The Davis Cup title watch will be back on in 2026.
Team Canada will return to the Davis Cup Qualifiers next year after defeating Israel in their World Group I tie in Halifax. Liam Draxl and Cleeve Harper clinched the tie for Canada in the opening match of the day on Saturday, scoring a three-set doubles win over Jordan Hasson and Ofek Shimanov to put the hosts up 3-0 in the best-of-five tie.
Harper then won the lone singles match of the day to make it a final score of 4-0 in favour of the hosts.
Coming into the day needing just one win to assure victory in the tie, it took a bit of time for the Canadians to find a rhythm but once they did, Draxl and Harper were in control. They did not trail after the opener and secured a 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 victory to seal the tie for Canada.
Draxl and Harper largely dominated on serve. They only faced one break point in the entire match while creating 13 chances on their opponent's serve, of which they converted four.
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The Canadians missed their three chances to break midway through the first set and then were broken themselves at the first time of asking at 5-all. While that break was decisive in the opening set, the hosts would not face another break point in the match.
They bounced back brilliantly in the second, converting their first opportunity to go up 2-0. Draxl and Harper were in full control after securing the early break, adding a second on a Harper volley winner and then claiming the 23-minute bagel with a third break.
Throughout the third set, the Canadians kept pushing but they had to wait until the last minute to break through. After missing break points in the fourth and eighth games, they upped the ante as Shimanov served to stay in it at 4-5. The Israeli netted a volley to give the Canadians two match points and Harper put away a volley winner to seal the match and the tie for Canada.
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After his doubles win, Harper got the chance to make his Davis Cup singles debut for Team Canada in the final match of the tie. He defeated Israel's No. 1 Orel Kimhi in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(3) to wrap up the tie in style.
Canada will learn their 2026 Qualifiers opponent after the Davis Cup Finals in November. The Qualifiers will be played in early February.
Feature Photo : @TrevorMacMillanPhotography
