Canada, Australia, Germany poised to advance in Davis Cup Finals

Canada, Australia and Germany remained unbeaten in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals after each team won their second straight contest on Thursday, while Czech player Tomas Machac retired injured for the second time in two days after playing only six minutes.

Canada won 3-0 against Finland, Australia beat the Czech Republic by the same score and Germany swept aside Chile 3-0 as well.

Denis Shapovalov beat Eero Vasa 7-6(2), 6-2 and Felix Auger-Aliassime followed up with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Otto Virtanen for 2022 Davis Cup champions Canada in Manchester, England.

There was a slight element of revenge in the air after the Canadians lost to the Finns in last year's quarterfinals.

"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. This year we have a full team and everybody's playing better than last year. Everybody's improved."

Auger-Aliassime was back on court soon afterwards, teaming with Shapovalov in doubles to wrap up the tie with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara.

Machac's injury was the focus as Australia marched into a 2-0 lead against the Czech Republic in Valencia, Spain.

What seemed to be simply cramps when he retired against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday proved more serious and long-lasting 24 hours later, as Machac played just nine points in his match with Alexei Popyrin.

Playing with bandages around his right calf, Machac called for a medical timeout after Popyrin held serve in the first game, before retiring at 30-15 down in the second.

"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.

Earlier, Thanasi Kokkinakis had given Australia the lead in the opening match by beating Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3. The Aussies made it 3-0 after the doubles contest as Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell beat Mensik and Adam Pavlasek 6-4, 6-2.

On an indoor hard court in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, Germany's Maximilian Marterer beat Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1, 6-3, before Yannick Hanfmann defeated Alejandro Tabilo 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the tie.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, who have lost only one cup match, beat Barrios Vera and Matias Soto 6-1, 6-3. In no match was Germany broken and they have never lost to Chile, which didn't use an ill Nicolas Jarry.

The Netherlands picked up their first win against Brazil in the only one of Thursday's ties that was decided in doubles. Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp won a close match 6-4, 7-6(5) against Brazil's Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo to hand Brazil its second loss in Bologna, Italy.

Brazil had led after Joao Fonseca beat van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-6(3) in the first match, but Tallon Griekspoor leveled the tie with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over Thiago Monteiro.

16 teams are competing across four groups in four cities this week to qualify for the eight-team Finals in Malaga, Spain, in November. The top two national squads from each four-team group will advance.