Vasek Pospisil as ready as he can be to take on Novak Djokovic in Davis Cup opener

Canada is one tie away from reaching the Davis Cup final, but they face their stiffest challenge yet against Serbia in this weekend’s best of five semifinal.

Captain Martin Laurendeau elected to go with Vasek Pospisil ahead of veteran Frank Dancevic and the 23-year-old Vernon B.C. native will have his work cut out for him as he faces world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, at the Belgrade Arena in the opening match on Friday morning (10 a.m Eastern).

“I am as ready as I can be,” Pospisil said Thursday morning after the random draw which determines the singles matches. “Playing Novak here in his home country, in Belgrade, in front of his home crowd is going to be one of the toughest situations of my career to play in and obviously (with him) being the number one player in the world - I am going to have my hands full and I’m going to have to play a phenomenal match to have a chance tomorrow.”

Pospisil may benefit from Djokovic’s short turnaround after losing the U.S. Open final to Rafael Nadal on Monday. With a charity appearance Tuesday in New York, Djokovic only landed in Belgrade on Wednesday. The conditions are not ideal for the top player in the world, but Djokovic holds a deep passion for representing his country and will certainly be playing to his best ability.

Thursday evening he Tweeted a picture of himself with his teammates - along with the following caption:

In the second and final opening day rubber, Canadian powerhouse and world No. 11, Milos Raonic, will face twenty-third ranked Janko Tipsarevic.

Laurendeau said last week that he would determine who would get the second singles slot behind Raonic once the team began practicing in Belgrade. Pospisil’s strong year in which he has elevated himself to world No. 43, plus the fact he has more Davis Cup doubles experience than Dancevic may have been what tilted the scales in favour of his selection.

“He has had his best year, (a) fantastic summer, and he has played three matches for us for many, many ties, in very hard conditions on the road,” Laurendeau said. “He has gotten better and stronger and I have no doubt in indoor conditions that he can go three days (with) a lot of tennis in his body.”

Fitness may also have been a factor as Dancevic only recently returned from injury in time for the U.S. Open. The 28-year-old Niagara Falls native has played a combined total of 30 matches (27 singles, 3 doubles) since first being named to the Canadian Davis Cup squad in 2002.

Pospisil will partner with Canadian doubles stalwart Daniel Nestor as they take on llija Bozaljac and veteran Nenad Zimonjic on Saturday.

“I am not a stranger to playing three matches over the weekend,” Pospisil said. “I am as prepared for that as I can be.”

Sunday will feature the reverse of Friday’s matches with Raonic taking on Djokovic in the first rubber of the day followed by Pospisil and Tipsarevic.

Should the result of the tie not be decided before Sunday, the semifinal will hinge in some way on the result of the marquee matchup between Roanic and Djokovic. To date, the two have never played against each other.

The semifinal against Serbia marks the first time Canada will travel and also play on clay in this years tournament. In the first two rounds, the Canadians defeated Spain and Italy in World Group play on hard court at Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver.

Canada had never won a World Group match before this year and Laurendeau feels that reaching the final after an already successful 2013 Davis Cup run will benefit Canadian tennis for years to come.

“It means the world to us, it is something we have been trying to accomplish for decades,” he said. “We have really felt that Canada has responded really well to the success of this team. Media wise it’s in the front pages, it’s on TV more than ever and the support we’ve have had is fantastic. The object of this for the team is to gain even more confidence so that they can carry on, on the ATP tour, and they produce good results from those wins like the Serbian team did a few years ago, and it is also to have a lasting impact on the next generation.”