UBC to play host to Canada-Spain Davis Cup tennis in February

Tennis Canada will announce this morning (November 19) that Vancouver and UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena will be the host venue for a highly-anticipated Davis Cup match-up between powerhouse Spain and Canada early next year. The event will be staged February 1-3, 2013 and could feature a battle between Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic. Nadal is currently nursing a knee injury that has kept him out of action since June. Nadal is an 11-time Grand Slam singles winner and was the 2008 Olympic gold medal winner in Beijing. He is expected to be ready to compete in the Australian Open in January, which means he should be available for the Davis Cup matches here a month later. Nadal is currently ranked fourth in the ATP world rankings followed by countryman David Ferrer making Spain one of the strongest Davis Cup countries on the planet.

Canada will be represented by Raonic and Vernon-born and Vancouver-raised Vasek Pospisil. The rest of the Canadian team will be unveiled later.

UBC hosted a Canada-France Davis Cup event last February. It was the first time in two decades Davis Cup play had been contested in Vancouver.