Canada on verge of Davis Cup upset

Raonic, Dancevic put Spain in hole

VANCOUVER • Chalk two up for the underdogs.

Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic staked Canada to a 2-0 lead over favoured Spain on the first day of a Davis Cup tie on Friday.

After Raonic opened with a hard-fought win over Albert Ramos, Dancevic cruised to a straight-sets victory over Marcel Granollers, putting their squad on the verge of a major upset — and Canadian tennis history — in the best-of-five series.

Spain, ranked No. 1 in the world, is a five-time Davis Cup champion and reached the finals last year before being upset by the Czech Republic. Canada, meanwhile, has never advanced beyond the first round of World Group play, which is open to the top 16 countries.

With a win in doubles play Saturday, Canada can advance further than it ever has in Davis Cup play.

Dancevic, a 28-year-old Niagara Falls, Ont., native, defeated Granollers, Spain’s top singles player for this event, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 with relative ease.

In the opening match, Raonic struggled early, but still got Canada off to a good start. The Thornhill, Ont., native overcame a one-set deficit to beat Albert Ramos 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 at UBC’s Thunderbird Sports Centre.

“I don’t think I faced a break point, so I took care of my serve,” said Raonic. “I was a little bit disappointed a few times. I was 40-love and I would make sloppy mistakes to 40-15 and let him get to 4030.

“I just need to execute those a little bit better.”

Raonic’s Spanish opponent allowed that he was outplayed.

“I played well, but in the end he played better than I did,” said Ramos.

Raonic, ranked 15th in the world, entered the match as the clear favourite. Ramos, ranked 51st, was playing his first-ever Davis Cup match.

But Ramos was not consoled by his strong early showing.

“I’m not happy,” he said. “I play to win.”