MONTREAL — Alexis Galarneau cherished the chance to finish an epic comeback for Canada in entrance of his hometown crowd.
Regardless of his valiant effort, he fell simply wanting ending the job.
Galarneau, of Laval, Que., misplaced a hard-fought battle to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (8), 6-4 in Davis Cup motion on Sunday.
Fucsovics’s victory within the decisive fifth match lifted Hungary previous Canada 3-2 within the males’s crew tennis match first-round qualifier.
“I felt proud to signify Canada, to have the prospect to finish the comeback. To go from 0-2 to 3-2 would have been unimaginable,” stated Galarneau, conserving his head excessive. “After dropping, you come down fairly shortly. However that is tennis generally.”
Canada had battled again after falling behind 2-0 within the best-of-five tie with singles losses from Galarneau and Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo on Saturday.
Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., opened the day by beating Hungary’s Mate Valkusz and Peter Fajta 7-6 (2), 6-4 in a must-win doubles match.
Diallo then rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in males’s singles at IGA Stadium.
“I stated initially of the week that it was going to be a protracted weekend, I didn’t count on it to be 3-0 for both facet,” Canada crew captain Frank Dancevic stated. “The final match was actually an unimaginable battle from Alexis. Fucsovics performed at a extremely excessive degree.
“I’m actually pleased with my guys, how they performed and the way we nearly received. It was powerful to come back again from 2-0, however we discovered a solution to give ourselves an opportunity.”
Hungary advances to the second spherical of qualifiers in September. Canada has been relegated to the World Group 1 degree, the place it should beat a to-be-determined opponent to earn a spot within the Davis Cup first spherical subsequent yr.
Canada received its first-ever Davis Cup title in 2022 and reached the quarterfinals the final two years. The nation misplaced for less than the second time in its final 11 ties on residence soil.
“It is a part of Davis Cup,” Dancevic stated. “You are gonna go up, you are gonna go down. It isn’t yearly you are gonna win it, except you are Italy, however it’s a part of the journey.”
Canada was ranked third within the Davis Cup standings and the Hungarians have been twenty second.
However whereas Hungary introduced its finest abroad, prime Canadian stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov have been unavailable this weekend.
No. 22 Auger-Aliassime received the Open Occitanie in Montpellier, France, earlier Sunday and the 53rd-ranked Shapovalov withdrew from the Davis Cup final week, citing a again damage.
The 23-year-old Diallo, at No. 85, was the top-ranked singles participant on Canada’s roster.
“These guys, they’re younger guys, they do not have that a lot expertise on the crew,” Dancevic stated. “They’ve performed a number of instances, however the Davis Cup is one thing that takes quite a lot of feelings from you, managing feelings, managing the weekend, and it is an incredible studying expertise for them.”
Tied 3-3 within the first set, the No. 176 Galarneau fended off six break factors to carry serve and take the lead in opposition to Fucsovics, a former world No. 31.
Galarneau later saved three set factors throughout the tiebreak — drawing “Olé, Olé, Olé” chants out of the 1,760 spectators across the intimate indoor arduous court docket. Fucsovics, nonetheless, finally took the marathon set in 74 minutes.
The 25-year-old Galarneau jumped out to a 4-2 lead within the second set, however Fucsovics charged again with two straight breaks. Galarneau thwarted two match factors within the closing recreation earlier than sending his backhand into the online on Fucsovics’s third.
Earlier, the 34-year-old Pospisil performed his closing Davis Cup match whereas Draxl, 23, competed in his first.
Canada jumped out to a 5-1 lead within the first-set tiebreak when Draxl transformed a volley on the internet. Pospisil then hit an ace on set level to present Canada the benefit.
Pospisil hit a backhand return winner down the road to interrupt Hungary for the primary time and provides Canada a 2-1 lead within the second. The Canadians held serve the remainder of the best way, with Pospisil hitting one other ace on match level.
“I felt so comfy on the market with Liam,” Pospisil stated after their first time teaming up. “Speaks volumes for each his ability and vitality. I would not really feel comfy if he wasn’t enjoying at a excessive degree.
“We fashioned identical to a tremendous mixture.”
Diallo stepped onto the court docket hungry to avenge his loss on Saturday. The 23-year-old broke Marozsan thrice in a dominant first set earlier than cruising within the second, smashing his eleventh ace on match level to win convincingly in 63 minutes.
“Yesterday’s match was actually powerful,” Diallo stated. “I actually want possibly I may have had a beer or two, that may assist. However, you recognize, we had a match in the present day, so possibly I will have it tonight, win or lose.”
