After sweeping Italy in a stunning upset on their home court Wednesday, Team Canada presented by Sobeys quickly shifted their focus to Team Sweden.
Vasek Pospisil turned around after his tennis doubles win on Wednesday and produced more of his Davis Cup magic, holding off a spirited fight from Leo Borg to give Canada the lead. Gabriel Diallo followed up by earning another impressive win over Elias Ymer to clinch Canada the win in their second tie of the Davis Cup Finals group stage. Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau once again teamed up in doubles, defeating Filip Bergevi and Andrew Goransson in straight sets to complete Canada’s second sweep of the tournament.
Pospisil powers through to take down Borg
Pospisil quickly showed the Swedes that Team Canada wasn’t going to take their foot off the gas in the second tie of the Davis Cup Finals group stage, as he broke Borg in just the second game of the match. Borg, the son of 11-time major champion Bjorn Borg, fired right back though, breaking Pospisil in the following game. The first set eventually went to a tie-break, where Pospisil broke through to win 7-5.
The second set was par for the course, as Pospisil and Borg traded services back and forth. The turning point came late as Pospisil had an opportunity to break Borg to go up 6-5, but the Swede saved two break points to avoid being put up against the ropes. In the next game, Borg seized the opportunity to break Pospisil to force a third set.
Battling some cramping early in the decider, Pospisil still managed to break Borg to jump out to a 3-2 lead. Visibly struggling physically, Pospisil pulled through to break Borg yet again to take a commanding 5-2 lead. Wasting no time, Pospisil put the match away by serving for the victory to defeat Borg 6-2 in the decisive set, winning the match 7-6, 5-7, 6-2.
Pospisil’s thunderous serve helped him greatly, as he smashed 25 aces to Borg’s four throughout the match. Overall, Pospisil won 85 per cent of his first serve points.
DIALLO STAYS HOT AS HE DEFEATS YMER
Diallo kept the ball rolling in his second match of the tournament after dismantling Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday. Facing Sweden’s Elias Ymer this time around, Diallo quickly broke him in the opening set to jump to an early lead. He held his own for the remainder of the set, eventually winning 6-4.
Diallo kept up the same pace in the second set, as he broke Ymer yet again in the early goings to take a 3-2 lead. He eventually broke Ymer for a third time to win the second set 6-3 and clinch Canada the victory over Sweden.
The Canadian once again played a nearly flawless game, allowing zero break point opportunities and winning 85 per cent of his first serve points. He made 14 unforced errors to Ymer’s 21 and won 58 per cent of the total points in the match.
GALARNEAU, POSPISIL COMPLETE THE SWEEP
With their eyes set on securing Canada’s sixth straight victory to remain undefeated at the Davis Cup Finals group stage, Galarneau and Pospisil teamed up yet again to take on Filip Bergevi and Andrew Goransson.
After winning together against Italy’s Arnaldi and Bolelli on Wednesday, the Canadian duo picked up where they left off, grinding their way into a tiebreak with the Swedes in the first set. The Canadians held on to win 11-9, saving seven of seven break points throughout the set.
With the second straight sweep within reach, Galarneau and Pospisil kept their eyes on the prize. Much like the first set, the two sides held their own on the way to another tiebreak. The Canadians stayed perfect, winning 7-3 to win the match 7-6(9), 7-6(3).
Galarneau and Pospisil went a perfect nine for nine in saving break points, which helped give them the slight edge in a tightly contested battle.
The Canadians will get a day of rest on Friday, and close out the group stage against Chile on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. ET.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
