Draxl lifts Canada past Brazil in deciding match of Davis Cup qualifier

By Canadian Press on February 7, 2026.

VANCOUVER — Playing on a bad ankle didn’t stop Liam Draxl from winning the deciding singles match in straight sets to give Canada a 3-2 victory over Brazil in a first-round, best-of-five Davis Cup qualifier on Saturday.

Draxl, of Newmarket., Ont., moved Canada into the second round of qualifiers by defeating Gustavo Heide 6-3, 6-4 in one hour, 29 minutes.

Gabriel Diallo of Montreal forced the winner-take-all final with a nail-biting 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Mattheus Pucinelli de Almedia. The match took two hours, 27 minutes to play.

In the seventh game of the opening set of the final — while holding a 4-2 lead — Draxl stumbled in the back court and fell on his hands and knees. He limped off the court to have his right ankle taped.

The ankle injury didn’t appear to hamper Draxl’s movement as he came back to win the set.

In a long rally in the second game of the second set, Draxl moved from side to side returning Heide’s shots. He took the point when Heide sent a ball wide.

In the seventh game of the second set Draxl fired a hard ball to the back of the court that broke Heide’s serve and put the Canadian ahead 4-3. He won the next game with a smooth shot down the line.

After winning the final game with an ace, Draxl dropped his racket, pumped his arms, and was mobbed by teammates.

Canada advances to the second round of Davis Cup qualifiers in September, at home, against either France or Slovakia. Brazil will compete in the World Cup Group I in September.

Last year Canada lost to Hungary in the first round of qualifiers at IGA Stadium in Montreal.

The day began with Draxl and Calgary’s Cleeve Harper putting up a great fight before bowing to the experience and composure of Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in a men’s doubles match. After dropping the first match 3-6, the Brazilians won 6-4, 7-5.

The doubles victory gave Brazil a 2-1 lead in the tie, putting the pressure on Diallo to win his match.

Heide, ranked 253rd in the world, had upset the 39th-ranked Diallo 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (3) on Friday night. In the other opening night match Draxl, ranked 145th, defeated the 207th-ranked Lucas Reis da Silva 6-3, 6-3.

Reis da Silva was originally scheduled to play Diallo on Saturday, but Brazilian captain Jaime Oncins decided to replace him with Pucinelli de Almedia.

After losing the opening set 6-3, Diallo went to work in the second. He used his booming serve and rocket returns to easily win the second set.

In the third set, Diallo needed five deuces before winning the fourth game. As the match progressed, he had Pucinelli de Almedia chasing his shots around the court.

In the opening doubles match Harper and Draxl knew they had a fight on their hands against Luz and Matos, who lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Canada broke Mato’s serve in the fourth set of the first game to take a 3-1 lead. During the set Harper made several cat-quick plays at the net to score points.

In the second set the Brazilians regained their form. They managed to break Draxl’s serve twice to go ahead 4-2 and again in the deciding game. During the set Harper made a great shot down the line for a point, then fired three aces to make it 4-4, bringing loud cheers from the crowd inside Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia.

In the deciding set, Brazil went ahead 5-4 when Harper’s return of a Luz serve was long. The Canadians battled back to win the next set when Luz returned a Harper serve into the net.

Brazil went ahead 6-5 when Luz banged a return at the net into the Canadian’s feet. Brazil won the match with Draxl serving. Canada was ahead 30-0 but Brazil fought back. With the game at deuce, Matos sent a long shot down the line then Luz fired a shot into the middle of the court.

Canada came into the tie ranked No. 9 while Brazil is No. 18.

Also on Saturday, a ceremony was held to honour Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., the tennis veteran who recently announced his retirement.