Tough Draw: Canada to face Spain in Davis Cup World Group

Canada was riding high following their weekend Davis Cup victory over South Africa. The 4-1 win ensured the Canadians a spot in the prestigious World Group in 2013, marking the first time since 1991-92 that the team will spend consecutive years at the elite level.

That high was short-lived however and on Wednesday it was back to business with the official draw for next season. Canada drew defending Davis Cup champion Spain in the opening round of next year's Davis Cup held February 1-3, and even if Rafael Nadal doesn't play due to injury or scheduling concerns, Spain remains a formidable foe.

Martin Laurendeau, Canada's non-playing captain, said Spain's depth — and not one particular player — makes them dangerous. "We know that Spain has enough players and enough depth to have maybe three Davis Cup teams in the World Group" he said. "So if Rafa is not there, we have our hands full with the rest of the players who will be there."

Although he doesn't know who will be representing Spain in February, Laurendeau does know that holding the tie in Canada give his team a distinct advantage and an ability to further promote the sport at home. The question, however, is: which Canadian city will host the event?

"I would expect the phone of Michael Downey, [Tennis Canada's] president, to be ringing all day long with kind of like a bidding war at the moment," he said. "Knowing that we're playing Spain in the World Group is a dream matchup for a lot of venues, for a lot of cities. It'll be a great opportunity and with that comes a lot of people wanting to host the tie.

"From Halifax all the way to Vancouver there will be a lot of people wanting to host the tie. We will take our time to carefully pick — strategically speaking — the venue of the tie against Spain in February"

Wherever it's played, Tennis Canada is expecting a big crowd. In addition to finding a venue that will support a large number of fans, they'll will also look for a venue that will provide them with the biggest competitive advantage.

"There's some technical aspects to it and there's also some tactical [aspects] on our end," Laurendeau adds. "Whether we want to play in faster conditions or in more normal conditions, we have the elements to play with regarding the surface."

It's almost assured that the tie will take place on an indoor hard court — it's the surface that best suits the style of play of Canada's top-ranked player Milos Raonic. Raonic's serve makes him a force on hard surfaces and Laurendeau will want to do all he can to maximize his team's greatest weapon.

The upcoming tie puts Canada in another peculiar spot. While a high-profile match against a top nation can generate a lot of attention for sport, it makes it very difficult for the country to advance deep in the tournament. Instead of diving head first against the likes of France and Spain, Canada, ranked 12th in the 16 team group, would likely have been better off getting their feet wet against the likes of Brazil, Kazakhstan or even Austria. When asked about drawing such a tough opponent Laurendeau says it's both good, and bad.

"It is mixed emotions. We recognize that tennis has great momentum in Canada and a tie like this is only going to help continue that momentum… but on the other hand we are playing the best team of the draw," he said. "We need to beat a seeded team and I think our best chance to beat a seeded team will be at home. So whether it's France, whether it's Spain or another country, we need to pull an upset somewhere."

A victory over Spain, although improbable, is not out of the question. Laurendeau remembers a time when Canada was an even bigger underdog and took the heavily favoured Swedish Davis Cup team to the brink of elimination back in 1992.

"When we played Sweden in Vancouver 20 years ago we were in this position and the next thing you know we're up 2-0. Sweden was a superpower… they had three guys in the top ten and we took them to the limit in the fifth set of the fifth match.

"So why not again, but this time win it?"