Canada Faces France in Davis Cup Showdown
In Vancouver today (Friday, February 10), tennis fans can watch the talented young Canadian Milos Raonic, who is ranked 29th in the world, take on France's Julien Benneteau, who is ranked 35th, at the University of British Columbia campus in their Davis Cup World Group first-round match of.
The match, which will be the second of the weekend of the Davis Cup best-of-five tie series between Canada and France, is expected to attract a slew of tennis lovers from all over the city with the national pride of both nations at stake, not too mention a sizable TV audience from both countries.
Canada's First Time in 16-Team Group since 2004
This is an important event for Canada because it's the first time the nation has made it into the elite Davis Cup 16-team group since 2004, and an important event for Vancouver, because this is the first time in two decades the city has been selected to host the prestigious tennis competition.
Interestingly, Canada and France have only ever played each other once before in the Davis Cup, which was way back in 1966, when France thump Canada 5-0.
With excitement brewing ahead of today's match, most online sportsbetting sites are favoring 21-year-old Raonic, to win, although 30-year-old Benneteau should not be underestimated considering that when these two players met in the first round of the Paris Masters last November, Benneteau triumphed 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The reason, however, that Raonic, who hails from Thornhill, Ontario, is leading in the betting stakes, is largely due to his impressive victory in the Airel Chennai Open in India earlier this year. Added to that, he was voted the top ATP newcomer last season and seems to be going from strength to strength.
Raonic's Formidable Serve Should Help Him Today
One of Raonic's biggest weapons is his goliath serve which he'll need to bring today if he has any hope of dispatching his rival in straight sets.
'I know what I need to do,' he said this week. 'I'm fortunate enough to have a game where I try to dictate and I try to make my opponents adjust to me as much as possible, more so than myself to them. I've just got to go out there, focus on myself and stick to the things I need to do.'
Plus it won't hurt the Canadian's chances any that he would probably have had to face French powerhouse Gael Monfils today instead of Benneteau, if it wasn't for the fact that 13th-ranked Monfils is suffering from knee tendinitis.
But Benneteau does not seem to be intimidated at the prospect of going up against Raonic. 'He's one of the best servers on the Tour but I return well,' he explained. 'When I was very aggressive I gave him some problems and I will try to do that today.'
The opening match of the best-of-five tie will see 21-year-old Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver take on 6th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Visit Bodog for the latest Raonic vs Benneteau odds as well as other Davis Cup World Group first-round odds.
Pospisil, V +750
Tsonga, JW- 1400
Raonic, M -250
Benneteau, J +180
