Australia narrowly defeated France in a thrilling Davis Cup Finals group stage opener on Tuesday, with Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell clinching the doubles decider in their Group B clash in Valencia.

Canada also kicked off their campaign confidently, as singles victories by Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime secured a win in their opening Group D match against Argentina in Manchester.

In Zhuhai, China, which is hosting the Group C matches, Germany triumphed 3-0 over Slovakia.

Australia, the 28-time Davis Cup champions who lost to Italy in the final last year, got off to a strong start when Thanasi Kokkinakis battled to a 7-6(4), 7-6(3) win over the higher-ranked Arthur Fils, recovering from a 2-4 deficit in the second set.

France responded with their top player, Ugo Humbert, dispatching Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2.

But Australia clinched the victory as Ebden and Purcell teamed up to beat the experienced French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

It was the third consecutive year that Lleyton Hewitt’s Australia defeated France at the Davis Cup Finals group stage.

Canada, the 2022 Davis Cup champions, edged Argentina 2-1 after left-hander Shapovalov defied his slip down the rankings to beat 31st-ranked Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-3.

"I feel great," Shapovalov said. "The last time I played in the Davis Cup, we won it, so it was nice to be back and playing at such a high level."

Auger-Aliassime then secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sebastian Baez to put Canada 2-0 ahead.

Argentina managed to get on the board in the doubles match.

Germany proved too strong for Slovakia, with Maximilian Marterer defeating Lukas Klein 6-4, 7-5, Yannick Hanfmann overcoming Jozef Kovalik 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), and Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz completing the job with a doubles victory.

Sixteen nations are competing in four groups in Manchester, Bologna, Valencia, and Zhuhai, with the top two from each group advancing to the Davis Cup Final 8 Knockout Stage, which will be held in Malaga, Spain, in November.

In the day's other tie, Belgium defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in Group A, hosted in Bologna.

Reigning champions Italy begin their quest in Group A on Wednesday against Brazil, although they will be without newly crowned U.S. Open champion Jannik Sinner.