Canada's historic Davis Cup run continues with title now in reach

One hundred and six years.

That’s how long it took Canada to break its drought and reach the Davis Cup final, achieved by Denis Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil on Saturday after defeating Russia 2-1 in semifinal action in Madrid.

The Canadian duo got past Russia’s team of Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) and jumped around the court with teammates and coaches afterwards in jubilation.

“It’s surreal,” Pospisil told Sportsnet’s Arash Madani. “I feel like with the way the year’s been going, early on…I didn’t expect to be here, Davis Cup final. Honestly just thrilled we got that.”

It’s a historic feat for Tennis Canada as its current era of youth stars, led by Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, have now reached the pinnacle of international men’s tennis.

Canada came close only twice before — 1913 and, most recently, in 2013 against Serbia — but were unable to advance past the semifinals.

Pospisil was on the 2013 squad, which makes Saturday’s result, and a matchup against either Britain or Spain in Sunday’s final, that much sweeter (Sunday @ 10:30 a.m. ET / 7:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet ONE and SN NOW).

“I can’t even process what’s going on,” he said. “We’ve come such a long way.”

The Canadians’ road to the semifinal seemed improbable at the outset of the tournament. Milos Raonic, ranked No. 31, pulled out with a back injury a week before the event and 19-year-old phenom Auger-Aliassime couldn’t immediately play after injuring his ankle a month ago.

It was Pospisil’s strong play all week guiding them to their success with singles victories over Italy and the United States in the round robin and Australia in the quarterfinals. His only blemish in singles play came on Saturday when he dropped a 6-4, 6-4 match against No. 23 Rublev.

Shapovalov was equally as impressive, also winning singles matches in the round robin, but faltered in the second singles rubber against Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Thursday. A doubles win earned Canada a spot in the semis.

“To clinch it like this with Vasek playing doubles, it’s a dream come true, man,” Shapovalov told Madani. “I remember growing up watching him playing doubles with Danny (Daniel Nestor) thinking, ‘Maybe that could be me one day.'”

Nestor, the greatest doubles player the country has ever seen and at the Davis Cup as a coach, was leaning over the railing cheering on the team throughout the match.

Reaching this stage was never something he was able to accomplish as a player, but the delight he and the rest of the coaching staff had, including captain Frank Dancevic, was evident.

“This team that we have now, these guys that we have playing, they’re just amazing,” Dancevic told Madani.

“Whether we win or lose the final, it’s an amazing story. It’s a great story what these guys have done.”

Russia, winners of two Davis Cups in 2002 and ’06, entered the week without No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, who had to withdraw with fatigue.

But there were no excuses after this one as Canada, the No. 14-ranked nation, took the semifinal outright.

If this week of tennis showed Canadians anything — and there was certainly lots to show — it’s that Canada deserves a place at the head table of international tennis and opportunities to win for years to come. Its finish this year in Madrid guarantees them once again a spot at the 2020 Davis Cup Finals.

“We’re not done,” Shapovalov said. “We’re here to try and lift the title so that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

Here are some more takeaways from the Davis Cup semifinal:

With their backs against the wall, it was Pospisil’s veteran leadership that showed.

Despite only being 29 years old, the Vancouver native’s experience on the big international stage was needed when Canada fell behind 3-0 in the third set doubles tiebreak.

Pospisil launched two good serves to get two points back before then breaking the Russians and evening the tiebreak at 4-4. Shapovalov’s serve gave them a 5-4 lead and then Khachanov had a return go into the net and another go long to give the Canadians the match.

It was Pospisil’s clutch serves in the quarterfinal that helped Canada beat Australia, and it was his poise in a match as close as this one which proved to be the difference.

It wasn’t always pretty, but somehow Shapovalov found a way in his singles match to force a doubles rubber.

Small openings were essentially the difference in each of the three sets against Khachanov. It came to a head in the seventh game of the third set, when Shapovalov caught the line off a service return to give him break point. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native then had a backhand return which Khachanov returned into the net for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Canadian win.

Rublev set the pace early with some great returns on Pospisil’s second serve which moved the Canadian around. It continued throughout the match and was a big reason for his win.

The ability to keep Pospisil on the baseline proved to be effective as the Canadian was never really able to get to the net. All this despite Pospisil firing 15 aces to Rublev’s four throughout the match.

A crazy rally in the 10th game ended with Pospisil sliding into the net on the right side after he failed to get the ball. He stayed on the court for a second before hopping back up with a cut below his left knee and blood streaming down his leg.

Source: Sportsnet.ca

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