Protests abroad, silence at home with Canada’s 2-0 rise in Israel in the Davis Cup tie

It was a surreal scene in Halifax on Friday, when Canada began the Davis Cup tie against Israel behind closed doors at the Scottabank Center in Halifax.

With the exception of athletes and employees from the necessary teams and officials, who were either on the field or stadium, the place was usually carried by more than 10,500 spectators completely empty.

Tennis shoes were heard, and hand slaps between teammates and other sounds that were usually hidden by surrounding gossip, as on the direct day of CBC, which had no comment.

Tennis Canada has contacted earlier this week to hold matches without the lectures or the media, noting the safety concerns that it said had been marked by local authorities and security agencies.

Meanwhile, about 400 protesters gathered for a brief gathering alongside the historic Citadel Hill, where the organ organizer said that about 1,000 people fell on a petition opposing Israel’s participation in the games.

“We are calling for a judgment to cancel the Davis Cup matches between the Canada team and the Israel team,” said Billy, a member of Palestine, Halifax Solidarity. “This team, Israel, is suspended from the Davis Cup. We refuse to accept the hostile racism of the Palestinian.”

Then the demonstrators walked safely through the center of Port City and stopped in front of the Scottabank Center.

Watch | Diallo wins the opening match of Canada:

Under the bright sunlight, many demonstrators were carrying Palestinian banners and flags while chanting slogans and hitting drums among traffic officers and a bicycle police.

A man wrapped in a Palestinian flag was a tennis racket that was carrying a piece of paper with “no athletic Israel” written on it.

In the front part of the long line of the demonstrators, many demonstrators made a great banner with a letter “not playing a ball” written in huge messages.

The protest with speeches outside the nearby Halifax city hall. More protests were planned for Saturday.

While there was a lot of activity abroad, one can hear a pin drop inside the Scottabank Center, where Gabriel Diallo opened a draw with Daniel Cookman from Israel.

When the six-feet length Diallo jumped and the winner was destroyed to make progress in the second group with a score of 4-2, the shot that would usually get out of their seats was met with a spoon of polite applause.

The atmosphere stood in a flagrant contradiction with the last open United States in New York, where Canadian players enjoyed strong support from the party crowd.

However, Diallo said at a press conference on Thursday that he would be able to adapt to the circumstances, and on Friday, he did so. He needed only 28 minutes to take the first group, and after Cukierman was more competitive to start the second before taking a medical deadline, Diallo won four consecutive games to take the opening match and gave Canada 1-0.

Liam Drax From NewMarket, Onton, Canada raised 2-0 when it overcame eagle Kimi 7-6 (5), 6-4 to win the first individual Davis Cup.

Three matches were appointed for Saturday in the five best games, with Draxl and Calgary from Cleeve Harper facing Jordan Hasson and Offa Shimanov in the marital match before Diallo Kimhi and Draxl faced Cukeerman.

The winner will advance to the Davis 2026 Cup qualifiers.