VANCOUVER — A rolled ankle wasn’t going to cease Liam Draxl from propelling Canada into the second spherical of Davis Cup qualifying.
Draxl, of Newmarket, Ont., defeated Gustavo Heide 6-3, 6-4 in a single hour, 29 minutes to provide a Canada a 3-2 victory over Brazil in a first-round, best-of-five Davis Cup qualifier on Saturday.
Gabriel Diallo of Montreal compelled the winner-take-all ultimate with a nail-biting 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Mattheus Pucinelli de Almedia. The match took two hours, 27 minutes to play.
Within the seventh recreation of the opening set of the ultimate — whereas holding a 4-2 lead — Draxl stumbled within the again court docket and fell on his arms and knees. He limped off the court docket to have his proper ankle taped.
The harm didn’t seem to hamper Draxl’s motion as he got here again to win the set.
“It’s most likely the largest match of my profession, probably the most strain I’ve had,” mentioned Draxl. “It means a lot to me. To play on your flag, your nation, and to guide all of the boys a spot in September, I’m simply tremendous joyful.”
Draxl admitted he was “a bit nervous” when he first rolled the ankle.
“I used to be hurting for about 30 seconds,” he mentioned. “When the physician and physios had been doing the ankle assessments I used to be feeling no ache. So then I form of realized that I used to be most likely going to be all proper.”
In a protracted rally within the second recreation of the second set, Draxl moved backward and forward returning Heide’s photographs. He took the purpose when Heide despatched a ball vast.
After profitable the ultimate recreation with an ace, Draxl dropped his racket, pumped his arms, and was mobbed by teammates.
Canada advances to the second spherical of Davis Cup qualifiers in September, at residence, in opposition to both France or Slovakia. The host Canadian metropolis has but to be decided. Brazil will compete within the World Cup Group I in September.
Final 12 months Canada misplaced to Hungary within the first spherical of qualifiers at IGA Stadium in Montreal.
The day started with Draxl and Calgary’s Cleeve Harper placing up an incredible battle earlier than bowing to the expertise and composure of Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in a males’s doubles match. After dropping the primary match 3-6, the Brazilians gained 6-4, 7-5.
The doubles victory gave Brazil a 2-1 lead within the tie, placing the strain on Diallo to win his match.
Heide, ranked 253rd on this planet, had upset the Thirty ninth-ranked Diallo 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (3) on Friday night time. Within the different opening night time match Draxl, ranked 145th, defeated the 207th-ranked Lucas Reis da Silva 6-3, 6-3.
Reis da Silva was initially scheduled to play Diallo on Saturday, however Brazilian captain Jaime Oncins determined to exchange him with Pucinelli de Almedia.
After shedding the opening set 6-3, Diallo went to work within the second. He used his booming serve and rocket returns to simply win the second set.
Within the third set, Diallo wanted 5 deuces earlier than profitable the fourth recreation. Because the match progressed, he had Pucinelli de Almedia chasing his photographs across the court docket.
“Yesterday (Friday), I knew the issues that I did properly and I carried that over to in the present day,” mentioned Diallo. “I wished to play the essential moments with a bit extra conviction.
“I attempted to impose myself and never let my opponent dictate.”
Within the opening doubles match, Harper and Draxl weren’t intimidated by a Brazilian pair that had misplaced within the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
“We clearly would have preferred to come back out on prime,” mentioned Harper. “Doubles, it’s robust typically. There are skinny margins and it comes down to 1 or two factors right here and there.
“I actually felt for a lot of the match Liam and I had been the higher group. We had loads of possibilities early within the second set. Perhaps we didn’t convert.”
Luz mentioned the bond he shares with Matos off the court docket makes a distinction.
“That counts for robust moments like in the present day,” he mentioned. “The primary set they performed very properly (and) we couldn’t do a lot. To show round these kind of matches, this connection, it’s very essential.”
Canadian captain Frank Dancevic mentioned his group confirmed character all weekend.
“It’s not simple coming again after robust losses,” he mentioned. “Gabriel shedding, then having to come back again in the present day, it’s loads of strain. Credit score him. He simply determined to go for it and didn’t again down.”
Dancevic additionally credited Draxl for shining within the deciding match only a couple hours after shedding in doubles.
“For him to come back out and play the best way he did, it was simply unbelievable,” he mentioned. “He went on the market with little question in his thoughts he was going to win the match.”
Canada got here into the tie ranked No. 9 whereas Brazil is No. 18.
“The followers obtained a real style of Davis Cup coming right down to the wire. It’s simply an unbelievable weekend for us. We’ve an unbelievable group,” added Dancevic. “We’ve completed miraculous issues up to now, and we’re simply going to see how far we will go this 12 months.”
Additionally on Saturday, a ceremony was held to honour Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., the tennis veteran who just lately introduced his retirement.
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