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This is a good state of mind for the Davis Cup, which much like golf’s Ryder Cup is the one place where the usual polite decorum goes out the window. A Davis Cup can be wild and intense. For Pospisil, wearing the maple leaf on his shirt also matters a lot.

“It’s very prestigious and I love playing for my country and my team,” he says, “So there’s a lot more on the line. And, you know, that can create a lot more tension in the body.” It can be so much more emotional, and as a result so much more exhausting, he says. “But what was interesting was that, because I kind of came in with this confidence, I was also a little bit more relaxed in those moments, then maybe in some prior Davis Cup matches where the tension affects you.”

For a guy still trying to get his tennis legs back, it was a big ask, and the surprise wins just meant that there were more matches to come.

“You feel like you’re pushing the limit, but at the same time that was also one of the most enjoyable weeks in my career,” Pospisil says.

The long injury layoff in 2019 also forced Pospisil to think about life after tennis, and so he used some of that down time to throw himself into work as a member of the ATP Players Council. The Canadian quickly became a leading voice in the push to have better financial security for players on the fringes of the big men’s and women’s tours. His impact was such that in New York, having just won one of the matches of his life against Khachanov, Pospisil spent most of his post-game media session answering questions about compensation and job security of tour players. His argument then is the same as it is now: that you can be a world-class athlete, but the prize money in the early rounds barely covers travel and training costs. “You see someone who is just outside the top 150 in the world, they are an amazing player and they are playing in the Grand Slams and in the big events, but they are still losing money,” Pospisil says. “It’s a big issue.” It’s an interesting challenge to tackle. The sport’s biggest stars are also those who make the most money, and it’s those voices who would be most likely to force concessions from the various tournament operators. It’s a discussion that Pospisil says he wants to make happen.

“I’ve said it many times now, but I kind of look at the back surgery as a blessing in disguise,” he says. “I feel like I have matured so much as a person and came back with a different perspective on the sport.”

And, given the results of the past few months, he also has his tennis to worry about.