It was a magical day in Canadian tennis on Thursday as Canada reached the semifinals of the Davis Cup for the third time ever. In the quarterfinals, Canada beat Australia two matches to one.
In singles play, it has simply been a remarkable week for Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, British Columbia, who is playing the best tennis of his entire career at the moment. After beating Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6, 7-5 and Reilly Opelka of the United States 7-6, 7-6 in Group F action, Pospisil beat John Millman of Australia 7-6, 6-4 in Canada’s first quarterfinal match on Thursday.
Then after Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario lost in three sets to Australia’s Alex de Minaur by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, Shapovalov and Pospisil were back on the court together in doubles. With the series tied at one match apiece, Shapovalov and Pospisil beat John Peers and Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4.
Canada’s quarterfinal opponent was decided on Friday as Russia beat Serbia two matches to one. Russia was led by Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov. The other quarterfinal action on Friday has Great Britain versus Germany and Argentina versus Spain.
Canada’s prior Davis Cup semifinal appearances were in 1913 and 2013. In 1913, Canada beat South Africa 4-1 in the quarterfinals in London, England and Belgium 4-0 in the semifinals in Folkestone, England. Even though Canada beat Belgium in the “semifinals”, and reached the “finals” where they lost to the United States, the final was more like a semifinal, because Great Britain had automatically reached the challenge round final because they won in 1912. The Davis Cup was known at the time as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge. In 1913, Canada was led by Robert Powell and Bernard Schwengers of Victoria, British Columbia.
In 2013, Canada lost to Serbia in the semifinals after beating Spain 3-2 in the round of 16 and Italy 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Canada’s action against Spain and Italy was played at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sport Centre in Vancouver. Canada was led by Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario, Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Pospisil and Daniel Nestor of Toronto, Ontario.
