Liam 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.
Draxl 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.
G. Diallo (CAN) v G. Heide (BRA)
Feature Photo: Trevor MacMillan
