OTTAWA, February 2, 2017
The official draw for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first-round tie between Canada and Great Britain took place Thursday in the Reading Room at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, determining the match-ups for the weekend ahead. Canada and Great Britain will face off on an indoor hard court at TD Place in Ottawa from February 3-5, with the winner moving on to the World Group quarter-finals in April.
The Canadian Davis Cup team consisting of Daniel Nestor (Toronto), Vasek Pospisil (Vancouver), Peter Polansky (Thornhill, Ont.), and Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, Ont.) will take on Great Britain 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 Shapovalov were selected by Laurendeau to play singles, while British team captain Leon Smith nominated Daniel Evans and Kyle Edmund. The doubles teams will be Nestor and Pospisil for Canada, and Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray for Great Britain.
Thursday’s draw produced the following weekend match-ups:
| Event | Representing Canada | Representing Great Britain |
| 1st Singles Rubber – Friday, February 3 – 3 p.m. ET | Denis Shapovalov (world No. 234) | Daniel Evans (world No. 45) |
| 2nd Singles Rubber – Friday, February 3 | Vasek Pospisil (world No. 133) | Kyle Edmund (world No. 47) |
| Doubles Rubber – Saturday, February 4 – 1 p.m. ET | Daniel Nestor (world No. 24) / Vasek Pospisil (world No. 19) | Jamie Murray (world No. 8) / Dominic Inglot (world No. 43) |
| 3rd Singles Rubber – Sunday, February 5 – 12 p.m. ET | Vasek Pospisil | Daniel Evans |
| 4th Singles Rubber – Sunday, February 5 | Denis Shapovalov | Kyle Edmund |
“We have been preparing hard all week and are ready to start the tie,” said Laurendeau. “We know Great Britain will be a challenge, but our team is ready to take the court on a surface that we believe suits our style of play. We’re very excited to be in Ottawa playing in front of what looks to be a full and supportive crowd, and we will be definitely be looking to use that home court to our advantage throughout the weekend.”
A victory would see Canada advance to the quarter-finals for the third time in the past five years, while a loss would require Canada to compete in a World Group play-off tie in September to keep its spot in the top tier for 2018. The team has been a member of the upper echelon of Davis Cup play for the past six years, making the semifinals in 2013 and quarter-finals in 2015. Great Britain has enjoyed recent success in Davis Cup action, snapping a 79-year drought with their championship win in 2015. Last year, they reached the World Group semifinals, before falling to the eventual champions, Argentina.
The opening ceremonies will take place at 2:45 p.m. ET on Friday, February 3 to be followed by two singles matches. The doubles match will take place Saturday, February 4 at 1 p.m. ET and the remaining two singles matches will be on Sunday, February 5 at 12 p.m. ET. All matches will be best-of-five sets, with the exception of Sunday’s matches if the tie has already been decided.
