Photo: Martin Sidorjak
Schnur and Polansky will team up in doubles
The official draw for the Davis Cup by Rakuten qualifier between Canada and the Netherlands was held on Thursday. The draw determined the matchups that will take place on March 4 and 5 on the indoor clay court at Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague, Netherlands. The winner of the match will earn a berth in the Davis Cup Finals next fall, while the loser will return to Group I in their region in September.
The Canadian team presented by Sobeys, consisting of Brayden Schnur (Pickering, ON), Steven Diez (Toronto, ON), Peter Polansky (Toronto, ON), Alexis Galarneau (Laval, QC), and captain Frank Dancevic, will play two singles matches on Friday and two singles matches and a doubles match on Saturday against the Dutch team. The Dutch team will feature Botic van de Zandschulp (no. 50), Tallon Griekspoor (no. 60), Robin Haase (no. 250), Wesley Koolhof (no. 21 in doubles) and Matwe Middelkoop (no. 27 in doubles).
Steven Diez and Alexis Galarneau have been selected by Dancevic to play singles, while Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis will call on Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor. In doubles, Canada will be represented by Schnur and Polansky, while Koolhof and Middelkoop will lead the charge for the Netherlands.
“We are very happy to represent Canada again against the Netherlands. Our team spirit has been great since we arrived and our players are all playing well right now. It will be a tough competition, but we know our guys will give their all to get the win,” said Canadian captain Frank Dancevic.
Diez (no. 294) is making third Davis Cup appearance and second in a row after playing for Canada in the November Finals. 23-year-old Galarneau is currently ranked no. 332 in the world and is representing Canada in Davis Cup for the very first time. Finally, Schnur (no. 381 in doubles) and Polansky (no. 175 in doubles) are participating in this international competition for the fourth and twelfth time, respectively. They will join forces again just a few months after teaming up in the Madrid Finals against Kazakhstan.
Today’s draw produced the following matchups:
| Representing Canada | Representing the Netherlands | |
| 1st Singles – Friday, March 4 – 2 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) | Alexis Galarneau | Botic van de Zandschulp |
| 2nd Singles – Friday, March 4 – 20 minutes after the end of the 1st singles match | Steven Diez | Tallon Griekspoor |
| Doubles – Saturday, March 5th – 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) | Brayden Schnur Peter Polansky | Wesley Koolhof Matwe Middelkoop |
| 3rd Singles – Saturday, March 5 – 30 minutes after the end of the 1st singles match | Steven Diez | Botic van de Zandschulp |
| 4th Singles – Saturday, March 5 – 20 minutes after the end of the 3rd singles match | Alexis Galarneau | Tallon Griekspoor |
The first singles match will take place at 2:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. ET) on Friday, March 4, followed by a second singles match. The final two singles matches will take place on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 1:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. ET), followed by the doubles match. All matches will be played using the best-of-three set format.
All five matches of the qualifying tie will be broadcast live in Canada on Sportsnet One (English) and TVA Sports (French).
