An ankle injury didn’t stop Liam Draxle from winning the decisive singles match in straight sets to help Canada beat Brazil 3-2 in a best-of-five first-round Davis Cup qualifying match on Saturday.
Draxl, from Newmarket, Ont., defeated Gustavo Heide 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes to send Canada into the second round of qualifying.
Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo advanced to the winner-take-all final with a narrow victory over Mattheus Pucinelli de Almedia 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). The match lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.
In the seventh game of the first set of the final, Draxl was leading 4-2 when he tripped in the backcourt and landed on his hands and knees. He limped off the field, his right ankle bandaged.
The ankle injury didn’t seem to hinder Draxl’s action and he came back to win the set.
In a long stalemate in the second game of the second set, Draxl moved left and right to return Hyde’s groundstrokes. He took the point when Hyde passed the ball.
In the seventh game of the second set, Draxel sent a powerful ball to the backcourt, breaking Hyde’s serve and giving the Canadian a 4-3 lead. He won the next game with a smooth shot.
After winning the final game with an ace, Drax dropped his racket, waved his arms, and was mobbed by his teammates.
Canada will advance to the second round of Davis Cup qualifying in September and face either France or Slovakia at home. Brazil will compete in Group One of the World Cup in September.
Last year, Canada lost to Hungary in the first round of qualifying at Montreal’s IGA Arena.
The day started with a great battle between Draxel and Calgary’s Cliff Harper before paying tribute to the experience and composure of Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in the men’s doubles competition. After losing the first game 3-6, Brazil won 6-4, 7-5.
The doubles win gave Brazil a 2-1 lead in the match, putting pressure on Diallo to win the match.
Head, ranked 253rd in the world, defeated Diallo, ranked 39th, 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(3) on Friday night. In the other opener, No. 145 Drax defeated No. 207 Lucas Reis da Silva 6-3, 6-3.
Reiss da Silva was scheduled to face Diallo on Saturday, but Brazil captain Jaime Oncins decided to replace him with Puccinelli de Almedia.
After losing the first set 6-3, Diallo started to show strength in the second set. He easily won the second set with his strong serve and rocket return.
In the third set, Diallo needed five draws to win the fourth game. As the game wore on, he had Pulcinelli de Almedia chasing his shot down the court.
Going into their first doubles match, Harper and Draxl knew they would be facing off against Lutz and Matos, who had lost in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
The Canadian team broke Mato’s serve in the fourth game of the first set and led 3-1. During the game, Harper scored quickly in front of the net many times.
The Brazilian team regained its form in the second set. They broke Drax’s serve twice to lead 4-2 and broke again in the decider. During the game, Harper hit a beautiful shot from the baseline and then hit three aces to make the score 4-4, which aroused enthusiastic cheers from the audience inside the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Center at the University of British Columbia.
In the deciding set, Harper returned the serve too long and Brazil led 5-4. The Canadian fought back to win the next set when Lutz returned Harper’s serve back into the net.
Luz hit the ball at the Canadian’s feet, giving Brazil a 6-5 lead. Brazil won the match on Draxl’s serve. Canada led 30-0, but Brazil fought back. With the game tied, Matos fired a long shot from the baseline and Lutz fired the ball into the center of the court.
Canada ranks 9th and Brazil ranks 18th.
Also on Saturday, a ceremony was held to honor tennis veteran Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., who recently announced his retirement.
