[cobalt60]

[KoOlMaNsEaN]

The Draw was made today:

RAONIC vs. RAMOS
DANCEVIC vs. GRANOLLERS

NESTOR/POSPISIL vs. GRANOLLERS/M.LOPEZ

RAONIC vs. GRANOLLERS
DANCEVIC vs. RAMOS

[ElizaY]

Go Canada Go

[smucav]

The ITF has announced the draws for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group, Zone Group I and Zone Group II first round ties, taking place on 1-3 February. Follow all the action on the official Davis Cup by BNP Paribas websites: www.daviscup.com and www.copadavis.com.

CANADA v SPAIN
Venue: Thunderbird Sports Centre, Vancouver, CAN (hard – indoor)

Milos Raonic (CAN) v Albert Ramos (ESP)
Frank Dancevic (CAN) v Marcel Granollers (ESP)
Daniel Nestor/Vasek Pospisil (CAN) v Marcel Granollers/Marc Lopez (ESP)
Milos Raonic (CAN) v Marcel Granollers (ESP)
Frank Dancevic (CAN) v Albert Ramos (ESP)

[Popo21]

Fancy Dancey played well in Helibronn, I think he'll be able to win it for Canada in the Rubber against Ramos if it comes down to that. Ideally, Canada would somehow find a way to win the doubles which is possible, but unlikely.

[Sombrerero loco]

it will be really difficult for spain this time

[nolesfan2011]

Raonic got the job done and Dancevic ran roughshod over Granollers.. Spain is already on the ropes, surface did them no favors, good for Dancevic though

[Sombrerero loco]

gruntollers

[Yves.]

I just realised something. All players in the Canadian team are of Eastern European parentage (and three Yugoslavian)!

[sdmartin]

Originally Posted by Yves.

I just realised something. All players in the Canadian team are of Eastern European parentage (and three Yugoslavian)!

And our next hope (at least a couple years away) is Peliwo, the top junior from last year ... Polish parentage ... only one of his siblings actually born in Canada. This isn't actually that surprising. Canada's major cities (Toronto, Vancouver, & to lesser extent Montreal) are probably the most multicultural cities in the world. Big, country; empty spaces. We need immigrants. Particularly if they are 6'5 with a 245km/h serve :-)

[Tricky_Forehand]

I didn't know til today that neither Verdasco or Ferrer were playing. Was it choice or injury?

[Sombrerero loco]

granollers to face raonic today

[Yves.]

Originally Posted by sdmartin

And our next hope (at least a couple years away) is Peliwo, the top junior from last year ... Polish parentage ... only one of his siblings actually born in Canada. This isn't actually that surprising. Canada's major cities (Toronto, Vancouver, & to lesser extent Montreal) are probably the most multicultural cities in the world. Big, country; empty spaces. We need immigrants. Particularly if they are 6'5 with a 245km/h serve :-)

Yugoslavia is war-free now and Poland has one of the strongest economies in the world. So I would think immigrants from Eastern Europe are pretty rare these days...?

You say lots of space to fill, but everybody clogs up in the cities in the southern provinces, right?

[sdmartin]

The pct of immigrants to Canada from Eastern Europe is definitely a small part now (currently majority are from east & south asia). But 15-30 years ago Eastern European immigration was more significant. It is a well known general pattern that the 1st generation of immigrants work extraordinarily hard to get ahead and invest in their kids; the second generation is the one that really starts to shine (not just in sports, but in many other areas). So for eg. our entire DC team this year may be considered to have ties to Eastern Europe, but all of them were either born here or came here at such a young age it doesn't matter; they are as "Canadian" as anyone else. What our recent success - mostly Milos - (hopefully) will do, is really help launch a tennis culture in Canada (maybe like Borg did in Sweden). But it is going to take a few years to find that out ... if Raonic fulfills his potential as a top-5 player (potential, definitely not a given yet that he'll ever get there), I can pretty well guarantee that we'll have a much deeper DC team in 5-10 years.

re: everyone in the south 5% of Canada, oh yah, I know. But when you are really a relatively small country pop wise, you need to brag about something :-). And wrt to the immigrants, yes, almost ALL of them end up in our few major cities. Which means our big metropolisis are extraordinarily multicultural & our rural areas are pretty much mono-cultural. (Ok, maybe more info than you needed or wanted -)). Go Milos!

[nolesfan2011]

GGL replaces Granollers in the 4th rubber