Canada even with India at Davis Cup tie

Denis Shapovalov narrowly defeated Yuki Bhambri 3-2 as Canada evened up its best-of-five Davis Cup tie against India at 1-1 on Friday night.

The Canadian teenager needed three hours 52 minutes to take the match, 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-1.

Winning the first set 7-6 (2) in a tiebreaker, Shapovalov then turned on the jets and won the next set 6-4, but fell 7-6 (6) in the third and then 6-4 in the fourth.

He would bounce back in a big way during the pressure of the fifth set, however, emerging with a huge 6-1 victory. Shapovalov had 20 aces in the match, compared to only two for Bhambri.

Shapovalov is currently ranked 51st in the world, while Bhambri is 157th.

The 18-year-old Canadian phenom has been on quite a run this season, going 18-3 since Wimbledon, including wins over the likes of Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the recent U.S. Open.

In the preceding singles match, Brayden Schnur lost 3-1 to Ramkumar Ramanathan.

Schnur won the first set before dropping the next three. Ramanathan took the match 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-5.

The Canadian was making his first Davis Cup appearance on the indoor hard court at Northlands Coliseum, subbing in for the first singles match with Vasek Pospisil nursing a back injury.

The 22-year-old Toronto native is currently ranked 202 in the world, while Ramanathan, also 22, is 154th.

The Davis Cup tie will continue today in Edmonton with a doubles match featuring Canada’s Daniel Nestor (world No. 43) and Pospisil (111th) facing India’s Rohan Bopanna (19th) and Purav Raja (56th).