Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov win Davis Cup matches on Friday

Conor Roche

Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov win Davis Cup matches on Friday image

Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov each won their matches on Friday evening to give Canada a 2-0 lead in its Davis Cup draw against the Netherlands.

While both won, they each did it in different fashions. Raonic dominated his opponent, Thiemo de Bakker, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Raonic out-aced de Bakker, 21-4. He also held all but two of his serves, winning 67 percent of his first serve points and 63 percent of his second serve points. de Bakker just won 48 and 46 percent of his first and second serve points, respectively.

MORE: John Isner out-breaks Milos Raonic in five sets in US Open

Raonic did well breaking de Bakker, winning 55 percent of his break points.

As for Shapovalov, he won in dramatic fashion, defeating Robin Haase, 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, for the first two sets down comeback of his career.

After both players held serve through the first eleven games of the third set, Shapovalov held a 6-5 lead with Haase serving to force a tiebreak. But Shapovalov won the game as Haase only won one point, giving Shapovalov the set.

That game shifted momentum for the fourth set as Shapovalov held his serve and broke Haase's serve once.

But in the fifth set, Shapovalov saw himself get in another hole. Both players held serve for the first three games of the set, giving Haase a 2-1 lead with Shapovalov serving. Haase broke Shapovalov's serve, however, giving him a 3-1 lead.

Shapovalov bounced back in the next game, breaking Haase's serve and winning his next service to even the set up at 3-3. 

 

 

Both players won their next service, but Shapovalov broke Haase's serve in the ninth game to give him a 5-4 lead. Shapovalov held his serve, giving him the game, set and match as well as a dramatic win that places Canada one win away from defeating the Netherlands.

The wins caught the eye of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who congratulated Raonic and Shapovalov on Saturday.

Conor Roche