Chris Borchert/The Ubyssey

In the first set of Saturday’s doubles match between Canada and France in the Davis Cup, just before the French were ready to serve, a voice pierced the silence of the sold-out crowd at Thunderbird Arena.

“Llodra, you suck!”

The crowd of diehard Canadian fans, after an awkward moment, began to boo the man. The announcer reminded fans to respect players from both teams, and to refrain from making personal insults. The good polite Canadians, after hearing this cry for decency, applauded heartily. The crisis was resolved. The Green Men continued to sit in the corner and not wildly gyrate around.

Okay, so this wasn’t exactly a Canucks-Bruins tilt in June.

But absent that, there was as much passion and patriotism in the crowd as any Vancouver sporting event since the Olympics. There were throngs of flags, cheers after every play, and unlike any recent Canucks game, tickets the rest of us could actually afford.

And it happened at UBC, in the (deep breath now) Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. The tennis, and to lesser extent sporting world, saw our arena and campus last weekend, and what they saw was a wonderful example of how, when filled, our arena can be a wonderful place to watch a game.

But back to the game in question. For the first time in 20 years, Canada was the home team in the World Group (meaning “the top 16 teams”) for the Davis Cup (meaning “the annual year-long international team tennis tournament”), playing France in a tie.

In tennis a “tie,” unlike simpleton sports like football, actually means “best-of-five round.” Each match in the best-of-five series is called a “rubber.” Did I mention tennis was a niche sport?

France was the overwhelming favourite, with 6 players ranked in the top 50 in the world, but Canada, playing in the World Group for the first time in 8 years, couldn’t be counted out.

First, there’s the advantage of being at home: the Davis Cup is pretty much the only time all year where the fans are more interested in seeing one particular side win than simply seeing a good match.

And for the first time in, well, ever, Canada has a star: Milos Raonic. Twenty-one years old and six-and-a-half feet tall, Raonic has a first serve that is already considered one of the best in the world. He could be to tennis in this country what Mike Weir was to golf, and after his teammate Vasek Pospisil lost in the opening rubber Friday afternoon, the No. 29 ranked Raonic showed his potential with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the No. 35 ranked Julien Benneteau.

Milosmania was such that on Saturday, Canadian coach Martin Laurendeau opted to play with Raonic rather than Pospisil, with ageless wonder Daniel Nestor in the lone doubles rubber. The advantage of this was straightforward in some senses. Raonic is one of the best servers in the world, Nestor is one of the best doubles players at the net, and if everything clicked they would be able to overwhelm the French team—which would leave Canada needing to win just one of two matches on Sunday.

But everything did not click. Raonic’s serve, normally superhuman, was merely above average. And if you’ve ever played Mario Tennis, you’ll know doubles tennis involves a lot of quick play at the net. This, to put it mildly, is not Raonic’s strength.

So the French team of Llodra and Benneteau avoided hitting it to Nestor, forcing Raonic to hit a variety of tough backhanded volleys and body shots.

Slowly breaking down Canada’s defence and resolve—the end result of which was not unlike a hot air balloon being deflated over the course of three hours—France won 7-6, 7-6, 6-3, thoroughly outclassing Canada in both tiebreaks, and creating a situation where the plucky hometown boys would have to win both matches on Sunday.

A difficult task, but not impossible—until it was revealed that part of the reason Raonic struggled was because of a knee injury. Frank Dancevic, ranked No. 178 in the world, would play in his stead. He would face No. 6 ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and that, as they say, was that.

France won both matches on the final day to win the tie 4-1, and Friday dreams of tennis having its national day in the sun were quickly shattered.

If Canada did not fare completely well on the weekend, the same could not be said for Thunderbird Arena. At 5000 seats, it is both large enough to bring a big-time feel to an event, while still being affordable. The vertical seating creates a certain intimacy that is ideal for just about any event—provided it’s filled up.

And that’s the problem. Too often it isn’t, and one gets the sinking feeling that Thunderbird Arena would be a perfect venue if it was still 2004, when the building was originally green-lit. It was intended for midsize concerts, and such a thing doesn’t exist anymore. Meanwhile, the chances of the Thunderbirds becoming popular enough to fill up the arena for basketball or hockey is a pipe dream. So the Arena sits, empty, available for free Friday night skating (a wonderful deal), but little else.

But that’s a story for another day. For now, we can safely say that much like the Canadian men’s tennis team, Thunderbird Arena is young, world-class and has a chance to be something special. It’s likely that the tennis team will fulfill their potential. Time will tell if the same will be true for UBC’s arena.

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