THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER — Frank Dancevic hoped to relive some Davis Cup magic, but the surprise substitute came up short against one of the world’s top players.
Canada failed to advance to the Davis Cup quarter-finals Sunday as France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Dancevic in straight sets.
Tsonga, the world’s sixth-ranked player, prevailed 6-4, 6-4, 6-1, over the feisty 178th-ranked Niagara Falls, Ont., native, who was a late replacement for injured top singles player Milos Raonic.
"I was definitely the underdog going in today," Dancevic said. "I knew I just had to, basically, go out there and just give it all I got and any time I had a chance or an opportunity just go for my shots."
Davis Cup on Sportsnet: All matches can be seen live on Sportsnet from Friday-Sunday with coverage beginning at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT. Also, watch the Davis Cup Aftershow following every broadcast, available only on sportsnet.ca.
Dancevic’s most memorable Davis Cup moment came in 2003 in Calgary when he defeated Brazil’s Flavio Saretta to give Canada only its second berth in World Group play.
But he could not repeat the magic against the powerful French.
"The key to the match was, the beginning of the match, he played really well," said Dancevic. "He got right on top of me. … I was sort of one step behind the whole match."
The win gave France an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five competition with one match to play.
"I knew in this match it was going to be more physical than he was used to playing," said Tsonga. "So I was confident."
Vancouver resident Vasek Pospisil fell 6-4, 6-4 to Gael Monfils in the final match later Sunday. Monfils, the world’s 13th ranked player who had been held out with a knee injury, replaced Julien Benneteau as the French team gave the crowd a high-quality player for a meaningless match.
Once Canada’s top singles player, Dancevic has dropped to third in the country behind Raonic and 115th-ranked Pospisil. He has spent the last year trying to rebuild his game.
In 2011, he became the first Canadian to qualify for all four Grand Slam events in the same calendar year.
Sunday’s appearance was his 27th Davis Cup match. He now sports a 13-14 record in singles and doubles matches over 16 ties. His singles record dropped to 10-14 and he is 3-0 in doubles.
France will take on the United States in the World Group quarter-finals in April. Canada must play a World Group playoff tie in September to try to retain its spot in the elite 16-team group for 2013.
Dancevic, 31, got the call to play his first match of the weekend after Raonic pulled out due to a knee injury. Tsonga said he was both surprised and disappointed when Raonic could not go.
"For us it was a good surprise," said Tsonga, who recorded nine aces compared to Dancevic’s seven. "Milos is a good player, talented, and I was a bit sad to play against another guy, because I think it (would have been) a good confrontation with Milos."
Canada, ranked 14th in the world, needed a win in the reverse singles match to keep its victory hopes alive. But the upset was not to be after Dancevic lost the opening four games of the match and then surrendered leads twice in the second set.
Dancevic signalled his competitiveness early as he took 10 points to deuce or advantage in the first game. Tsonga’s powerful serve was not a problem for Dancevic, but he struggled at times to counter Tsonga’s strong cross-court forehands.
In the opening set, Dancevic rallied and pulled within 5-4 on a service winner. But Tsonga won the next game on love to take the set.
In the second set, the Canadian underdog led 3-2 and 4-3, but allowed Tsonga to come back twice. The Frenchman took a 5-4 lead after he landed a long forehand on the line. Dancevic challenged the call but lost upon a review.
Before the next game, Dancevic ignited the flag-waving crowd at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre by flexing his biceps while changing his shirt and then pumping his fist as he took his spot on the court.
But Tsonga clinched the game and second set with an ace, then cruised through the third set.
The lineup change was announced about an hour before play was scheduled to begin Sunday. Rules required the switch to be made within 60 minutes of the start of the match.
Both countries picked up a win in the opening singles matches Friday. France pulled ahead when Michael Llodra and Benneteau beat Raonic and Toronto’s Daniel Nestor 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Raonic, the world No. 29 from Thornhill, Ont., experienced some pain in his knee during and after Saturday’s doubles match. Raonic said he experienced soreness all week while practising, but was prepared to deal with the discomfort. He said it was his decision to play doubles, rather than wait until Sunday’s singles match, because the team indicated it needed him.
However, the knee got worse just before the first-set tiebreaker Saturday, and he decided not to play singles Sunday because he did not know the extent of the injury.
"It started affecting the main parts of my game, my serve and my first step," said Raonic, adding he would have been "useless" in the decisive singles match if it started hurting after one set.
After being sidelined much of 2011 with a hip injury that required surgery, he did not want to risk a similar ordeal again.
"I went through that last year," said Raonic. "I don’t need that again, and we felt that, considering the condition I was in, (Dancevic) was a much better player — as he showed today. He really played well. No matter who you put out there today, the way (Tsonga) is playing, he’s tough to beat."
.Raonic commented on his injury after the Tsonga-Dancevic after he refused to address the media earlier in the day and faced a Twitter campaign to speak to reporters.
He insisted his comments were not in response to the public pressure. Although he is the "face of Canadian tennis," he did not want to be the focus as Canada battled for a quarter-final.
"I wanted to be there (as) part of the team, and it was important," Raonic said. "It was a live tie, and we were by no means out of it."
Raonic’s injury raised questions about whether he will play in next week’s ATP Tour event in San Jose. He plans to go there and get evaluated further before deciding.
"I really have no understanding of what I’m really dealing with," said Raonic. "I still need a lot more information. "That’s going to be a big part of the decision."