DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 25, 2022

Frank Dancevic

Vasek Pospisil

Denis Shapovalov

Team Canada

Press Conference

POSPISIL-SHAPOVALOV/Krawietz-Puetz

2-6, 6-3, 6-3

Team Canada - 2

Team Germany - 1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Frank, congratulations. That was a great comeback, both in terms of rubbers and in the final match. Could you run through your reflections of today?

CAPTAIN DANCEVIC: Yeah, today was a perfect example of Davis Cup at its finest. We started off in the singles, and Denis was struggling to find his rhythm from the beginning. First match on the center court. Ended up losing a really tough match, you know, against a guy who was playing really well like Struff.

We had to just raise the energy for the next match. Felix came out, played amazing to keep us alive, and it's never easy coming back from a match that you just lost as well to, you know, come back with and want to finish out the tie with a win.

Vasek, with his experience, a veteran on the team, I think he's a huge key to our success, as well. These guys, they have great energy. When they find the energy in the matches, I feel so confident they can beat any team in the world.

It was amazing to watch. They showed so much heart going in the match, and again, in the beginning of the match, it was tough to find the rhythm. But once they found the rhythm and once they got in the groove, they played lights out. They played amazing. Took control of the match.

It was just really great to watch from the side.

Q. Denis, you must have gone through all sorts of emotions today. Maybe you can just talk through the singles and then the doubles and your thoughts in between.

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I mean, I think it was a tough singles match. Struff is an opponent that I have struggled with in the past. He plays big for big matches.

Yeah, I was struggling a little bit with the timing, with my serve in the match. It's first match in a couple weeks for me, as well.

I think in general, I mean, it was a good fight for me. I think the level was pretty high a lot of moments in the match, and, yeah, it definitely sucks to not get that win for the team. You know, it's tough.

But luckily we have Felix, as well, who is, you know, who brought us back alive and gave us a chance to play for the doubles. Huge credits to Felix.

Obviously, like Frank said, having Vasek is amazing. You know, not only is he unbelievable for singles but he's so credited for doubles. He's done so well in the past and proved it time and time again why he's such a great player.

It was fun to share the court and to kind of get pumped up from each other, and, yeah, definitely was awesome to get the win for Canada.

Q. Vasek, you played a huge part in Canada reaching the Final 8. What does this win mean to you today?

VASEK POSPISIL: Yeah, I think these guys summed it up pretty well. It feels amazing. Obviously we have had some nice taste of success in Davis Cup in previous years and made the final in 2019. So we are obviously hungry to kind of experience that again and go, you know, one further. Obviously that's the thing we'd all love to do at some stage in our careers.

We're definitely looking for that title this week, it's what we want, but obviously every match is so tough.

Today it's just a matter of a few points here and there. We were down 1-0 in the tie, and then down a set in the doubles. I thought, you know, we really, Denis and I, from the middle of the second set all the way through to the end of the match played incredibly well. So we were thrilled to get through that.

Yeah, hopefully we can come out and play well against Italy and play one match at a time. Fight till the last point and see what happens.

Q. How are you feeling now after that roller-coaster day? What emotions are you feeling right now?

CAPTAIN DANCEVIC: Yeah, winning is always an incredible feeling. It feels great. Today was a very tough task for us. We were tested. We were tested in many ways.

We were down a match, and, you know, we needed to gain a match back. Then we were down a set going into the final match and had to step it up and really had to find another level to win this, because those guys were just playing too good.

Winning like we won today, it's an amazing feeling. It was so much energy, but, you know, I'm extremely proud of the team. I think our team, it shows how strong our team is and how -- you know, I will mention this again, I mentioned it on court, but we have a huge support staff as well that helps us and guides these guys through.

Everybody puts every ounce of energy in every moment in the matches to get us through. I feel like that's a big part of it and with the players and their energy, just the feeding off each other's energy, that's what I felt really made the difference today, and these guys stepping it up obviously playing incredible tennis.

