NORTH Vancouver's Philip Bester is serving his country this weekend as one of four Canadians taking on team Ecuador in a Davis Cup tennis tie.
Bester is joining Toronto's Daniel Nestor, Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont. and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C. for the matches July 8-10 in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Rising Canadian star Milos Raonic, currently ranked 26th in the world, is not making the trip due to a hip injury suffered at Wimbledon last month.
Bester is taking part in two singles matches, taking on Ecuador's Julio-Cesar Campozano, ranked No. 384 in the world, before facing Ivan Endara, ranked 497.
Bester, 22, is currently ranked a career-high 229 in the world and coming off a tournament win at a U.S. Futures tour event held in Chico, Calif., June 13-19. Bester was first named to the Davis Cup team as a 17-yearold phenom in 2005 and made his first on-court appearance in 2006 against Mexico. He earned his first and only Davis Cup win later that year against Venezuela's Jhonathan Medina-Alvarez. Bester has not played a Cup match since 2006.
Ecuador is currently ranked 19th in Davis Cup standings while Canada is 27th. The teams have met head-to-head six times in Davis Cup play with Ecuador holding a 5-1 advantage. Live updates of the event are available at www. daviscup.com.
