun their journey at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage as defending champions for the first time in the nation’s history, shocking the host Italians in their opening tie with two straight-set singles wins from Alexis Galarneau and Gabriel Diallo and a three-set doubles win for Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil.
This year’s squad features Denis Shapovalov, Vasek Pospisil, Diallo, Galarneau, Kelsey Stevenson and team captain Frank Dancevic. Canada’s group consists of Chile, Italy and Sweden.
Galarneau stuns Sonego in opening match
It was clear from the start that Galarneau and world No. 38 Lorenzo Sonego were in for an epic duel; the first game lasted just under eight minutes and Galarneau saved four of four break points to avoid going into a hole early. Sonego finally managed to break Galarneau to take a 4-3 lead, but Galarneau fired right back by breaking Sonego in the potentially decisive 10th game to tie things up at 5-5. In the eventual tiebreak, the pair traded well-fought points but Galarneau ultimately prevailed, winning 10-8 to take the first set.
It was much of the same story in the second set, as Galarneau and Sonego went back and forth with neither player giving up much. The turning point of the match came in the fifth game, when Galarneau broke Sonego to take a 3-2 lead. The Canadian didn’t squander the opportunity, holding on to win the second set 6-4 and the opening match of the tie.
This marked the first career Davis Cup victory for Galarneau, who is currently ranked No. 200 in the world. The 24-year-old won 70 per cent of his first serve points, making only 22 unforced errors to Sonego’s 34.
DIALLO CLINCHES CANADA’S WIN BY DEFEATING MUSETTI
Diallo was presented with a tough task in his 2023 Davis Cup debut, taking on world No. 18 Lorenzo Musetti. The 21-year-old Canadian, ranked no. 158 in the world, was clearly up to the task right out of the gate as he held his own against the tactical Musetti.
The pair traded services for the opening 10 games until Diallo finally found an edge and broke Musetti to take a 6-5 lead. In the decisive final game, Diallo made no mistakes as he fired off four straight points to win the opening set 7-5. Diallo recorded four aces and won 94 per cent of his first serve points in the first set.
Diallo kept his composure in the second set, as Musetti couldn’t find a way to solve him. Tied at three games apiece, Diallo once again managed to break Musetti in the seventh game to go up 4-3. It was smooth sailing from there, as Diallo went on to win the second set 6-4 and the match, clinching Canada’s victory over Italy in the process.
Diallo’s serve and limited mistakes were the strongest proponents of his nearly flawless play against Musetti. Overall, he dished 10 aces and won 94 per cent of his first serve points. He allowed zero break point opportunities as he defeated the top-ranked opponent of his career.
CANADIANS COMPLETE SWEEP AS GALARNEAU, POSPISIL WIN DOUBLES
The pressure was off Team Canada for their third match of the day, having already clinched the victory over Italy thanks to Diallo and Galarneau’s earlier wins. Still, Galarneau took to the court for his second match of the day alongside veteran Vasek Pospisil, as the pair looked to complete the sweep against Simone Bolelli and Matteo Arnaldi.
The Italians broke the Canadians early in the first set, but Pospisil and Galarneau responded by breaking right back to tie things up at two. The opening set eventually went to a tiebreak, where the Italians prevailed 7-4 for their first set of the day.
Pospisil and Galarneau managed to break first in the second set, jumping out to a 3-2 lead against Bolelli and Arnaldi. This time around, the Canadians went on to hold their serves to win the set 6-4 and force a third and final set.
The Canadians opened the third set with a break in the opening game, moving one step closer to completing the sweep. With Pospisil eventually serving for the match with the Canadians up 5-4, the Italians quickly went up 0-40. Pospisil and Galarneau stormed back to force a deuce, but the Italians held on to break and tie things up.
In the eventual tie-break, the Canadians jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and won the breaker 7-3, completing the sweep of Italy.
Next up, the Canadians will take on Sweden on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. ET.
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
