Canada crowned 2015 Junior Davis Cup champions
In a fitting conclusion, top seeds Canada were pushed to the brink before reigning supreme at the 2015 Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Finals at La Caja Magica on Sunday.
The No. 1 Canadian boys - Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Benjamin Sigouin - delivered a first Junior Davis Cup trophy to the land of the Maple Leaf by outlasting No. 5 Germany 2-1 in Sunday’s final. This marked the second time Canada had reached the competition's final, having done so in 2010 where they lost to Japan.
“For sure, it’s exciting to be the first Canadians to ever win Junior Davis Cup,” Denis Shapovalov said. “We had the team to do it. All three of our players are great tennis players.”
The boys’ final, which courted a sizeable crowd, started with a win for Canada when Shapovalov defeated Marvin Moeller 6-1 6-4. Nicola Kuhn, who only lost one match all week and was named the Davis Cup's most valuable player, evened the final by upending Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3.
That left the decision of who would become the Davis Cup champions down to the doubles. In the end, the doubles match became a bit too much for Kuhn, who started the day looking like one of the walking wounded with both legs bearing some heavy taping. But it was a stomach muscle pull that left him with too little energy in the third set, and which resulted in Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov posting a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win over Kuhn and Moeller.
“Definitely I felt a lot of pain,” said Kuhn, after the match.“I gave everything I could. It was bad luck that I got pain in the abdominal that I was afraid of. It was a good tournament and we had a good team. I’m really happy with the whole week and I have no complaints.”
Third-seeded Russia took the bronze medal after posting a 3-0 win over eighth-seeded Japan.
In further final placement in Davis Cup: Spain took 13th place, Sweden 14th place, South Africa 15th place, and Hong Kong 16th place.
The formalities at La Caja Magica concluded with a closing ceremony, awards distributed, including the British girls and South African boys receiving honours for best-dressed teams, and a lot of photos being taken.
But that in no way was the completion of the week-long event as everyone involved headed back to the hotel for a farewell dinner and disco party.
And the 15-year-old Kuhn, the boys’ MVP, put the whole week in perspective as he departed the stadium.
“This is really something incredible,” he said. “As (Alberto) Berasategui told us the first day here, this is something unique. I am really happy and I would like to play this again.”