Canada moves into Davis Cup semis for the first time
Challenge lies ahead as Raonic to battle Djokovic in Serbia
VANCOUVER — Novak Djokovic is not just a tennis player. He is the symbol of Serbia’s rebirth, a Balkan country once shattered by the breakup of the Republic of Yugoslavia, savage wars, economic isolation and social ostracism by the Western world. “Noble,” famed for his Gumby-like elasticity and psyche-destroying shots, is next up for Milos Raonic along Canada’s unprecedented Davis Cup trail.
After Djokovic, the world No.1, defeated Sam Querrey in a World Group match in Boise, Idaho Sunday to clinch the quarter-final round tie against the U.S., Raonic pumped Canada’s ticket to Belgrade with a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Italy’s Andreas Seppi in their singles match at UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Raonic’s victory, his second of the weekend, gave the home team an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five series after the team of Vasek Pospisil and Daniel Nestor outlasted Daniele Bracciali and Fabio Fognini in an epic doubles match Saturday to give the hammer to Raonic. He took care of business and is now 7-0 in his last seven Davis Cup singles matches, his last defeat coming in September 2011, in Tel Aviv, against Israel’s Amir Weintraub.
Canada is on to the semifinals of the World Group (top 16 countries) for the first time in history having never even made the quarter-finals before, until Raonic clinched a 3-2 win over Spain two months ago at UBC.
“This is history. But I’ve never been good at history,” Raonic quipped. “And you can’t call it history. It’s not over. Myself, us a team, we have plenty of time to keep getting better. We’re going to work our (unfinished word) tails off.”
Through circumstance and the luck of the draw, Canada has been the home team in four successive ties — against France (Vancouver), South Africa (Montreal), Spain and Italy, both at UBC. The quirks of Davis Cup allow the host nation to pick the court surface and balls that best suit its playing style, and Canada has taken full advantage of those options.
But now the ball is in Serbia’s court, and the task ahead will get infinitely more complicated for Canada when the semifinal round is played in midSeptember, nine time zones away from Vancouver and with the dominating Djokovic on the horizon. Canada knew before the tie against Italy it would be on the road for the semifinal round, whether it be in Serbia or the U.S. That was determined by a draw earlier this year.
“We’re going to work our tails off.”
MILOS RAONIC
The home crowd, like the noisy partisans at UBC, who got under the skin of the Italians and contributed needed energy to Canada’s Davis Cuppers, will represent another card in Serbia’s stacked deck.
The ace in the hole, of course, is Djokovic, who greatly swings the odds to the Serbs, despite an otherwise ordinary lineup. Serbia’s No. 2 singles player, Viktor Troicki, is No. 44 on the ATP list. Ilija Bozoljac, No. 335 in singles, is one-half of the Serbian doubles team that includes Nenad Zimonjic, who is ranked 22nd in his specialty.
As with Canada, Serbia’s Davis Cup hopes are mostly shouldered on the back of one player — Djokovic, a magnetic star.
For Raonic, who was born in Montenegro and moved to Canada at age three, the trip will be a homecoming of sorts. The land of his birth was a state in the former Yugoslavia before its breakup. Nestor, Canada’s most decorated player, was born in Belgrade. And Frank Dancevic, who was to have played singles against Italy before he withdrew because of injury, is Croatian by background.
“It’s going to get harder and harder, but that’s why these guys like playing Davis Cup,” said Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau. “They like challenges.”
And it’s on to Serbia for the next one.