There’s one thing you can count on after Team Canada wins a tie at the Davis Cup.
“About an hour of yelling and screaming,” said Canada’s doubles coach this week, the legendary former doubles player and Davis Cup veteran, Daniel Nestor. “So much noise, a lot of joking around. But we don’t have too much time to enjoy — it’s all about preparing for the next one.”
And sports fans, is the next one ever big.
This plucky group of Canadians, a team that’s been riding on the play of duo Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov, is through to the final of the world cup of tennis for the first time ever.
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Holy smokes. Let that sink in. Because it probably hasn’t yet for Pospisil, Shapovalov and many other members of this Canadian team. Cracking this final is historic and huge on all levels — 133 countries entered this tournament, and Canada is one of two standing. The Davis Cup is the biggest annual international team competition in sport, period. It’s been around since 1900, so this is edition No. 119.
And Sunday marks chance No. 1 for Canada to capture this country’s first Davis Cup. The final starts at 10:30 a.m. ET against the home team, Spain. Shakira is even performing ahead of Sunday’s final.
“It’s absolutely huge,” Nestor said. “It’s amazing. I’m sure people back home are excited. We have such an amazing few years of tennis, Bianca [Andreescu] winning the U.S. Open this year, these guys rising through the ranks, Vasek and Milos [Raonic] playing well for many years, and Genie [Bouchard] too. So it’s been an amazing ride and this is another one of those moments.
“They’re all special moments and it’s amazing that they’ve all happened kind of in sequence in the last five years. We’ve had great moments and we keep building on them.”
That’s certainly what’s been happening this week at the Davis Cup. Saturday’s 2-1 semi-final win over Russia was dramatic as all get-out. Pospisil, the world No. 150 who has grinded out win after win in Madrid, dropped his opening match (his first singles loss this week) to world No. 23, Andrey Rublev, 6-4, 6-4. But Shapovalov kept Canada’s hopes alive, taking out Karen Khachanov in three sets to force a third and final match.
And it was again the hot hand duo Canada went with for the deciding doubles showdown, in Shapovalov and Pospisil. They earned a three-set victory over Khachanov and Rublev, starting out the tiebreaker down 3-0 before pulling out the win.
“I’m tired,” a grinning Pospisil told Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, afterwards. “I have no oxygen in my brain. I can’t process what’s going on.”
That’s very fair. The 29-year-old has played seven matches this week, and counting. He had a shoulder treated with ice a couple times during Saturday’s doubles win, and stitches in his leg after a fall during his earlier match in the semi-final. Pospisil is playing so much this week because he’s playing lights out, and also because world No. 31 Milos Raonic is out with an injury and world No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime has only recently come back from an ankle injury. Pospisil’s fine play has meant Auger-Aliassime has yet to see playing time this week.
“You wouldn’t think we’d be in this situation without Milos and Felix, but here we are,” Nestor said. “I know Felix is eager to get out there, but we’ll see what happens. I mean, right now, it’s two guys doing all the work.”
And it’s Pospisil, who’s been dubbed “Mr. Davis Cup,” now 5-2 in his matches this week, knocking off higher seeds like it’s nobody’s business.
“He’s playing against guys who are top players and he’s just taking it to them,” Nestor said.
“He’s played so well at Davis Cup in the past. These conditions are very suited to his game — he plays fast, the ball travels through the air fast, and there’s the altitude and it’s dry. Sometimes he has problems in humid conditions. Obviously it’s indoors and it’s very comfortable in there. He’s confident and he’s playing his game style perfectly.”
Nestor has been rightly pleased with the play of Pospisil and Shapovalov as doubles partners, too. They’d never played together until this week, but they’re clicking because of their on-court communication and an aggressive game plan.
“It can be difficult for new partners, for sure,” Nestor said, and he watched the Serbian duo of Novak Djokovic and Victor Troicki struggle in a three-set loss to Russia in the quarter-final. “You saw some balls in the middle that no one went for, the ball just went through them. It’s important to understand who’s going to take that shot before the match, who’s got the forehand in the middle.” And calling the ball is another key he’s imparted to the Canadians, as though they’re both running for a fly ball in the outfield and one calls the other off.
“I think the main thing is Vasek and Denis, they know their game style and they’re sticking with it and going for shots,” Nestor said. “They’re playing the way they’re supposed to play to win. There’s no hesitation, they’re hitting big when they have time, they’re serving well and they’re trying to get to the net and finish points when they have the opportunity. That’s the key right there.”
Heading into Sunday’s final showdown — the tie will again feature a pair of singles matches and a third doubles match as a tie-breaker, if need be — this Canadian team is feeling good.
“Very confident,” Nestor said. “Denis and Vasek came in confident into the event, both playing very well, and it’s translated into playing great at Davis Cup. They’re riding high.”
So, too, is the Canadian contingent of fans in Madrid, the second-biggest fan base at the Davis Cup, behind only the home team, Spain. The red and white clad fans went absolutely bonkers on Saturday.
The hope is they’ll get loudest of all on Sunday. As Shapovalov told Madani following their semi-final win: “We’re not done.” Yes, he and Pospisil are tired, the 20-year-old admitted, but “the adrenaline is taking us, man.”
Two more wins and Team Canada can yell, scream and celebrate — “it gets really, really loud,” as Nestor put it — for much longer than their usual hour after a team victory in Madrid.
Two more wins and that celebration would include an historic trophy Canada has never won before, an exclamation mark on what would undoubtedly be the greatest tennis season in this country’s history. And in that case, you can bet Pospisil, Shapovalov and the rest of this Canadian team will be yelling and screaming until their voices disappear.
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