Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic came through
with singles wins as Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead against a depleted
Spanish squad in the first round of the 2013 Davis Cup.
The world No. 15 Raonic handled Albert Ramos 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the
first rubber of the best-of-five tie from Vancouver's Thunderbird Sports
Centre, while Dancevic cruised to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Marcel
Granollers to put Spain, the 2012 Davis Cup runner-up, on the brink of
elimination.
The five-time champion Spaniards were ousted by the Czech Republic in last
November's finale, but entered this year's tournament without their top three
stars in 11-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, world No. 4 David Ferrer and
11th-ranked Nicolas Almargo.
Nadal has been sidelined since June due to tendinitis in his left knee, while
Almargo withdrew from the event last week because of a leg injury.
Ramos, ranked 51st in the world, edged Raonic in a tiebreaker to narrowly take
the first set, but the Canadian wasn't broken the rest of the way and ripped
off 17 of his 26 aces over the final three sets.
Dancevic, who entered the tie 166th in the latest ATP rankings, surprisingly
had a far easier time in disposing of the world No. 34 Granollers. The Ontario
native delivered 42 total winners, won 78 percent of first-serve points and
dropped only five games combined for the match.
Granollers will team with Marc Lopez in Saturday's doubles event to attempt to
keep the Spaniards alive, with Canada sending out the tandem of Daniel Nestor
and Vasek Pospisil.
The winner in Vancouver will advance to face the Croatia-Italy victor in
April's quarterfinals.
The Sports Network