Canada square Davis Cup tie as Great Britain's Kyle Edmund loses in straight sets to Vasek Pospisil

All square: Kyle Edmund lost his opening rubber to Vasek Pospisil
Getty Images for LTA
Tom Dutton4 February 2017

British number two Kyle Edmund lost 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7/3) to Vasek Pospisil as the first day of the Davis Cup first-round tie against Canada ended all square.

Dan Evans had earlier given the visitors the lead in Ottawa, maintaining the momentum of the best period of his career to triumph 6-3 6-3 6-4.

But despite their respective rankings of 47 and 133 in Edmund's favour, Great Britain could not take a commanding lead into day two.

Pospisil has been as high as 25 before a dramatic slump over the past 13 months and has shown even in that run that he can pull off big wins.

The TD Place Arena usually hosts ice hockey and the speed of the court was not much different to its regular surface, a major advantage to Pospisil, who has a big serve and loves coming to the net.

Edmund, who is more at home on slow clay, began well, and would have taken encouragement from a Pospisil medical time-out after only five games for treatment to his left thigh.

Had the British player taken a break point at 4-4, things might have turned out differently, but Pospisil held on, broke in the next game to win the opening set and did not look back.

Edmund was wayward from the baseline, making 31 unforced errors, and allowed his head to drop alarmingly before fighting back in the third set.

The result means Saturday's doubles rubber takes on added significance, and it looks too tight to call on paper, with evergreen 44-year-old Daniel Nestor and Pospisil facing Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot.

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