Auger-Aliassime proud of Canada, Davis Cup champion and Billie Jean King Cup title: “It shows how much our country has developed”

At the bottom of the pile a decade ago, Canadian tennis is now on top of the world. First of all, individually, the country has one Grand Slam winner, Bianca Andreescu, who won the US Open in 2019, and two finalists, Eugenie Bouchard, at Wimbledon in 2014 and Milos Raonic, beaten by Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2016.

The young generation is pushing a lot and has great talents on the men’s tour such as Félix Auger-Aliassime, sixth in the world in 2022 and currently ranked 29th after a difficult season or Denis Shapovalov, 10th in the world in 2020 but currently outside the Top 100 after a year marked by injuries.

In the team competitions, however, Canada is simply the No 1 team on the world, men and women combined. Captain Frank Dancevic’s men won the Davis Cup last year by beating Australia in the final. In 2023, the women won the first Billie Jean King Cup in the country’s history by dominating Italy in the final.

Present at the press conference in Malaga to defend their Davis Cup title, all members of the Canadian team expressed their admiration for the Billie Jean King Cup team, a great inspiration to try to lift the silver bowl for the second year in a row.

It’s an incredible period for tennis in Canada right now.

Felix Auger-Aliassime

“For sure. I mean, it’s an incredible period for tennis in Canada right now. We have kind of been building to this moment over the last 12, 13, 14 years, or even prior to that,” Pospisil said. “I feel like every couple years we have had something, get a better achievement on the big stage. Semis 2013 with Milos and Daniel and Frank. It’s incredible. I mean, also, it’s something that you can’t take for granted.”

“Currently, we have the men as top ranked in the world and the women as well. We’re definitely enjoying it. For me, it’s been nice to have been part of that journey. I’ve seen the growth of the sport in our country and we’ll just try and keep riding that wave as long as possible.”

“It’s good to have both men’s and women’s tennis in our country both pushing each other to the highest ranking. It’s a beautiful thing to think that we have both men and women No1,” Auger-Aliassime said. “For me, growing up that seemed very far away, and I think for Vasek, Milos, and Frank, when they were playing, it was something tough to imagine. It speaks to how much we’ve grown as a country in this sport. It was great to see the depth they have as well with Marina coming in and playing amazing tennis in her first Billie Jean King Cup. It shows that it’s not just a few good players. There are many good players in our group.”

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