Canada's first-ever Davis Cup victory - 109 years in the making

The GIST: While Canada’s men’s FIFA World Cup–title hopes may have been dashed, the tennis lads were making their own history, hoisting their first-ever Davis Cup yesterday. A victory 109 years in the making.

How it works: Tennis’ version of the World Cup is the largest men’s international team competition, and has been closing out the men’s tennis calendar since it was founded in 1900.

• As for the format, starting in March, countries compete in qualifiers based on continental zones, with the top 12 teams advancing to September’s group stages. The prior year’s finalists automatically qualify for the group stage and two wild card countries also receive entries.

• From there, the format mirrors FIFA’s World Cup. The 16 teams are split into four groups of four, with the top two squads in each group advancing to November knockouts, structured with quarter-finals, semifinals and culminating with a championship final. TL;DR? Canada’s win is a BFD.

How they did it: In the ultimate plot twist, team Canada was actually eliminated during qualifiers back in March, but after Russia was ejected from the tourney amid their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the red and white were given a second chance at the title.

• After serving Germany and Italy losses in last week’s quarter-final and semifinal matches, a pair of straight set wins from Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime solidified yesterday’s victory over Australia. With glowing hearts, indeed.