Canada Gave It Everything at Davis Cup, Now a Tough Road Begins

It was so close that Team Canada presented by IGA could taste it.
Things looked bleak for the hosts heading into the second day of the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Round tie after Hungary won both singles matches on Saturday. But Canada was not about to go away quietly.
The Canadians came out swinging, with Liam Draxl and Vasek Pospisil providing a spark with a comprehensive doubles win. Gabriel Diallo then turned up the heat with a dominant performance against Hungarian No. 1 Fabian Marozsan to level the tie and send it into a decider.
But Marton Fucsovics had other ideas.
The hulking Hungarian spoiled the party, denying Canada’s comeback with a straight-set win over Alexis Galarneau to finally claim the tie for Hungary.
No one can fault the effort of the Canadian players. Even in the losses, they had their chances and left everything on the court.
“We took confidence from [winning the doubles]. Gab played incredible. The last match was an amazing fight from Alexis with Fucsovic,” said captain Frank Dancevic in his post-tie press conference. “Fucsovics was playing at a very high-level today, it was really just a couple of balls that changed everything in the match. We fought right to the end, right to the last ball, and I’m very proud of my team, of the boys, how they fought, how we almost won. It was hard to come back from 2-0 down but we found a way and gave ourselves a chance and we gave everything we could.”
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During his press conference on Saturday after the two singles losses, Dancevic showed no signs of panic and expressed total confidence in his team’s ability to scrape the tie back. His players justified their captain’s faith with a pair of strong wins to get the tie back to 2-2.
“I just went out there, had a bunch of fun with Vasek and just went for it,” said Draxl, who had to make his Davis Cup debut under extremely challenging circumstances. “Really just tried to keep it that simple and run on instincts and just play my game. It was super fun, a really special moment.”
Pospisil was impressed by his young partner’s composure under pressure, saying, “It was very impressive from Liam’s perspective that there was no tension. At no point did I feel like he was nervous. We were both very relaxed throughout the whole match which usually will happen if you have a little bit more experience in those situations so for the first time, it was very impressive to see.”
What Now?
Team Canada is heading into territory they have not faced in a while.
For the first time since the Davis Cup introduced its revamped “Finals” format in 2019, Canada will not be making the trip to the Davis Cup Finals.
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Rather than vying for the trophy this fall, Canada will be playing for chance just to stay in the top flight of international team tennis. With the qualifying loss this weekend, Canada will play in the World Group I in September. They will need to win that tie just to get back to the 2026 Qualifiers 1st Round.
If they lose in September, they will have no shot at the title in 2026. They will need to win a tie in February’s World Group I playoffs to get back to the World Group I in September 2026, where they would have a shot to get back into the 2027 Qualifiers.
“There were lots of positives we can take from this weekend. We have a very good team, we’re right there with lots of very good teams,” said Dancevic. “Even when we lose, we find a way to give ourselves a chance. I have a lot of confidence in this team, even if we have to play the playoffs in September to stay in this group. I have a lot of confidence that we will give a good performance.”
Ready for a history lesson?
The last time Canada faced potential relegation was in 2018, the last year of the old Davis Cup format. On that occasion, they defeated the Netherlands to earn a spot in qualifying in 2019. Team Canada has been in the highest division of the Davis Cup, regardless of format, since 2012.
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They have won five straight ties when facing relegation. The last time they lost a playoff tie was 2005, but on that occasion they were seeking promotion. The last time Canada was in the top tier and lost to be demoted was 2004, when the Canadians followed up a first-round loss in the old World Group to the Netherlands with a playoff loss to Romania to drop into the Americas Zone.
That’s a long way of saying that it has been a long time since Canada was actually demoted from the highest level.
“It’s part of Davis Cup. You’re going to up, you’re going to go down. It’s not every year that you’re going to win it…. unless you’re Italy,” quipped Dancevic.
“But it’s just part of the journey. These guys are young guys, they don’t have that much experience on the team. Davis Cup is something that takes a lot of emotions from you, managing emotions, managing the weekend, and it’s a great learning experience for them just to be here and to be part of the team as much as possible and losing is part of it. It’s part of the journey. And just keeping our heads up. We have a great team, I have a lot of confidence in the team and we move forward. We rebuild. We look at where we can improve and that’s how we go about it.
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Only one player on Team Canada this weekend has ever played a Davis Cup playoff tie before, Pospisil. And the 34-year-old will not be there to help the team in September as he announced following his doubles win on Sunday that this weekend’s tie was his last for the Davis Cup team.
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