Finland’s best-ever Davis Cup run continued on Tuesday at the Final 8 in Malaga, where Otto Virtanen scored wins in singles and doubles to send his country through to the semi-finals at the expense of defending champion Canada.
The 22-year-old Virtanen defeated Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 7-5 to force a decisive doubles rubber, then teamed with Harri Heliovaara to beat Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 in front of vocal Finnish support in Spain.
Virtanen’s heroics were required after Milos Raonic staked Canada an early advantage with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Patrick Kaukovalta to open the day’s play. The 32-year-old Raonic opened the match with four straight aces and never looked back.
But Virtanen levelled the tie by breaking once in each set against Diallo, and a late break in each set of the doubles match sealed a famous victory for the Finns.
Through to the semi-finals in Malaga, Finland await the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between Australia and the Czech Republic.
