MIKE CASSESE
Peter Polansky heads into this weekend's Davis Cup tennis matchup as Canada's go-to guy.
After Polansky's strong performance this summer, team captain Martin Laurendeau handed the 22-year-old Thornhill, Ont., native the No. 1 spot for the best-of-five playoff against the Dominican Republic at the Rexall Centre.
On the line will be a spot in the Americas Zone Group I, which is a tier below the exclusive World Group. Canada is ranked 38th in Davis Cup play while the Dominicans are No. 47.
Polansky will open the tie Friday against Dominican No. 2 Jhonson Garcia.
Polansky, ranked 176th in the world, says he's ready for the pressure that comes with being Canada's top player, but he feels he'll also have plenty of help.
"(Being No. 1) probably means I'll have to be more of a leader," Polansky said at Thursday's draw. "But I think (Laurendeau's) right when he calls this the deepest group of guys we've had in a while."
Canada is leaning on its younger players for the contest with 19-year old Milos Raonic being handed the No. 2 spot on the squad. The six-foot-four native of Thornhill will face five-foot-eight Dominican No. 1 Victor Estrella in Friday's second match. Estrella had some fun with the height difference Thursday, pretending he needed to stand on a chair for a photo op with Raonic.
Saturday's doubles match will represent a major advantage for the Canadians as doubles star Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Dancevic take on the inexperienced duo of 20-year-old Jose Hernandez and 19-year-old Luis Delgado, neither of whom is ranked in the top 1,000.
Sunday will feature two more singles matches with Polansky facing Estrella and Raonic taking on Garcia.
Polansky was also the team's No. 1 player in Canada's last tie, a 4-1 loss to Colombia, but that was due to an injury to 26-year-old teammate Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont. With the more experienced Dancevic now back in the fold but still regaining his form, Laurendeau chose to keep Polansky in the top spot.
Polansky has earned the distinction after impressive results over the summer, including a win over No. 15 seed Jurgen Melzer at the Rogers Cup in Toronto and an opening round upset of No. 30 seed Juan Monaco at the U.S. Open. He reached the main draw of the final Grand Slam of the year after winning three qualifying matches.
Raonic has also enjoyed a productive summer, reaching the U.S. Open main draw through qualifying and pairing with Vasek Pospisil at the Rogers Cup to stun U.S. Open finalists Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in doubles.
While Raonic and Polansky are the future of the team, Canada will still rely on the leadership of 38-year-old Nestor, an 18-year veteran of Davis Cup. The left-hander holds the Canadian record for most total wins (41) and most ties played (37).
"Daniel is a great leader and it's fantastic for us to have him around," said Laurendeau. "I remember last year we were playing in Peru where we had already begun our training camp and we interrupted our training to see him win the Wimbledon finals, and the next afternoon he was practising with us in Peru on red clay."
There is plenty on the line for the Canadians, who will be relegated to Americas Zone Group II for the first time since 1995 if they lose.