Canada will head into the second day of the Davis Cup even with Brazil after the two nations split the singles on Friday, with each nation’s No. 1 singles player suffering a loss.
Liam Draxl got Canada off to a strong start with an impressive victory over Brazil’s No. 1 Joao Lucas Reis da Silva, but the Canadians were unable to take a stranglehold on the tie as Gustavo Heide shocked Canada’s No. 1 Gabriel Diallo in three sets.
Whichever country wins two of the three matches on Saturday will win the tie and advance to the Qualifers Second Round in September.
Draxl delivered a win in Team Canada’s long-awaited return to Vancouver for the Davis Cup. The 24-year-old from Newmarket took down Team Brazil’s highest-ranked nomination, world No. 207 Joao Lucas Reis da Silva 6-3, 6-3 in the Davis Cup Qualifiers first round on Friday at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Centre, giving Canada the 1-0 lead in the tie.
The former NCAA start had to deal with a decent onslaught from the Brazilian while on serve. The Canadian No. 4 managed to save four of five break points faced in the match and dug himself out of a few love-30 holes. However, the electric Draxl was able to extend a majority of the rallies, that saw Reis da Silva get into unforced errors trouble, finishing with 38 compared to the Canadian’s 17.
A couple of early double faults made things a little tricky for Draxl in the opening game, needing to fend off a break point to avoid the loss of serve. In the fourth game, the world No. 146’s first break opportunity arrived at 30-40, happily seeing Reis da Silva’s approach land wide for the break and 3-1 advantage.
The Brazilian again made life difficult for Draxl on his delivery, forcing him to serve his way out of a love-30 hole in the fifth game then, at 4-2, 15-30, the Canuck’s backhand powered him to the eventual hold.
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From 5-3, love-15, Draxl strung together a winning run of eight-straight points to take the first set and go up an early break in the second.
The Newmarket-native escaped the ensuing game with a lengthy hold but came out the freshest of the two as Draxl began to wear down Reis da Silva. Strong hitting by the Canadian led him to a second break in the set before a comfortable hold brought him out to a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Brazilian No. 3 caught a second wind that drove him to his first break in the sixth game, a hold then cut Reis da Silva’s deficit to one game, trailing 3-4.
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However, Draxl steadied himself, winning seven of eight points to hold triple match point at 3-5, love-40. The Brazilian saved the first, but the Canuck’s brilliant defence eventually saw Reis da Silva put his volley wide as Draxl sealed the first match in the tie for his nation.
Shocker for Diallo
With over 200 spots between himself and Gustavo Heide, Gabriel Diallo seemed well-positioned to give the hosts a commanding lead in the tie. However, the Brazilian was firing on all cylinders and caused the upset, beating the Canadian No. 1 in three sets to level the tie heading into Saturday.
A near-perfect serving performance from the Montrealer, who never faced a break point in the loss, was not enough. Heide was able to match Diallo blow for blow and seemingly found a big serve almost every time he needed one. The Brazilian held his nerve after the world No. 39 forced the match to a decider, coming up clutch for a 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(2) win.
Diallo looked to establish himself early, opening the match with an ace. He then had a break point in Heide’s second service game but fired his forehand into the net. Despite pushing the Brazilian to deuce a couple more times in the set, he did not get another look at a break point.
Heide did not make any inroads on Diallo’s serve until the tiebreak, when the Canadian missed a forehand to surrender an early minibreak. Diallo battled back to draw level but sent a forehand long at 4-4 to set up the Brazilian to serve for the set. Heide made no mistake, playing two excellent points to wrap up the opener.
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The Brazilian looked like he was getting off to a strong start in the second set when he went up 40-love on his own serve but proceeded to play a shaky few points to let Diallo back into the game. Heide double-faulted to give the Canadian a break point and this time, the Montrealer converted to quickly seize the initiative in the second set.
Even though he had lost the first set, Diallo had never faced a break point. He kept that high serving level up in the second, never losing more than two points in a game as he rode that lone break to a 5-3 lead. As Heide served to stay in the set, the Canadian struck again, bookending it with a second break to send the match to a decider.
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Diallo had openings in the third set on his opponent’s serve, getting to 30-all at 3-2 and 4-3, then deuce at 5-4, but never managed to create a break point chance. He then paid the price in the tiebreak, losing his first three service points as he fell behind 1-5. That proved too big a hole to dig out of as Heide held his nerve to level the tie.
The tie is now a best-of-three, with all remaining matches being played on Saturday. Action will begin with the doubles, pitting Draxl and Cleeve Harper against Brazil’s Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos, before Diallo takes on Reis da Silva in the battle of No. 1 singles players. If the two nations split those two matches, a final singles match will be played between Draxl and Heide, although nominations can change.
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The Davis Cup returns to Canada in February as Canada hosts Brazil in the Qualifiers First Round in Vancouver, Feb. 6-7 at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Tickets are on sale. Get yours now!
Feature Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
