Canada have become the first nation to reach the quarter-finals of the revamped Davis Cup as they beat the United States.
For the second day in a row 150th-ranked Vasek Pospisil gave Canada the perfect start before 20-year-old Denis Shapovalov finished the job to make it two wins from two ties in Group F.
Pospisil edged towering American youngster Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7) to the delight of a vocal Canadian contingent in the stands.
Shapovalov, who reached the Paris Masters final this month and has risen to 15th in the rankings, then beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 6-3 to seal the win.
The doubles rubber was conceded by the Canadians as three of their players were declared unfit to play, according to an ITF spokesman, so the final result was 2-1 to Canada, the same scoreline by which they beat Italy.
“USA will get one match win and a 6-0 6-0 scoreline in terms of sets and games won. If Italy defeats US, it will have no impact at all,” the ITF said in a statement.
The 18 nations taking part at La Caja Magica are split into six groups with the group winners and two best runners-up moving through to the quarter-finals on Thursday and Friday.
In other action on Tuesday, Argentina secured a 3-0 win over Chile in their opening group stage tie.
Argentina supporters in their blue and white stripes packed the centre court and cheered almost every point as Guido Pella eased past Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-4 6-3 in the opening match.
Diego Schwartzman then produced a ruthless display to beat Cristian Garin 6-2 6-2, ensuring the 2016 champions started the campaign with a convincing victory in Group C.
Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer rounded off a perfect tie for Argentina with a 6-3 7-5 doubles win over Jarry and Hans Podlipnik.
France avoided a big upset with a 2-1 victory over Japan in their opening tie.
The French made a bright start as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga thumped Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-2 6-1 but Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka overcame Gael Monfils 7-5 6-2 to send the contest to a deciding doubles rubber.
French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who didn’t have much time to adjust to the conditions after winning the ATP Finals in London on Sunday, found themselves a set down before recovering to beat Uchiyama and Ben McLachlan 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 7-5.
Kazakhstan defeated Netherlands 2-1 in Group E as Davis Cup veteran Mikhail Kukushkin produced a clinical display to beat Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2 6-2.
Robin Haase dragged the Dutch team back into the contest with a 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) win over Alexander Bublik.
But Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin won the decisive doubles over Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
