ATP Cup: Britain's Jamie Murray, Joe Salisbury lose Doubles decider vs Canada's Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime

Great Britain were blown away by Canadian young guns Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov as they slumped to defeat in their second group match at the ATP Cup.

Dan Evans had given Britain a dream start when he overcame world number 14 Shapovalov in the singles opener.

But British No 1 Cameron Norrie was then beaten by Auger-Aliassime, who is ranked one place higher than him at 11 in the world, where a win would have sealed victory for Britain.

The match went down to the deciding doubles rubber but Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov teamed up and swept aside Britain's doubles specialists, Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury, in straight sets 6-4 6-1.

Great Britain, Canada, USA and Germany have all won one and lost one ahead of the final day of the group stage.

Britain's captain Liam Broady said: "We didn't get the result we wanted overall, but, you know, sometimes tennis works that way.

"The guys on the other side of the court want to win as badly as you do. No one will feel the losses as bad as we do, but we've got to pick ourselves up and go again in two days and try and get through the group.

"We'll go out there and do our best to beat the US, and fingers crossed that will be enough."

Britain's Evans had earlier continued his perfect start to the season with a 6-4 6-4 ATP Cup victory over Shapovalov but Auger-Aliassime levelled the Group C tie after edging past Norrie.

Auger-Aliassime, the world No 11, closed out a 70-minute opening set after winning the tiebreaker and broke Norrie twice in the second set to hand Canada their first ATP Cup victory and force the deciding doubles match.

"I am happy with the win," Auger-Aliassime said. "I am happy to keep the team alive, but the work is not done."

World No 2 Daniil Medvedev produced a dominant performance to overwhelm Australia's Alex de Minaur and help unbeaten Russia go within touching distance of the ATP Cup semi-finals, while Germany and Italy also scored victories in Sydney on Tuesday.

Medvedev's flawless display in his 6-4 6-2 victory was the perfect response to his stunning defeat by France's Ugo Humbert on Sunday and wiped out any doubts about his readiness for this month's Australian Open.

After Roman Safiullin battled past James Duckworth 7-6(6) 6-4 to give Russia a 1-0 lead, Medvedev turned on the style to race through the opening set against De Minaur before racing ahead 5-0 in the second and clinching the tie.

"We fight when we play for our country, to the last point. I didn't feel great prior to the match, so I took some pain killers before I came out," Medvedev said.

"I'm really happy for Roman, he's winning every match he's played so far. I watched his match tonight from the locker room. I've known him since he was 10, he had a good junior career and has been unlucky with injuries.

Earlier, world No 3 Alexander Zverev topped American Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 to keep alive Germany's ATP Cup semi-final hopes, while Matteo Berrettini powered Italy to a 3-0 victory against France.

After Jan-Lennard Struff survived a 34-ace onslaught from John Isner to prevail 7-6(7) 4-6 7-5, Zverev broke Fritz early in both sets and capitalised on a sixth match point to secure victory in the Group C tie.

The win moved Germany, who lost to Britain in their opener, to 1-1 in the group before they face Canada on Thursday.

"Until the last game, it was a good level for my second match of year. It was very intense and hard-hitting," said Zverev, who will be gunning for glory at the Jan. 17-30 Australian Open.

"The most important thing is that team Germany won and we gave ourselves the best chance to qualify for the semis."

World No 7 Berrettini saw off Humbert 6-4 7-6(6) in Group B after Jannik Sinner had defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-3 7-6(3).

Following his success over Medvedev, Humbert had threatened another upset after forcing a tiebreak in the second set, but Berrettini dominated with his serve to clinch the tie for Italy.

"It was a really tough match especially in these conditions. He's a great server, a tricky player," said Berrettini.

"I had to play my best tennis in the important moments to win the match... I'm really happy with my performance."