MILOS RAONIC LEADS CANADA AGAINST MEXICO IN DAVIS CUP ACTION FRIDAY ON ROGERS SPORTSNET

All five Davis Cup matches will be broadcast live and streamed on sportsnet.ca

TORONTO (March 3, 2011) – Milos Raonic leads the Canadian team against Mexico in the first round of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas at the Club Deportivo La Asuncion in Metepec, Mexico starting Friday, March 4 at 12 p.m. (ET)/9 a.m. (PT) on Rogers Sportsnet ONE.

Friday’s Davis Cup schedule will feature two singles matches between Canada and Mexico. First up will be Canada’s Davis Cup veteran Frank Dancevic versus Mexico’s Daniel Garza. The second match-up will feature Raonic against Manuel Sanchez.

The Davis Cup continues on Saturday, March 5 at 2 p.m. (ET)/11 a.m. (PT) with the all-important doubles match on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet West. Representing Canada will be Raonic and Vasek Pospisil, while Mexico will counter with Luis Diaz-Barriga and Miguel Reyes-Varela. The three-day tournament ends with two more singles matches on Sunday, March 6 at 12 p.m. (ET)/9 a.m. (PT). All matches will be streamed live on sportsnet.ca.

Rob Faulds calls the action, while Robert Bettauer, a former Canadian Davis Cup participant, handles the analysis. Daniel Nestor, Canada’s greatest doubles player, joins Faulds and Bettauer Saturday to provide additional analysis for the doubles match.

The country with the most wins over the weekend’s five matches will move on to play Ecuador in the second round.  If they beat Ecuador, they will move on to a playoff for the chance to qualify for the elite World Group stage of the tournament.

Raonic, the 20-year-old sensation, is Canada’s highest-ranked male singles player ever at number 37. His rise has been meteoric, starting 2011 with a 152 ranking. This year he captured his first ATP title at the SAP Open and was the runner-up at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship. He also made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Rogers Sportsnet is the exclusive broadcaster for ATP Tennis in Canada. For all the scores, highlights, breaking news and inside stories, tune in to Sportsnet Connected and log on to sportsnet.ca

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