It's an incredible feeling. Feels great. But we have another match to play on Saturday. You know, we have to just refocus tomorrow morning. We're going back to the practice courts, doing recovery, do everything we can to get ready. We are back again at 1:00 p.m., I believe it is, on Saturday against Italy.

Q. Great win. I have a question for Frank. Now there are four teams remaining. In your opinion, who is the favorite from your point of view? Also, after the first match, what was your team management strategy in terms of communication? What did you try to stabilize to give peace, tranquility? You tried to pump up the guys in some way?

CAPTAIN DANCEVIC: Yeah, to answer your first question, I don't think right now everybody is playing incredible tennis, and there is so much that can happen in three matches with singles and doubles and there is so much diversity that I wouldn't say there is a favorite team right now.

Out of the four teams, everybody is really good. We have to put ourselves in the position to win. Everybody's going to be in the position to win. It's just about who is going to execute at certain moments in the matches, and it will come down to a little bit of luck and a little bit of execution, but I think it's very even throughout the field. We are all amazing teams going into the semis.

For your other question, can you repeat the second question? Oh, yeah. Well, I think in the doubles, I really felt like they were playing, the other team was playing extremely well, and our team was playing below our level. They just needed to find their game. I really felt like as soon as we started finding our game, the momentum was going to shift.

That was sort of the message I was relaying to the guys. I think they felt that they knew that once they started playing better that we didn't know what was going to happen obviously, that it was going to be such a big shift in momentum, these guys would play that well.

That was sort of the idea when we were down 6-2, and they had a good game, breaking. Vasek had an incredible return to break. We got energy, we got momentum, and then everything from there on it was just a tsunami of winners and emotions and everything going on.

They just played an incredible last two sets. I don't think the other team dropped the level. I think the guys raised the level, and they picked up their game. They played amazing. There's no other way to put it. It was great.

THE MODERATOR: We will go to virtual media.

Q. Vasek, how important is the lefty/righty combination? But first, for Denis, we've seen you play out of your mind when your game is really falling in singles. What's it like when you're playing out of your mind when your game is falling in doubles?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I think it's even better to share the court with your partner and both guys are just ripping winners and playing well. Yeah, I think it's even more fun.

Q. Vasek, about the lefty/righty?

VASEK POSPISIL: Yeah, I mean, there is some advantages to that, for sure. You know, there is no question about it. I think for us I think more than the lefty/righty is just kind of how Denis and I were able to, I feel like really bring the best out of each other on the court. We have very good energy.

Obviously for me even I know how incredibly talented Denis is, and, I mean, one of the big, big stars of the future, and now already, obviously, so some of what I do on the court I try, I know that at any moment can really light it up, so I'm trying to keep the energy high, which is good for me too, because that makes me play better.

I think we have showed it in the past, the very few times we have played, Davis Cup 2019, we played some incredible matches there, very high level, and we did it again today.

Obviously tomorrow is another day. You never know. But one thing is for sure is that I feel like we are a very strong team, and we just click really well on the court. It's not super, I feel, like easy to find, you know, sometimes two players that click on the court the way we can.

So, yeah, today it worked out again, and then we will just keep our heads down and try to keep on.

Q. Frank, what went into choosing the doubles team to play today? Did 2019 have anything to do with it, the magic these guys produced?

CAPTAIN DANCEVIC: Yeah, absolutely. It was a huge factor. I have seen these guys play in the past and I have seen their level. I have seen that energy they feed off of each other, and it was super important.

That year, 2019 that they played together, was very important. Definitely even in the match in the third set when they lost the -- when they were down 6-2, in the third set, I always believed, I had that belief that once they find that, once they click, that they can beat anybody. You know, that's what happened.

But, yeah, definitely it's important for them as well to know what they have done together. They have played a few times in the past, and how they played in the past, I think they had that belief as well on court, like, Hey, we just need to start clicking and start to do a few things better, and, you know, our level is going to go up a lot. The answer is yes.