Canada, Slovakia split Davis Cup matches

Canada and Slovakia split the opening singles matches of their Davis Cup tie on Friday. Denis Shapovalov gave Canada an early edge with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Filip Horansky. But Martin Klizan downed Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 6-3 to knot the best-of-five clay-court series at a win apiece. A doubles match and reverse singles matches are scheduled for Saturday. The winning team will advance to the Davis Cup finals this November in Madrid. The 25th-ranked Shapovalov, a 19-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated the 219th-ranked Horansky in the first career meeting between the players. Auger-Aliassime, an 18-year-old from Montreal ranked 106th in the world, got off to a fast start against Klizan, riding an early break to a 5-2 lead in the first set before losing five straight games to the No. 38 player in the ATP rankings.