Team Canada was tied 1-1 with Italy after the first day of play in their Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group quarterfinal tie Friday at UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver.
Both nation’s No. 1 players captured their matches, as Vernon’s Vasek Pospisil fell to world No. 18 Andreas Seppi 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, with world No. 16 Milos Raonic (Thornhill, Ont.) then squaring things up with a 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-5 victory over Fabio Fognini.
Pospisil, ranked 140th and now based in Vancouver, fought hard to push Seppi to five sets. After being broken in the very first game, he turned it around to take the first two sets. Seppi’s play improved as the match went on, and the three-time ATP World Tour titlist rallied to give Italy the lead.
“In the third set he stepped up for sure,” Pospisil told Tennis Canada. “Right from the first game, he played great, I couldn’t really do much.
“He put more first serves in the beginning, he played very aggressive; more aggressive than the last time I played him and the first two sets. The fourth set maybe a little bit in the beginning I kind of had a little metal lapse in concentration where it was important for me to raise the intensity, so those two-three games at the beginning of the fourth maybe cost me that set, but other than that he played very well.”
Raonic clinched his match in part due to the strength of his serve, as the 22-year-old only faced two break points through the match.
After falling behind 2-1, Raonic immediately rebounded by taking the next game. He then broke again at the 6-5 mark to take the match. In total, Raonic went three for 15 on break point opportunities.
“It was good. I played within myself; I felt I was able to control it most of the time,” said Raonic. “I felt that most of the time I was putting it in my terms, that we were playing under ‘Milos can decide which way this goes.’ I did slip up a little bit but I turned that around and I’m proud with how I managed it.”
Canada is playing in the Davis Cup quarterfinals for the first time in its history following a 3-2 first-round victory over No. 1-ranked Spain in February.
The winner of this tie will move into September’s semifinals. Both teams have already secured their places in the 2014 World Group.
Pospisil was expected to team up with veteran Daniel Nestor to face Daniele Bracciali and Paolo Lorenzi in doubles action Saturday. Nestor is the world No. 6 in doubles, while Pospisil is 308th.
The tie concludes today, 2 p.m. PT, with the two reverse singles matches, which will be broadcast on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
