Top seeds Spain crashed out of the first round of the Davis Cup for the first time since 2006 when Milos Raonic beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to give Canada an unassailable 3-1 lead in their world group tie on Sunday.
The understrength five-times champions had struggled from the start of the tie in Vancouver and Raonic killed them off with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Garcia-Lopez to secure Canada’s first ever triumph at this level of the men’s team competition.
Holders Czech Republic earlier moved into the quarter-finals with Tomas Berdych outlasting Swiss opponent Stanislas Wawrinka a day after the pair emerged from a marathon doubles encounter.
Berdych enjoyed a comparatively easy 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 victory over Wawrinka, to give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-1 lead, a day after he and Lukas Rosol edged a punishing seven-hour clash with Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli 24-22 in the final set.
The Czechs will now travel to Kazakhstan in April after the Central Asian country wrapped up a 3-1 victory over Austria on Sunday.
The United States also fended off a fightback from Brazil in Jacksonville to secure a place in the last eight, where they will meet Serbia.
Sam Querrey finished the job with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 victory over Thiago Alves in the final rubber after Thomaz Bellucci had tied the contest up at 2-2 by battling past big-serving John Isner 2-6 6-4 6-7 6-4 6-3.
Italy also booked their place in the quarter-finals, where they will meet Canada, after Fabio Fognini beat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in a decisive fifth rubber.
Spain, without Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, were on the back foot from the start of the tie on the Vancouver hardcourts after going 2-0 down in the opening singles on Friday. The five-times champions wrestled their way back into the contest after a doubles victory on Saturday but Raonic put paid to any hopes of a remarkable comeback in the first reverse singles on Sunday.
The big-serving world number 15 opened his match against Garcia-Lopez – a late replacement for Marcel Granollers – with three aces and fired down 22 in all in the victory to the delight of a passionate crowd at the Thunderbird Sports Centre.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Raonic told reporters. “It’s something we should all be proud of. It’s something I hope resonates not only with our team but throughout tennis in Canada.” The Czechs came into the final day with a 2-1 advantage and Berdych took three hours and 15 minutes to wrap up a four-set win over an equally weary Wawrinka, who had defeated Rosol in the singles on Friday.
