Tennis-Canada edge closer to Davis Cup Final Eight, Australia win after Machac withdraws

VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) - Canada are close to securing a place in the Davis Cup final Eight after a commanding 3-0 victory over Finland in Group D on Thursday with Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime winning their singles matches before teaming up for the doubles.

Shapovalov beat Eero Vasa 7-6(2) 6-2 in Manchester, while Auger-Aliassime eased past Otto Virtanen 6-2 6-3.

Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime then teamed up to defeat Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara 6-2 7-5 in the doubles to wrap up the tie and avenge last year's defeat to Finland.

"Everybody's in good spirits, so it's very good," Auger-Aliassime said. "Any motivation is good but I think it's a different year, a different time, and (last year's loss) was behind us," Auger-Aliassime said.

The 2022 champions could advance to the next stage without playing another match, depending on the outcome of other showdowns over the next two days before their clash with Britain on Sunday.

MACHAC WITHDRAWS

Australia cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic in Valencia as Thanasi Kokkinakis started the day with a 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 win against Jakub Mensik.

Australia extended their lead to 2-0 when Tomas Machac withdrew just six minutes into the match against Alex Popyrin due to an injury. Machac had previously been forced to retire during his loss to Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the week.

Machac, wearing a bandage on his right leg, played only nine points before calling for a medical timeout and then signalled that he could no longer continue.

"We saw him last night, and he didn't look too good last night, so we wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he's back on tour quickly," Popyrin said.

Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated Mensik and Adam Pavlasek 6-4 6-2 in the doubles.

GERMAN DOMINANCE

Germany defeated Chile 3-0 in their Group C clash in Zhuhai, China, earlier on Thursday thanks to straight-set victories by Maximilian Marterer and Yannick Hanfmann, and a win in the doubles match by Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz.

Germany are now above U.S, Slovakia and Chile in the standings.

In Bologna, the Netherlands edged out Brazil 2-1 after Wesley Koolhof and Botic Van de Zandschulp won the doubles 6-4 7-6(5) in Group A.

Sixteen nations are competing in four groups in Manchester, Bologna, Valencia and Zhuhai with the top two from each group moving through to the Davis Cup Final Eight Knockout Stage which will be held in Malaga, Spain in November.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk)