Israel heads into Sunday down 2-1

[King_David]

By ALLON SINAI
Israel has its back against the wall entering the third and final day of its Davis Cup World Group playoff tie against Canada at Ramat Hasharon after Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich suffered a 4- 6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil on Saturday.

Ram and Erlich’s first home loss in the competition in over six years saw the Canadians take a 2-1 lead in the best-offive tie after Dudi Sela surprisingly dropped the opening rubber on Friday before Amir Weintraub claimed an outstanding win.

Only two victories in Sunday’s two singles matches will see Israel reclaim a place among the world’s top-16 nations after a one-year absence.

Sela, ranked number 96 in the world, will face Raonic (31) in the first match on Sunday, with a win for the Israel No. 1 to force a fifth and decisive rubber between Weintraub (182) and Pospisil (124).

The captains of both teams can substitute their players up to an hour prior to the start of the match, something Canada’s Martin Laurendeau may well consider doing with Pospisil should the tie go the distance, as the 21-year-old has played more than eight hours of tennis in the first two days.

Sela was far from his best in the 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 defeat to Pospisil on Friday and he had no excuse for his poor performance after failing to clinch a win despite claiming an early break of serve in the fifth set.

“It was a tough match and I didn’t play well,” said Sela, who fought for four hours and 56 minutes. “I haven’t been playing well for over a month now. I have no confidence in the important points. He was better than me today. I hope I can improve on Sunday.”

In just the second Davis Cup match of his career, Weintraub came to the national team’s rescue, stunning Raonic 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 55 minutes.

The Canadian was playing his first match since injuring his hip at Wimbledon in June and Weintraub took full advantage of Raonic’s obvious rust and claimed the biggest win of his career on his 25th birthday.

“I had an excellent week of training and I hoped it would show on court,” Weintraub said. “I knew from the first set that I could win this match. I wasn’t surprised by my ability, but this was certainly my best match ever and my greatest win.”

Raonic was impressed by Weintraub’s play.


http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=238352

[King_David]

1. Yayyyy Canada !!

[King_David]

2. What BDS ??

;)