Team Canada presented by Sobeys will have to wait to punch their ticket to the Davis Cup Finals after JiSung Nam and Minkyu Song of the Republic of Korea beat Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil in the doubles match on Saturday.
Canada leads the tie 2-1 after two singles wins on Friday from Pospisil and Gabriel Diallo. The same two men are expected to play the remaining singles matches on Saturday and victory by either one would clinch Canada’s spot in the Finals group stage.
With a chance to wrap up the tie, Galarneau and Pospisil found themselves playing from behind most of the day. While they fought right to the last ball, the Koreans seldom slipped up and extended the tie with a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 win.
Serving efficiency was the key to the match as the Koreans only allowed Galarneau and Pospisil one break point in the match which they saved. They also put 75 per cent of their first serves in play and won 78 per cent of those points.
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One break point made the difference in a very tight opening set. In Galarneau’s first service game, he sent a backhand into the net to give the Koreans the only chance in the opening frame. They took advantage, blasting a huge return to move up the ultimately decisive break.
The second set followed a similar script, but the Canadians cleaned up their game and hung on to their serve. This time, there were no break points and a tiebreak was needed.
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At 2-3, the Koreans committed back-to-back errors to put the Canadians in control of the tiebreak. On Canada’s first set point at 6-3, Pospisil’s return was initially called in for a winner, only for hawkeye to overturn the call. But on the very next point, Galarneau’s floating return dropped in to level the match at a set apiece.
Showing no signs of disappointment after dropping the breaker, the Koreans came out firing in the third. Nam hit Galarneau with a passing shot to set up double break point and while Pospisil saved both with big serves, a couple of miscues from Galarneau at the net gave the early break to the Koreans.
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The Canadians had a chance to get right back on serve in the following game, but Pospisil netted a backhand on what proved to be Canada’s only break point in the entire match. They kept the Koreans within sight, but never caught them as the visitors got on the board in the tie.
Diallo will have the next chance to clinch the tie for Canada. He is taking on Seongchan Hong in the battle of singles No. 1s. If he loses, Pospisil is currently slated to play Soonwoo Kwon is the fifth and deciding rubber, although nominations can change.
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