THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER -- Jo-Wilfred Tsonga beat Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., in straight sets to stake France to a 1-0 lead over Canada in their Davis Cup tie Friday afternoon.
The heavily-favoured Tsonga, ranked sixth in the world, prevailed 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 before a sold-out, predominantly red-and-white clad, flag-waving crowd at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
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Pospisil, ranked 115th, went ahead 3-2 in the second set, but Tsonga rallied to win the next four games in a row and rarely looked back.
The winner of the best-of-five competition will meet the winner of a tie between the U.S. and Switzerland also being held this weekend.
Canada, ranked 14th in the world, is an obvious underdog to fourth-ranked France, which has four players ranked in the top 35 in singles at its disposal. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., at No. 29 is the lone Canadian in that group while the other host-team players rank outside the top 100.
After winning a coin toss to host the event, Canada is hoping its chosen hard court, the French squad's lengthy travel and blatantly partisan spectators work to its advantage.
However, the boisterous crowd could not help Pospisil much as he committed unforced errors throughout the match and struggled to counter Tsonga's strong serve. Meanwhile, Tsonga had little difficulty handling Pospisil's serve and repeatedly ran to score winners off Pospisil's short volley attempts.
The turning point of the match came in the seventh game of the second set. With the set tied 3-3 and Tsonga holding the advantage, Pospisil double-faulted to give the Frenchman the lead, the set and, ultimately, the match.
Most fans were donned in red and white Canada shirts. A small section of supporters sported France shirts and waved the country's blue, white and red flag -- and had more to celebrate.
Raonic, Canada's highest-ever ranked player, met Julien Benneteau in a later match.
.Notes: Tennis Canada has made more tickets available after officials discovered some sight lines were not as obstructed as first thought and opened a large section of previously closed seats. ... It's the second Davis Cup meeting between France and Canada. The French won the first competition in 1966. ... The doubles portion of the competion goes Saturday with Pospisil and Daniel Nestor of Toronto facing Benneteau and Michael Llodra. Nestor is ranked third in the world in doubles while Llodra is sixth.