Vasek Pospisil will not play for Canada this month in the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Belgium because of a wrist injury.
Tennis Canada announced Thursday that the country鈥檚 No. 2 singles player and recent Wimbledon quarter-finalist will not play because of a severe bone bruise to his right wrist. His place on the team will be filled by a player selected by team captain Martin Laurendeau.
鈥淚鈥檓 beyond disappointed to not be able to play this tie,鈥� said Pospisil in a prepared statement.
鈥淚鈥檝e been advised today by doctors to take two to three weeks off to avoid any further damage to my wrist. Playing Davis Cup has always been and remains extremely important to me. I feel terrible as this is a big tie for our team and I was looking forward to doing my part to help us get to the semifinals. I believe in this team and I will be watching and cheering them on as they compete next weekend.鈥�
Canada will play the next round of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas on outdoor clay at Sportpark Krokodiel in Ostend, Belgium from July 17 to 19.
Pospisil is coming off a career-best performance at a Grand Slam after reaching his first ever quarter-final at Wimbledon. In 2014 he won the Wimbledon men鈥檚 doubles title with partner Jack Sock.
Canada鈥檚 No. 1 singles player Milos Raonic will also miss the tie because of lingering effects from foot surgery, according to Tennis Canada.
The three remaining members of the team are Frank Dancevic, Daniel Nestor, and North聽 Vancouver鈥檚 Filip Peliwo).
鈥淭his is obviously not the scenario we thought we would find ourselves in for this quarter-final tie, but injuries happen and it鈥檚 never good timing,鈥� said Laurendeau in a prepared statement.
鈥淭hese guys have given so much to Davis Cup over the years. Their commitment has been outstanding. If they could play, they would. Certainly now we are the underdogs, but we still have a huge tie to play next weekend and a group of guys who are going to go out there and give it their all.鈥�
