FIRST

oh dear - what the heck were the argies thinking?! mayer in for the elf? well, they must be banking on him being able to beat berdy tomorrow. sneaky sneaky!

gosh i lurve davis cup!

and marat-ski on my screen. ahhh cap'n my cap'n. on serve, not suere they can pull this out though.

LOVE Davis Cup - and aside from all the excitement over here, I'm always thrilled about Israel's good results. Don't know Levy as well, must admit - but Dudi is The Dude!

go small nations against super-powers!

lol tina - agree on the davis cup enthusiasm! though technically, i'm still rooting for the US.... but it doesn't mean i don't like DC!

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez takes the first set 7-5 over Caroline Wozniacki in Bastad as she came forward on a FH approach and Caroline nets CC FH passing shot. That was Maria's 3rd set point in the game after Caroline rallied from 40-15 to deuce with the help of her BH hitting the tape and bouncing over for the winner.

Will Maria Jose ruin Caroline's 19th birthday today?

This is a moment when I think I‘m a bit too crazy about sport, I have the dc double between Argentina and Czech republic (hope Argentina will be able to turn this into a match, the first set was horrible) in one window, tour de France in another and the live timing from F1 with the TV showing the qualification. Good thing it’s raining today so I won’t have too feel guilty for staying inside on a Saturday.

Break chance at 30-40 for Caroline as Maria Jose nets FH
Caroline breaks as she hit BH passing shot for winner as Maria Jose served and volleyed

Caroline to serve 5-7,2-0

2 break points at 15-40 for Maria Jose
30-40 Maria Jose BH wide as Caroline smoked BH DTL
Maria Jose breaks as Caroline nets BH

Maria Jose to serve 7-5,1-2

Absolutely LOVE Davis Cup!!!!!!!

Thank you for thread Rosangel and MasterAce for all scores frome yesterday and schedule!!!

James and Mardy fought so hard...I hope they can remain positive and move forward...the Bryan Bros will get us one win today...for sure :-)

And any and all times I can see Jose/Chucho is good.

Have a good day all---May all your favorites win!!! :-)

2 break points at 15-40 for Caroline as she hit a running CC FH passing shot for the winner
30-40 Maria Jose BH winner on short FH by Caroline
Caroline breaks as Maria Jose S&V but hit volley long

Caroline to serve 5-7,3-1

Break point at 30-40 for Maria Jose as she hit drop shot winner as Caroline was meters behind the baseline
40-40 Maria Jose nets FH
A-40 Caroline volley winner cutting off Maria Jose CC BH passing shot
Caroline consolidates as Maria Jose nets BH

Maria Jose to serve 7-5,1-4

Wozniacki seems to get incredible luck with net-cords whenever I watch her. Saves breakpoint with a bit of good fortune. Maybe I'm the lucky charm. :-)

She consolidates the break in the second set for 4-1.

Caroline calls her Dad on the court. WTA has this on-court coaching rule(which I dislike)

Is that Papa Woz coaching her in the changeover? Is on-court coaching allowed?

"Caroline calls her Dad on the court. WTA has this on-court coaching rule(which I dislike)"

Same here, Master Ace.

The second set was a lot more competitive then the first but the Czech republic wins the second set as they break to win it 6-4

Break chance at 30-40 for Maria Jose as she hits a drop shot return for the winner
40-40 Maria Jose nets FH return on 2nd serve as Caroline is having 1st serve issues in this game
40-A Maria Jose drop shot return winner
Maria Jose breaks as she hit drop shot return winner

Maria Jose to serve 7-5,3-4

Martinez levels the 2nd set at 4-4. She leads 7-5, 4-4. Can the local favourite dig deep here?

Maria Jose holds as she aces at the T after Caroline rallied to force deuce. In that game, Caroline missed a gimme volley at the net at deuce which gave game point to Maria Jose

Caroline to serve 5-7,4-all

Martinez using the drop-shot to very good effect. Follows it up with a lob to get two breakpoints.

And another dropshot at 30-40, which Wozniacki reached but hit straight to Martinez, who puts it into the open court. Martinez to serve for the match.

2 break chances for Maria Jose at 15-40 as she hit drop shot and lob combo. Caroline hit lob wide in awkward position
30-40 Maria Jose service return error
Maria Jose breaks as she hit half volley winner after Caroline got to drop shot

Maria Jose serving for the match at 7-5,5-4

VC,
Did you see Caroline arguing with the umpire on a return winner but ball was called out or think it was a let

Looks as though Croatia have put in Karanusic for Karlovic.

What is it that Blake said after the match? I switched on the TV to hear that he'd said something that might rile the Croatians, but I missed the quote.

Master Ace : No, I think I missed it.

Morning, all.

Kunitsyn and Safin have a hill to climb against Erlich and Ram, down two sets and a break (but 2 BPs as I type).

Argentina down 2-0, but up a break in the 3rd set.

Martinez smartly closes in on a moonball and puts away the easy volley. Match point for Martinez.

Ah. He criticised the behaviour of the Croatian fans:
http://tinyurl.com/lzjuyo

Probably not the best way to get them to stop.

Fight Caro fight!

0-15 Maria Jose S&V but hit volley long
0-30 Maria Jose FH long
15-30 Caroline BH return wide as she went for it on the 2nd serve
30-30 Caroline nets BH return on wide serve
40-30 Maria Jose drop shot winner set up by deep moon ball
Maria Jose wins the championship as Caroline got to drop shot but hit the volley wide. Drop shot was set up by deep FH moon ball

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated Caroline Wozniacki 7-5,6-4

Martinez serves out for the title with some smart variations.

Stepanek/Berdych leads Mayer/Acasuso 6-1,6-4,1-2

Bryan/Bryan on serve with Zovko/Karanusic

Erlich/Ram leads Kunitsyn/Safin 6-3,6-4,2-3

Germany and Spain will start in approx 15-20 minutes

VC,
Maria Jose outplayed Caroline today by mixing up her game with drop shot, moon balls, and serve and volleyed. Bastad is playing Macarena as Maria Jose come to court and collect her title.

Congrats to Szavay today.....great to see her back in a final....and in hungary!!!LOL
Congrats to MJMS on winning her second title of the year...this woman is so enjoyable to watch....if only she hadnt taken so much time off after juniors to transition to seniors.....she cud hav ben top 10 material....and at times she is.....today she just had a little too much variety.....her serve was strong and she used the dropshot to great success.....i didnt see the entire match....but i think the two points which summed up the match for me were the 15-30 point serving for the match where MJMS hit a serve that Caro cudnt handle.....and then the next point....Caro hit a moonball...and surprising to her she got a moonball back (many players dont do that)...and followed it into the net for a stunning drop volley........she has amazing volleys....we'll be seeing lots of her....
Hard luck to Caro especially at an almost home tourney......but it is her birthday right???...so wish her all the best!!!!!LOL

Crowd is saying Happy Birthday to Caroline Wozniacki but Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez crashed the party.

Argentina's team hasn’t been too happy with the umpire in this match, the coach was having a moment with him in the second (?) set about a call and in the previs game both players did as well about something. Sadly I couldn’t really here anything so I’m not sure what they where unhappy about so if anyone could fill me in that would nice. The little unhappiness also led to Czech team breaking back and held successfully in their game.

"Martinez serves out for the title"

This is Martinez-Sanchez's second International Series title of the year. If she gets one more she would be eligible for second tier YEC 1M bonus. The only other 2x winner is Azarenka, however she is most likely to qualify for the main YEC.

Caroline gets "Happy B'day" sung to her, with Martinez joining in. Nice touch.

Poor Caro, she's over playing and has nothing left for the final. Clearly she's a better player then Martinez.This happened to hot mess alot. I read her blog from Sweden and she's going to take off three weeks. I think the only reason she played is because Bastad is so close to home and she said she went to a Britney Spear's concert in nearyby Denmark to celebrate after beating Flavia. I'm not disapointed I just want her to stop over playing. My biggest fear is that she will burn out just like hott mess from playing to many tourney. I blame her dad. Martinez isn't even in Caro league so I know she must have been really tired. Rest Caro and take the USO by storm. Go Caro, Scandinavia's#1, world's#9, winner of 5 WTA titles, 2008, new comer of the year, new face of the Stella McCartney line and the YOUNGEST player in the top ten. Du er den bedste, Caro!

All that is so sweet, Bastad is really close to Caro's home, although is in Sweden. Happy Birthday to Caro, it would have been great for her to win, but at least she's at home and can rest.

And the Czech team breaks again and take the lead 4-2 as one of the Argentina player, sorry don‘t know the name, smashes his racquet, think this could be it for the match. But I guess the good news is that I should be able to follow Spain’s double match without having another match to focus on then

Tennis Fan,
Yep on Bali and a chance for 1 million. Therefore, Maria Jose had more to play for and Caroline was indeed a step slow for Maria Jose to use drop shots consistently. As Samantha Elin said, Caroline will be off until Los Angeles on 8/3.

Israel break in the 3rd set against Russia. This has been a surprisingly one-sided tie.

Though I must add that Ram and Erlich are a recognized doubles pairing so this shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

BP for the Russians and maybe a last glimmer of hope.

Rosangel,
Good move to Croatia resting Dr. Ivo for tomorrow as he won a 5 setter yesterday and they need a rested Dr. Ivo for the deciding rubber if Marin loses to James.

Tennis Fan you know what is funny is that Jelena i think could be in the road to bali and not the YEC she won that tournament in Marbella making her eligible and has so many points to defend US open and further

VC,
Russia needed to split yesterday as I would have favored Erlich/Ram today and now the Russians are serving to stay alive.

Russia save two matchpoints as Safin holds for 4-5. Israel to try and serve it out.

Czech team serves home the match as they win the third set 6-3. And just in time as well as the Spain match will start their match shortly.

Safin hits a good return off a second serve as Russia break back for 5-5. Still some life in this one.

No lineup changes in the Germany-Spain match

Bryans lead 6-3,3-1

As VC posted, Russia stays alive.

Well done, Martinez-Sanchez. A late bloomer who kept on plugging away.

