Vasek Pospisil lifts Canada past Japan in Davis Cup first round
Vasek Pospisil beat Go Soeda 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to give Canada a 3-2 victory over Japan on Sunday in the first round of the Davis Cup.
The 24-year-old Pospisil, from Vancouver, ended the match with an ace.
''It feels great. I'm not going to lie ... best feeling in the world right now,'' said Pospisil, ranked 62nd in the world. ''Pretty amazing, especially doing it here at home.''
Japan tied it at 2 with fourth-ranked Kei Nishikori's 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory over sixth-ranked Milos Raonic in the first match Sunday.
''I started a little bit shaky. I was missing easy points,'' Nishikori said. ''Second set, I started playing well, return well and play a little more aggressive.''
Canada will play at Belgium in the quarterfinals. Belgium beat visiting Switzerland 3-2.
''I've had so many ties where there was a chance to play the fifth match, but Milos always closed it out,'' Pospisil said. ''Obviously, you want to finish earlier, win earlier, but it was really special.''
On Saturday in doubles, Pospisil and Daniel Nestor beat Soeda and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The teams split the opening singles matches Friday, with Raonic topping Tatsuma Ito 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, and Nishikori beating Pospisil 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
