TEAM Canada swept up their first-ever ATP Cup win after Felix Auger-Aliassime took down Spanish player Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday evening in Sydney. The win made Canada the third country to have a place in the ATP tennis hall of fame, joining Serbia and Russia, which won in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The 21-year-old Canadian team captain and singles world No. 11, Auger-Aliassime, made a convincing win in just two sets, which brought Canada’s score to 2-0 against the Spanish team. Auger-Aliassime squeezed out the first set which went to a tiebreak, 7-6(3), but his smooth serves and pounding forehands against Bautista Agut afforded a decisive 6-3 win in the second set. “The emotions are unbelievable. There’s no better feeling than winning. We left everything out there,” said Auger-Aliassime during a post-match interview. The victory came despite Canada having a rocky start to the tournament. Their team narrowly avoided elimination in the group stages after losing their first four matches of the competition. Auger-Aliassime and teammate Denis Shapovalov clawed Canada back to the finals with their victory against Germany, and then Russia in the semifinals, the pair beating Russians Daniil Medvedev and Roman Safiullin in the deciding doubles match. Auger-Aliassime said their eventual victory wouldn’t have been possible with the dedication of all four team members. “I think that’s very important. We trust each other to the highest level. Denis and I, everybody in the team — Brayden [Schnur] played in singles, Steven [Diez] played in doubles and they’ve been supporting us all week,” he said. Teams from 16 countries competed in the ATP Cup at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney from Dec. 31 to Jan. 9. The event precedes the Australian Open, which will take place in Melbourne from Jan. 17 to 30. (Xinhua) | 