Canadians don’t get the luck of the draw
Pospisil to face Frenchman Monfils in first round, Bouchard will take on American Stephens
RIO DE JANEIRO— The high colour that is always present on Vasek Pospisil’s cheeks almost drains to ashen grey.
In the mixed zone of the tennis complex, the 26-year-old has just been told — by a reporter — the identity of his opening round opponent when the Olympic tournament launches this weekend. “Monfils?” Yes, Gael Monfils, who beat Pospisil in straight sets a week ago at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, making it 3-0 for the Frenchman on the head-to-head ledger.
So rattled was Pospisil by the news that he blanked out momentarily in a followup question. “Sorry. Can you repeat that?’’ Rotten luck of the draw. Then, to explain his far-off thoughts: “I’m hearing this right here for the first time.”
It is not the best of scenarios for the 26-year-old, at his second Games.
“Yeah, it’s tough. I played him last week. Yeah, yeah, it’ll be a tough one.”
With several top male racqueteers taking a pass on Rio, Monfils is seeded sixth. In Toronto, Pospisil was edged in a first set tiebreak and then blanked 6-0.
He prefers, naturally, to focus on the former.
“I played a great first set with him. I had chances there. Then I kind of let it get away from me in the second set. So I’ll try to bounce back from that, just have a consistent match from start to finish.’’
The odds are more favourable for Pospisil in he doubles competition with veteran partner Daniel Nestor — in his sixth and final Games, which included gold from Sydney 2000 with Sebastien Lareau. First up for the tandem are New Zealanders Marcus Daniell and Michael Venu.
On Thursday morning, the Canadians had a lively hitting session under the punishing sun with a Colombian duo. There was a bit of heat on the court too and some harsh words were exchanged. “No, no, no, no,” Pospisil begged to differ afterwards. “It was all good.”
No, no, no, no, it wasn’t. When Nestor sliced a handcuffing return down the line immediately on the heels of that bitty contretemps, in the pretend match, he bellowed: “(expletive) justice in this mother (expletive) world! Finally, some!”
Nestor and Pospisil and have played Davis Cup matches together. They also contested doubles as a team in London four years ago. But Nestor, 43, was only named to the Canadian tennis contingent on July 21, after Milos Raonic, fresh off his Wimbledon final defeat to Andy Murray, announced he would not be Rio-bound, citing the Zika threat as reason. Other tennis no-shows have referenced Zika, though it’s more likely they simply have paltry enthusiasm for the Olympics, particularly now that points earned here won’t count towards their ATP rankings.
“I don’t understand what happened with the points situation,” says Nes- tor, one of the most foremost doubles players, with 1,000 match wins and eight Grand Slam titles. “They really made it tough on the players to participate. Obviously there’s a few at the top who are medal contenders. But there isn’t that much incentive for guys a little bit lower ranked that have played the Olympics before.”
A cascading effect, suggests Nestor, is that more players will double down on their doubles matches. Though he still likes Canada’s podium potential. “I think we have a decent chance for a medal. That’s what makes it more special.’’
Further aiding the medal ambitions for Nestor and Pospisil was the recent withdrawal of No. 1 American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.
For his part, Pospisil — ranked second to Raonic nationally — never considered bailing on the Olympics. “You’re playing for your country. It’s a very special opportunity. There are only so many Olympics you can play. If you’re having an incredible career, maybe two or three? That’s pretty amazing. So I’m definitely not going to pass it up unless there is a serious, serious problem. Of course some of the players had doubts. But at the end of the day, the pros definitely outweighed the cons. It’s hard to say no to the Olympics.” Yet many have. That group of the disinterested and the scaredy-cats doesn’t include Eugenie Bouchard, who’s over the moon over her Olympic debut.
“I’m happy I made the decision to come,” she said, after hitting balls for an hour with Italy’s Roberta Vinci. “I’m just trying to absorb every second of it, trying to enjoy every moment ’cause it won’t happen often.”
Where Nestor brings the sage, Bouchard brings the glamour for Canada. But she pulled a difficult opening round opponent in yesterday’s draw too — American Sloane Stephens, who has been ranked as high as 11 during her erratic career.
“It’ll be Canada versus USA,’’ declared Bouchard, 22.
“I know Sloane so well. I’ve known her since I was 12. We practise together. I’ve played her once this year. She’s playing real well right now, she’s top 20 in the world. I give her the utmost respect. I just want to try to battle for Canada, try to play as well as I can.”
And when not playing on the court, Bouchard has been playing around the athletes’ village, an experience she is revelling in, so different from the individualism of the women’s tour.
“I’m wearing the same T-shirt as 400 other people,” she notes of the Canadian gear. “We pass by each other, don’t even know each other, we’re automatically friends — ‘Hey, I guess we’re on the same team.’
“It’s just this cool atmosphere that I don’t get often So I want to enjoy every second.”
That tone of camaraderie was established the moment she arrived in the village and was greeted by Canadian chef de mission Curt Harnett. “Curt, he has a hug-only policy. So we met him and with three seconds we were in a full bear-hug. I was, like, all right, this is going to be a good two weeks.”
Bouchard will also compete in ladies doubles, with fellow Games first-timer Gabriela Dabrowski.
So who does Bouchard hope she might bump into at the village, get to meet in this athletes mash-up?
“Michael Phelps. And some of the American basketball team.”
We’re thinking the feeling might be mutual.