Milos Raonic hits 30 aces, gives Canada a commanding 2-0 lead after Day 1 of Davis Cup

The Canadian Davis Cup squad played six sets of tennis Friday, on Day 1 of its World Group playoff tie against Colombia in Halifax.

They won all six. That's called maximum efficiency.

After Vasek Pospisil's routine victory over Colombian No. 1 Santiago Giraldo, top Canadian Milos Raonic followed up with an equally-impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Alejandro Gonzalez to give the Canadians a virtual lock on remaining in the prestigious 16-country World Group in 2015.

Raonic had all three of his go-to looks going for him: the tongue, the perfect hair ... and the sleeve, white on this occasion to coordinate perfectly with his Canadian colours.

Team Canada can clinch the tie with the Saturday doubles, which should pit Pospisil and 42-year-old veteran Daniel Nestor against the experienced Colombian team of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

Unlike Giraldo, who appeared to accept his lot fairly early on against Pospisil, the 25-year-old Gonzalez kept trying to keep himself pumped, changing his tactics up a bit in an effort to return Raonic's serve.

But the Canadian blasted 30 aces – none more important than the half-dozen he had in the first few games.

Gonzalez had five break points, and most of them Raonic saved with massive deliveries.

Raonic wasn't pleased with the way he was serving in New York at the U.S. Open – and indeed throughout most of the summer. But he did appear to get some timing back with his money-maker Friday.

"Just going for it, and found a rhythm. I just kept going for it and believing in it," he said after the match. "I was able to get to the net. And when I’m in control, that’s when I’m at the most dangerous,"

"I just gotta play. I just got not to think too much about it. That’s when you find the beauty of sport, when it’s not all clustered up," he added.

The fact that Pospisil played first, and played quickly, will leave him plenty of energy as he does double-duty in the doubles. He and Nestor have not played together since last October, when they lost in the first round of the tournament in Basel, Switzerland to the pickup team of Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.

But before that, they posted a dramatic victory over Serbia in the World Group semi-finals, 6-7(6), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 over Nenad Zimonjic (Nestor's current doubles partner) and Ilija Bozoljac.

Since then, Pospisil has gone on to become a Wimbledon doubles champion with American Jack Sock.

So the Canadians definitely have a shot at pulling out the champagne on Saturday. If not, they'll look to Raonic in the reverse singles on Sunday. He'll be up first against his fellow No. 1, Giraldo.