Sweden won the first victory of the 2021 Davis Cup Finals on Thursday by winning both singles matches in their tie against Canada at the Madrid Arena. The Ymer brothers turned the team on their backs for a triumph that brings their country closer to the quarterfinals ten years after they reached them in 2011 with Robin Soderling, current captain, as the protagonist.
Elias Ymer beat Steven Diez by 6-4 and 6-2 and his brother Mikael could later with Vasek Pospisil (double 6-4), leader of a finalist Canadian team against Spain in 2019 and now greatly diminished by the absences of Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Pospisil, who won five of his seven singles-doubles matches two years ago at the Caja Mágica, couldn’t beat Mikael and handed the series over to Sweden, who already beat Canada once in 1992, and could finish the job with the point. of doubles. The seven-time champion Scandinavian team has won 9 of their last 10 Davis series.
Croatia, the covered, can with Australia
Croatia showed this Thursday that it can be the cover of the 2021 edition, with a team led by Marin Cilic, a Grand Slam champion who is in good shape, and the world’s number one doubles pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. What perhaps nobody expected is that Borna Gojo, 23 years old and 276th in the world, would offer such a good performance as to beat Australian Alexei Popyrin (61st) and overtake his country, so that later Cilic finished the task and managed to secure the first victory of the competition while waiting for the doubles point.
Always attacking 💥@cilic_marin in ‘Champion 2018’ mode #DavisCupFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/mZDZMl31rl
– Davis Cup (@CopaDavis) November 25, 2021
Gojo could with Popyrin and did it, in addition, in two contested sets (7-6 (5) and 7-5 in 1h52). The Balkan, who has only played six ATP matches and won one, with earnings in his career that do not reach 200,000 euros, did not fit any break and broke the serve of his rival to get 6-5 and serve in the second set. His appearance was caused by the last minute withdrawal of his compatriot Borna Coric, who is dragging a right shoulder injury. Later, Cilic, recently champion in St. Petersburg and absent in 2019 when Croatia lost their two Finals group stage ties 3-0, He did his homework, although with some suffering, and he managed to number one aussie, Alex de Miñaur (6-1, 5-7 and 6-4), who two years ago won all three of his singles matches. The Croatian team, champions in 2018, aspires to everything after this show of power.
Davis Cup results.