HALIFAX, September 15, 2016
The official draw for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-off tie between Canada and Chile took place Thursday at Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, determining the match-ups for the weekend ahead. Canada and Chile will face off on an indoor hard court at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax from September 16-18, with the winner earning a place in the World Group for 2017.
The Canadian Davis Cup team consisting of Frank Dancevic (Niagara Falls, Ont.), Vasek Pospisil (Vancouver), Adil Shamasdin (Toronto), and Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, Ont.) will take on Chile in two singles matches on Friday, a doubles match on Saturday, and two reverse singles matches on Sunday. Leading the squad through the tie is longtime Canadian Davis Cup team captain Martin Laurendeau.
Pospisil and Dancevic were selected by Laurendeau to play singles, while Chilean team captain and two-time Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu nominated Christian Garin and Nicolas Jarry. The doubles teams will be Pospisil and Shamasdin for Canada, and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Jarry for Chile.
Today’s draw produced the following weekend match-ups:
| Event | Representing Canada | Representing Chile |
| 1st Singles Rubber – Friday, September 16 – 3 p.m. AT | Frank Dancevic (world No. 236) |
Christian Garin (world No. 260) |
| 2nd Singles Rubber – Friday, September 16 | Vasek Pospisil (world No. 120) |
Nicolas Jarry (world No. 423) |
| Doubles Rubber – Saturday, September 17 – 2 p.m. AT | Vasek Pospisil (No. 12) / Adil Shamasdin (No. 70) | Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (No. 65) / Nicolas Jarry (No. 262) |
| 3rd Singles Rubber – Sunday, September 18 – 1 p.m. AT | Vasek Pospisil | Christian Garin |
| 4th Singles Rubber – Sunday, September 18 | Frank Dancevic | Nicolas Jarry |
“We’ve had a great week of preparation and we are ready and eager to get going,” said Laurendeau. “The conditions here suit our team and the style of play we want. This is a court that has been good for us in the past and we are hoping to have a loud and supportive home crowd behind us to spur us on. That’s part of the reason why home court is such an advantage in Davis Cup.”
Canada needs a victory to secure its spot in the elite 16-team World Group for another year in 2017, while a loss would relegate the nation back to Americas Zone Group I where it hasn’t competed since 2011. The team has been a member of the upper echelon of Davis Cup play for the past five years, making the semifinals in 2013 and quarter-finals in 2015. For its part, Chile is looking to advance into the World Group for the first time since 2011. Last year, the country was promoted from Americas Zone Group II into Group I.
The opening ceremonies will take place at 2:45 p.m. AT on Friday, September 16 to be followed by two singles matches. The doubles match will take place Saturday, September 17 at 2 p.m. AT and the remaining two singles matches will be on Sunday, September 18 at 1 p.m. AT. All matches will be best-of-five sets, with the exception of Sunday’s matches if the tie has already been decided.
