Davis Cup Glory

It may have not got the attention it deserved - it was competing with the Super Bowl for news space that day - but Canada's Davis Cup victory over Spain last Sunday was a monumental achievement for tennis in this country.

It was the first time we've reached the quarter-finals in this annual competition, and with Italy next on the horizon, there is a chance we could make the final four, setting up a semi-final against either the once-mighty U.S. or Serbia, headlined by Novak Djokovic, the world's number one player. For a tennis nation like Canada - until Sunday, a true minnow on the world stage - that's a very big deal.

For some in the media, Canada's upset of Spain - the defending Davis Cup champion and the winner of three of the last five titles - came with an asterisk, as the Spanish did not field their best side.

Not with this media guy. I understand Rafael Nadal's excuse - he's been off for seven months nursing a knee injury - but number 4 David Ferrer begged off, citing fatigue, as did number 24 Fernando Verdasco, and 11th ranked Nicholas Almagro was scratched at the last minute. Spain has eight players ranked in the top 50 of the world, in fact, and had to turn to veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez - ranked 82 - to stave off elimination.

That, my friends, is arrogance. Fatigue? Bah. Spain thought they could field their 'C' team and they would still walk all over us. After all, they win everything, don't they? But this is Davis Cup, the World Cup of the sport, and these players couldn't be bothered showing up. The upset looks bloody good on them.

Milos Raonic is getting a lot of credit for this and deservedly so, as he won both of his matches, including the straight sets victory over Garcia-Lopez to clinch the win. But give Frank Dancevic - ranked 166 in the world - props. It was his giant killer straight-set rout of Marcel Granollers (34) that put us up 2-0 and set us up for Raonic's heroics. We didn't even need to win doubles, and that's a speciality in which we actually have some cred on the world stage, with long time veteran (and career Grand Slam winner) Daniel Nestor anchoring the team.

Nestor and his partner, Vasek Pospisil, weren't able to seal the deal and it didn't matter. And that must have really cheesed off the Spaniards.

With Raonic set to climb into the world's top ten this year and a handful of promising junior players set to play with the big boys, the future looks bright for Canada in international tennis. Good on them. Good on us.

And maybe Spain will know better next time.