VANCOUVER — A rolled ankle wasn’t going to stop Liam Draxl from propelling Canada into the second round of Davis Cup qualifying.
Draxl, of Newmarket, Ont., defeated Gustavo Heide 6-3, 6-4 in one hour, 29 minutes to give a Canada a 3-2 victory over Brazil in a first-round, best-of-five Davis Cup qualifier on Saturday.
Gabriel Diallo of Montreal forced the winner-take-all final with a nail-biting 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Mattheus Pucinelli de Almedia. The match took two hours, 27 minutes to play.
In the seventh game of the opening set of the final — while holding a 4-2 lead — Draxl stumbled in the back court and fell on his hands and knees. He limped off the court to have his right ankle taped.
The injury didn’t appear to hamper Draxl’s movement as he came back to win the set.
“It’s probably the biggest match of my career, the most pressure I’ve had,” said Draxl. “It means so much to me. To play for your flag, your country, and to book all the boys a spot in September, I’m just super happy.”
Draxl admitted he was “a little nervous” when he first rolled the ankle.
“I was hurting for about 30 seconds,” he said. “When the doctor and physios were doing the ankle tests I was feeling no pain. So then I kind of realized that I was probably going to be all right.”
In a long rally in the second game of the second set, Draxl moved from side to side returning Heide’s shots. He took the point when Heide sent a ball wide.
After winning the final game with an ace, Draxl dropped his racket, pumped his arms, and was mobbed by teammates.
Canada advances to the second round of Davis Cup qualifiers in September, at home, against either France or Slovakia. The host Canadian city has yet to be determined. Brazil will compete in the World Cup Group I in September.
Last year Canada lost to Hungary in the first round of qualifiers at IGA Stadium in Montreal.
The day began with Draxl and Calgary’s Cleeve Harper putting up a great fight before bowing to the experience and composure of Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in a men’s doubles match. After dropping the first match 3-6, the Brazilians won 6-4, 7-5.
The doubles victory gave Brazil a 2-1 lead in the tie, putting the pressure on Diallo to win his match.
Heide, ranked 253rd in the world, had upset the 39th-ranked Diallo 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (3) on Friday night. In the other opening night match Draxl, ranked 145th, defeated the 207th-ranked Lucas Reis da Silva 6-3, 6-3.
Reis da Silva was originally scheduled to play Diallo on Saturday, but Brazilian captain Jaime Oncins decided to replace him with Pucinelli de Almedia.
After losing the opening set 6-3, Diallo went to work in the second. He used his booming serve and rocket returns to easily win the second set.
In the third set, Diallo needed five deuces before winning the fourth game. As the match progressed, he had Pucinelli de Almedia chasing his shots around the court.
“Yesterday (Friday), I knew the things that I did well and I carried that over to today,” said Diallo. “I wanted to play the important moments with a little more conviction.
“I tried to impose myself and not let my opponent dictate.”
In the opening doubles match, Harper and Draxl were not intimidated by a Brazilian pair that had lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
“We obviously would have liked to come out on top,” said Harper. “Doubles, it’s tough sometimes. There are thin margins and it comes down to one or two points here and there.
“I really felt for most of the match Liam and I were the better team. We had a lot of chances early in the second set. Maybe we didn’t convert.”
Luz said the bond he shares with Matos off the court makes a difference.
“That counts for tough moments like today,” he said. “The first set they played very well (and) we couldn’t do much. To turn around these types of matches, this connection, it’s very necessary.”
Canadian captain Frank Dancevic said his team showed character all weekend.
“It’s not easy coming back after tough losses,” he said. “Gabriel losing, then having to come back today, it’s a lot of pressure. Credit him. He just decided to go for it and didn’t back down.”
Dancevic also credited Draxl for shining in the deciding match just a couple hours after losing in doubles.
“For him to come out and play the way he did, it was just incredible,” he said. “He went out there with no doubt in his mind he was going to win the match.”
Canada came into the tie ranked No. 9 while Brazil is No. 18.
“The fans got a true taste of Davis Cup coming down to the wire. It’s just an incredible weekend for us. We have an incredible team,” added Dancevic. “We’ve done miraculous things in the past, and we’re just going to see how far we can go this year.”
Also on Saturday, a ceremony was held to honour Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., the tennis veteran who recently announced his retirement.