A really bad way to end a day of tennis. A tie Denis Shapovalov would probably not forget very soon, since his two second of madness in the third set of his match with Kyle Edmund wrote the word “end” to an enthralling story that was becoming more exciting by the minute. After being broken for 1-2 in the third set, Shapovalov hit a ball towards the stands on his right, but unfortunately for him the ball found chair umpire Arnaud Gabas’ left eye in its way. A very hard hit that caused a notable swelling in the official’s orbital area, and an inevitable default for Shapovalov that ended the match and a tie leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.
It’s a real shame because Vasek Pospisil had energized the afterenoon and the 6,000 fans of the TD Place in Ottawa with another one of his generous Davis Cup performances, dragging the tie to the deciding rubber. A “game time decision” for taking the court in the fourth rubber due to a nagging knee injury that had limited him during Saturday’s double, Pospisil showcased a remarkable resilience in facing British no.1 Daniel Evans when he overcame a one-break deficit both in the first and in the fourth set to seal a 7-6(3) 6-4 3-6 7-6(5) win. After getting of the starting block more slowly than his opponent, the 26-year-old Canadian took a two-set and one break advantage over Evans before suffering a dip in his energy level that almost compromised his effort. “I had 20 minutes during which my serve wasn’t as effective and [Evans] came back with some good shots” Pospisil explained after the match. Following up on this strategy focused on attacking Evans’ backhand after having controlled the speed of rallies through slow backhand slices, the Canadian recovered from 1-3 in the fourth set to force a tie-break that he won by 7 points to 5.
As some of the crowd was leaving to get ready for the SuperBowl, the remaining fans were noisy enough to create a good atmosphere for the deciding rubber, where the 17-year-old Denis Shapovalov was facing Britain’s Kyle Edmund. The match was one way traffic from the middle of the first set, when on 3-4 Shapovalov double faulted on the first break point he faced, conceding the lead to his opponent. Edmund, who did not face any break points all night, kept the pressure on commanding the rallies with his forehand and broke again on 4-4 in the second set, when Shapovalov gifted four unforced errors to relinquish any ambition of leveling the match at 1 set all. Finally, in the third set the unfortunate incident that ended the contention, for which Shapovalov has taken full responsibility: “I want to deeply apologize for what I have done – said during the post-match press conference – I have spoken to the chair umpire and fortunately he is ok. This is unacceptable behavior on my side and I can assure that I will never behave like that in the future”.
Great Britain advances to the quarterfinals for the third year in a row and will face an away tie against France next April. “It’s too early to know whether Andy [Murray] will play in France – said captain Leon Smith, pre-empting the reporters’ questions about the world n.1 – it will be a very tough challenge since France is the strongest team in the competition, with regards to the strength and depths of his players”.
