Finlandwith tennis player Otto Virtanen A hero, he caused a surprise on the first day of the ‘Final 8’ of the Davis Cup in Germany this week. Martín Carpena Pavilion Malaga, beating the current champions in the quarter-finals, Canada (2-1) advanced to the semi-finals.
In the first singles duel, Milos Raonic dominated the North American team after losing in two sets Patrick Kaukovalta (6-3, 7-5). The former world number three, who has not had a duel in the Davis Cup since 2018, did not face any through balls against him and took advantage of two of the five balls in his possession.
Thus, he ended the first set by breaking his opponent’s serve in the eighth game, and by doing the same in the eleventh game of the second set, he prevented the tiebreak and ended the match. one hour and eight minutes.
Later, Otto Virtanen beat him and made the score 1-1 Gabriel Diallo (6-4, 7-5), Canadian number one in his absence Felix Auger-Aliassime He said that he came to the Andalusian city with physical ailments. The Scandinavian player, world number 171, won the first set by breaking in the third game and resisting the break point in the fourth game.
He already missed three break opportunities in the second set and took advantage of the fourth in the eleventh game and started the match. Everything will be resolved in the doubles match virtanen repeated together Harri Heliovaara against Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil.
The Finnish duo started with a score of 4-1 and the Canadian duo neutralized it with another break (4-4), but at the second opportunity they had in the twelfth game, they closed the set in favor of the other teams. A single ‘break’ in the eighth game of the second set allowed Finland to call the bell and Eliminate the champion.