Felix Auger-Aliassime guided Canada to their second Davis Cup final appearance in their history, winning their singles and doubles match in a 2-1 win over Italy on Saturday.

The 22-year-old, who has won all four titles of his career this year, will look to finish his season by guiding Canada to their first Davis Cup title on Sunday when they face Australia.

“It’s been a special trip in a special year,” Auger-Aliassime admitted. “I think this is the most complete team we’ve ever had in Canadian tennis history and we deserve to be in this position.”

Lorenzo Sonego scored a 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-4 win over Denis Shapovalov to put Italy ahead of 9,000 in Malaga, Spain.

Auger-Aliassime evened things up for Team Canada after beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4 to send the semi-finals into doubles.

Auger-Aliassime, sixth in the standings, had barely rested when he had to team up with teammate Vasek Pospisil to beat the pair of Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini 7-6(2), 7-5.

“I feel like in the Davis Cup there is no time to feel tired,” Auger-Aliassime added. “They beat us in both sets and we bounced back with a great attitude.”

In September, Auger-Aliassime helped Canada defeat Spain in the group stage with a victory over world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

Canada entered this year’s tournament as wildcards to replace defending champion Russia, who were barred from participation due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Auger-Aliassime, Shapovalov and Pospisil were part of the Canadian team that lost to Spain in the 2019 final.

Now they will try to put Canada first.

Italy haven’t reached the final since 1998. The Italians’ only title was in 1976.

Berrettini was included in the doubles with Italy at the last moment. He replaced Simone Bolelli, who was unfit to play according to captain Filippo Volandri. Berrettini (16) is recovering from a foot injury that kept him out of the quarter-final against USA. Berrettini said he played the best he could against Canada despite not being 100% fit.

“You can see how much I care about this competition,” Berrettini said. “Obviously I wasn’t at my best. I gave it my all with my heart and it wasn’t enough.

On Friday, Australia came from behind to overcome Croatia and reach their first final since 2003, when they won their 28th title.

The final will eventually pit Auger-Aliassime against Alex de Minaur (24) in an individual tournament. The Canadian edged the Australian in August in their only previous meeting.