‘Canada is a tennis powerhouse.’ Vasek Pospisil puts ‘dream’ Davis Cup win in perspective

It was a moment Vasek Pospisil had waited for years to reach. And the emotions that came rushing over him and his teammates Sunday in Malaga, Spain, will linger much longer.

“Unbelievable, honestly, a dream come true,” Pospisil said Wednesday, still glowing from Canada’s win against Australia and the first Davis Cup title in the country’s history.

The 32-year-old veteran said the Davis Cup and tennis’s grand slams are the biggest events but the former feels more special because of all the pride and responsibilities of representing one’s country and teammates on the global stage.

“It was a goal and a vision that we’ve had and we were kind of building up to it over the last several years,” the B.C. native said as he recalled Canada reaching the competition’s final in 2019 before falling to Spain. Pressure had been building every year, and this year the team was “not satisfied” with just making it to the final stage.

“We really wanted to win. Especially for me, obviously I know I still have three or four more years left, so time was running out for me to do something like this,” said Pospisil, who added the win brought a sense of relief to the group. “I’m ecstatic. It was a highlight of my career, something I will take to the grave.”

Canada first qualified for the Davis Cup in 1913 but the program could never make headway in a crowded tennis world. Pospisil said Canada didn’t have a complete team in many of the previous competitions, and the lack of experience made it difficult for players to have enough confidence in themselves to compete at the highest level.

The country has seen a growth of talent in the last decade or two that includes the likes of Pospisil, Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic. On the women’s side, the game has also experienced significant growth in recent years with Leylah Fernandez, Bianca Andreescu and Eugenie Bouchard.

Many of these players have already made deep runs in various Grand Slam competitions: Andreescu won the U.S. Open in 2019; Fernandez reached the final two years later; and both Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov have been mainstays in the ATP’s top 20.

The importance of winning a major title like the Davis Cup should have an impact for years to come, Pospisil says.

“I think Canada is a tennis powerhouse now,” he said. “We have amazing depth, so many great players. Félix and Denis are very young and will be on top of their game for so many years. I think this won’t be the last time we compete for the Davis Cup title.

“Winning brings a nice confidence boost and we’re definitely now looking at the (2024 Paris) Olympics as the next incredible milestone to pull off.”

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