Vasek Pospisil won his opening singles match, then teamed with Felix Auger-Aliassime to take the deciding doubles match as Canada won its opening tie at the Davis Cup Finals tennis tournament 2-1 over South Korea on Tuesday.
The Canadians pulled out a victory in a tie that seemed likely to go the way of their opponents after the South Koreans scored a key break to go up 6-5 in the second set, then broke again in the opening game of the third set.
A doubles win became necessary after Auger-Aliassime — Canada's top-ranked male player at No. 13 in the world — suffered a shock 7-6 (5), 6-3 defeat to No.
74 Kwon Soonwoo in his singles match. Pospisil opened the tie with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over Hong Seong Chan. A victory against South Korea was vital for a Canadian squad trying to come out of a powerful group that includes Serbia and Spain, which defeated a Canada team featuring Pospisil and Auger-Aliassime in the 2019 championship tie. WATCH | Canadian duo Auger-Aliassime, Vasek Pospisil win doubles thriller: Spain is being led by rising star and 2022 U.S.