The Globe and Mail - 25.11.2019

MONDAY,NOVEMBER25,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O B11

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SPORTS

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REPORTONBUSINESS |

A

s he fumbled through a

courtside interview during

Canada’s run to Sunday’s Da-

vis Cup final, Vasek Pospisil

felt the need to explain why he wasn’t

making sense.

“I have no oxygen left in my brain,”

Pospisil said, doing a full-body ex-

haustion wobble. “I can’t even think. I

can’t process what’s going on.”

What’s going on is that in the space

of three months, Canada has gone

from being a tennis comer to a tennis

arrival. Perhaps not yet a superpower,

this country is now an undeniable

member of the sport’s elite.

Canada didn’t complete the movie-

of-the-week storyline on Sunday. Play-

ing a bonafide giant in Spain, and in

front of a Spanish crowd, Canada fell.

The Canadian team hadn’t been

patchwork from the off, so much as

threadbare. Davis Cup tournaments

are meant to be five-man affairs. The

operating principle is that matches

come at you so fast, multiple substi-

tutes are required.

Canada ran that gauntlet with just

two men – Pospisil and Denis Shapo-

valov. But because of injuries to oth-

ers, the pair had to carry the full load

through the week. They averaged two

matches each a day. Somehow, they

Red-Rovered their way through some

of the sport’s most storied countries –

United States (32 Davis Cup titles),

Australia (28), Russia (two) and Italy

(one).

By the last day, the arrangement

had frayed. Pospisil was too spent to

play singles. Félix Auger-Aliassime –

only just recovered from an ankle in-

jury and lacking match fitness – re-

placed him. He fell to Spain’s Roberto

Bautista Agut 7-6 (3), 6-3.

That left Shapovalov against world

No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Nadal hadn’t lost a

Davis Cup singles match in 15 years. He

hadn’t had his serve broken once in

the tournament. Although Shapova-

lov put the screws to him in the sec-

ond set, it was too tough an ask. Nadal

won 6-3, 7-6 (7).

After the last point, Nadal fell

spread-eagled on the court while his

teammates covered him in a human

dog pile.

“I could not be happier,” he said,

positively glowing.

This is a guy who’d already won

three of these things and about a

hundred Grand Slams. That’s how

much the Davis Cup means to tennis

players, including the very, very best

of them.

That sort of tradition is very Eu-

ropean. You can win a whole bunch of

titles as a professional, make many

millions of dollars and get paid for

years afterward to wear a Swiss watch

and the right brand of sneakers.

KELLY,B16

CanadiansshouldbeproudofourDavisCuprun,regardlessoftheoutcome

CATHAL

KELLY

OPINION

TORONTO