Team Canada presented by IGA’s bid for a day two comeback in the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round came up just short on Sunday in Montreal as Hungary held off the Canadians for a 3-2 win.
A doubles victory by Liam Draxl and Vasek Pospisil in the opening match followed by a singles upset for Gabriel Diallo in the No. 1 singles match levelled the tie for Canada after they lost both matches on Saturday. But Marton Fucsovics proved too strong for Alexis Galarneau in the fifth and deciding match, winning in two sets to clinch the tie for Hungary.
It is Canada’s first Davis Cup defeat on home soil since 2017. Team Canada will now have to play in the Davis Cup World Group I in September in order to get back to the qualifiers for 2026.
To start the day, Draxl and Pospisil kept the hosts alive in the tie by winning the doubles match over Peter Fajta and Mate Valkusz in straight sets.
As he so often has over his long career, Pospisil came up clutch when his country needed him, this time alongside debutant Draxl who dazzled in his first match for Team Canada. The Canadians were on the front foot throughout and never trailed in the 7-6(2), 6-4 win.
The pressure is now on Gabriel Diallo, who must beat Fabian Marozsan in the battle of singles No. 1s in order to keep Canada’s comeback bid alive.
For most of the first set, the servers were able to cruise. The only look at a break for either team came in the eighth game with Valkusz serving. The Hungarian double-faulted at deuce to set up a break point, but he redeemed himself with a big serve that Pospisil returned into the net.
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Draxl and Pospisil were playing together for the first time ever in a competitive match and, despite also being at opposite ends of their Davis Cup careers, showed instant chemistry with the veteran’s poise and the youngster’s energy and slick hands.
Another double fault from the Hungarians in the tiebreak gave the Canadians a quick 2-1 lead that they never relinquished. At 4-1, Draxl took over the breaker with some spectacular net play. Two amazing volleys gave the Canadians a set point, which Pospisil finished off with an ace.
The Canadians put their foot on the gas to start the second set, breaking for an early 2-1 lead. The Hungarians had a chance to get back in it when they led 15-40 on Pospisil’s serve in the sixth game, but the veteran delivered one of his classic moments of Davis Cup magic, reeling off four consecutive unreturnable serves to keep the Canadians ahead.
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Fittingly, it came down to Pospisil to serve out the match at 5-4. Prior to the tie, the 34-year-old said this may be his last time playing for Team Canada and if it is, he went out with a bang. In his final service game, Pospisil raced ahead 40-love and capped off the win with an ace on the second match point.
Dialled-In Diallo Does His Job
In order to keep Canada alive, Gabriel Diallo needed to upset Hungarian No. 1 Fabian Marozsan, ranked almost 30 spots above the Canadian in the ATP rankings, in the first singles match of the day. Diallo did so in style, cruising past the crafty Hungarian in just over an hour.
The Canadian No. 1 came out swinging and never let up the pressure. Marozsan could not hang with Diallo and the Canadian was able to extend the tie with an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win.
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Diallo picked up where his doubles team left off, breaking Marozsan in the opening game of the match. In the first set, he had a tricky time consolidating each time he broke but he was able to hang tough.
In his first service game, the Canadian saved a break point with a big serve. After breaking for a second time to go up 4-1, he had to face three break points in order to consolidate, but he was able to find the big shots he needed on each occasion.
He kept up the pressure to start the second set and was once again rewarded with an early break to take a 2-0 lead, but Marozsan was not going away quietly. Once again Diallo struggled to consolidate and this time, the Hungarian succeeded in immediately reclaiming the break.
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The pair settled into a back-and-forth in the second set, although Diallo was continuing to attack at every opportunity, playing completely fearless tennis. His gutsy play was rewarded late in the set, breaking to love to go up 5-3. The Canadian promptly served out the match to love, having won the last 12 points in a row.
Galarneau Overpowered by Fucsovics
It all came down to the fifth and final match of the tie between Canada’s Alexis Galarneau and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. Both men brought their A-game in a thrilling encounter that was decided by the narrowest of margins. In the end, Fucsovics’ ability to consistently blast the ball without committing too many errors proved too much for the Canadian to handle and Hungary took the final match in straight sets 7-6(8), 6-4 to win the tie.
Slow starts were a problem for Galarneau in his Saturday match and they dogged him again on Sunday. In his second service game, the Canadian netted a half-volley to go down break point and Fucsovics did what he does best, teeing off of a few balls to draw an error and secure a quick 2-1 lead.
But Galarneau responded not long after. In the sixth game, after narrowly missing a break back point at 30-40, he ripped a return winner for a second look and this time won an incredible rally, finishing at the net to get back on serve.
The roller-coaster of a set continued in the next game, with Galarneau saving five break points to move ahead 4-3. He then had a chance to take a break lead of his own but Fucsovics jammed him with a body serve.
A dramatic set was concluded with a dramatic tiebreak full of long, cat-and-mouse rallies. Fucsovics had a pair of set points up 6-4 but failed to convert. Galarneau had a chance of his own at 7-6 but Fucosvics erased it with a big serve. After saving another set point to get to 8-8, Galarneau finally cracked for good, missing back-to-back shots to drop the opening set.
Galarneau was not going to go away quietly. At 1-1, after missing his first break point chance, he showed incredible persistence to hang in a rally dominated by Hungarian, eventually drawing an error. On the ensuing break point, Fucsovics netted a forehand to give the Canadian a glimmer of hope.
Unfortunately, it did not last. In the eighth game, a couple of forehand errors cost Galarneau and he handed the break back to level the set at 4-4. Then serving to stay in the match, he cracked again under the Hungarian’s onslaught. Some big hitting from Fucsovics created a trio of match points and on the third, the Canadian sent a backhand into the net to surrender the match and the tie.
Canada now awaits the draw for the World Group I ties in September. Canada will have to win that home-and-away tie in order to get back to the qualifiers for 2026.
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