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As predicted, Canada down 0-2 to Belgium after the first day of their Davis Cup quarter-final tie
Had Frank Dancevic or Filip Peliwo been able to pull out a victory from the first day of Canada's World Group quarter-final tie against Belgium, it would have been one of the bigger surprises in Canadian tennis in a long time.
They couldn't, not for lack of desire or effort. And so Canada is already down 0-2, with Belgium only needing one more match win to advance to the semi-finals.
The doubles, with specialists Daniel Nestor and Adil Shamasdin, goes Saturday (9 a.m. EDT on Sportsnet in English, and TVA Sports in French).
Dancevic was up first, ceding nearly 200 places in the ATP Tour rankings to opponent Steve Darcis.
With the 30-year-old from Niagara Falls, there is ALWAYS a chance he might pull out the match of his life. But during this difficult season, when he's had trouble winning any matches, especiallly the tight, close ones, it was asking a lot.
After a solid first set by the Canadian, Darcis adjusted and pulled out a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 win to get the Belgians off to a good start.
Then came Peliwo, pressed into official Davis Cup detail when Vasek Pospisil followed Canadian No. 1 Milos Raonic to the Davis Cup disabled list.
The 21-year-old was game. He played well. But in the end, world No. 14 David Goffin was just a level or three above, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to give his country the 2-0 lead.
"Overall, he’s a tough player, he made it really uncomfortable for me out there, he has a really good slice," Dancevic said in an interview with Sportsnet.
The Canadian seemed to have some physical issues, especially with his legs. And he had an ice towel on the back of his neck on changeovers, even though the weather in Middelkerke was hardly sweltering.
He threw the kitchen sink at Darcis, going to the serve-volley play on clay to keep the points shorter, which is tough to do and not Dancevic's Plan A. At times, it worked.
Darcis told Sportsnet that he felt the pressure from his opponent.
"I started very slow. I could feel a lot of pressure. I was too far from the baseline, waiting for his mistakes. So I had to be more inside the court. He played a good first set so I knew I had to be more offensive. I played more aggressive after that and I played better," he said. "He’s playing very good on grass, so I knew he could change the tactics any time. I think he was a little bit tired, I could see it. He was moving a little bit less. But I was prepared."
As for Peliwo, whose new growth of beard finally makes him look like he couldn't still pass in the junior ranks, he might have played better than expected. And for a change, he wasn't outclassed, size-wise, by the equally compact Goffin.
But the difference in level is so stark. Every shot Peliwo hit, it seemed as though he had to put everything he had into it. He's a hyped-up, pumped-up bundle of energy out there. Meanwhile, Goffin looked like he was barely breaking a sweat most of the time. There were some epic-length games on Peliwo's serve, and he won some of them. But in the end, it was the first best-of-five set match he has EVER played. It was a tall order.
“I did my best today but it wasn't good enough. I think I played a good match against a Top 15 player and it was a really good experience for me. Against a guy like that you have to play pretty aggressive and I tried to do that but he showed why he's ranked where he is,” Peliwo said in a Tennis Canada press release. “There are no regrets on my part. I didn't feel like I was too far off from him and I was confident I could win but it just didn't work out that way.”
The Dancevic match was the thread on which Canada's hopes depended, really. Win that one, end the first day 1-1, and you at least have a puncher's chance if Dancevic could come up with some more magic on Sunday in the reverse singles against Goffin. But as it is, a big challenge.
The Belgians have lefty Ruben Bemelmans and another Davis Cup rookie, 21-year-old Kimmer Coppejans, on the list to play the doubles on Saturday against Nestor and Shamasdin, who is making his debut at 33. That might change, depending on whether they think they have a shot to clinch the tie on Saturday, or are prepared to leave it to Sunday needing one more match win.