For video links to the Davis Cup matches, try:

http://www.fromsport.com/c-4.html

Israel lead 1-0 in the tiebreak with a minibreak as a lob stays in literally by a hair's breadth.

Russia get the minibreak back with a lob of their own as Ram puts an overhead into the net. 2-1, Israel in the 3rd set TB.

Vamos Spain!
Feli & Nando just got the break. Consolidate!!

Joma deserves some credit with putting the yellow on Feli’s shirt and making it look a lot better then what Nike did with Rafa’s shirt earlier this year. Spain takes an early lead as they break germany, 2-1 with spain to serve

Israel forces the 3rd set tiebreaker by holding at 15 and leads 6-3,6-4,6-all At 15-all, Igor hit a BH lob just out confirmed by HawkEye

R = Igor Kunitsyn and Marat Safin
I = Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram(2008 Australian Open champions)

Marat serving to begin TB
Carlos Ramos is the chair umpire
I 1-0 Israel easy volley winner set up by nice defensive lob - Russia challenges to no avail as ball was in by inches
Andy serving
I 2-0 Israel volley winner
I 2-1 Israel nets overhead smash
Igor serving
2-all Israel passing shot long
R 3-2 Israel FH return DTL long
Jonathan serving
3-all Russia nets BH passing shot DTL

Kunitsyn misses a great chance to take a minibreak lead, misses a backhand passing shot. 3-3 at the changeover.

"Jelena i think could be in the road to bali"

kchowcrazy: I think you are right if her season does not turn around quickly however, that would make Bali very interesting. maybe Ivanovic will be there two, there are two wild cards for bali also.

Ram misses a very simple volley to hand Russia the minibreak.

3 setpoints for Russia to stay alive here. Poor tiebreak from Israel so far. And they take the first one with some good rallying.

Jonathan to serve at 6-3,6-4,6-all(3-all TB)

R 4-3 Israel nets easy volley
Marat serving
R 5-3 Israel loses volley change hitting last volley into net
R 6-3 Israel reflex volley wide
Andy serving
Russia takes the set as Israel made reflex volley error

On to set 4...

Hottie in the crowd for Israel-Russia.

'morning all!
Channelsurfing.net shows links to all the ties except Spain v. Germany. Is there a link for them please? thanks.

Annie,
Go to atdhe.net as there are links for all the ties.

Annie,
http://www.atdhe.net/7919/watch-spain-vs-germany

Tennisfan yeah Ivanovic could definetly be there but she has virtually no points to defend from now onwards, having those two big names would be great for the tournament though and i would love them to give out the wildcards to some of the youngsters like cibulkova and cirstea then it could be really interesting

Bryans hold as Bob aces at the T. Bryans are on cruise control leading 6-3,6-1,4-1. Unless the Croatians rally, the Bryans have given life to James and Mardy for tomorrow as they usually do on the middle Saturday. Only loss,I can remember in recent time, was against France last year but they won the Friday singles matches and Roddick closed it out on Sunday.

Spain lead 4-2
Zverev serving

3 break pts for the Croatians as they hit FH return winner DTL
15-40 Missed point
Croatians break as the return was at Mike's feet and made him net volley

Croatia to serve 3-6,1-6,3-4

In other news, England under a bit of pressure at tea on the 4th day of the first Ashes test. Business as usual, then. ;-)

Break point at 30-40 for USA as Croatia DF
USA breaks as Croatia nets volley

USA serving for the match 6-3,6-1,5-3

USA wins 3,1,3 in 69 minutes as Mike hit smash winner and they do the chest bump.

Croatia leads tie 2-1.

Two double faults by Keifer give Spain a set point

And Spain takes the first set 6-3

Yay, Spain breaks to win the first set, 6-3.

Well done, Spain.

Now, put the hammer down for two sets and get Verdasco some rest.

Tfactor: thanks so much! vamos espana! love the sound of the air horns. Davis Cup is so great!

Erlich DF at 30-40 giving Russia a 3-2 lead in set 4

Yes Annie, the atmosphere is great!
Germany breaks Feli's serve to start the second set

Germany gets a good start in the second set as they break in the first game.

By "putting the hammer down," I didn't mean on your own figurative thumb. Way to give Germany some hope.

But they repair the damage by breaking right back. Nice shot by Feli!

Spain breaks back, now hold your serve instead of giving Germany some more hope.

I wish I was spanish. Spontaneous singing, clapping, stomping. And the plaza del toro (is that close?) is so beautiful for a tennis match.

Meanwhile Kunitsy and Safin are a break up in the fourth 4-2

Hola everyone,

Come on guys stay tight

Good Morning everyone,

I see that Spain has done away with the McDonald's shirts. That was a good decision. "you want fries with that?" didn't work.

Spain breaks to go up 3-1 in the second.
It's so nice to see Nando and Feli play, they're really in tuned with each other.
Hi AM!

If Germany ever gets Haas to play they would have a powerhouse team. yikes. what the hell has happened to american tennis. we're just wienies compared to ger., spain, argentina and on and on...

Hi Tfactor Gee i have been watching the Tour

Sanchez won this section in the Pyrennees,another Spainard.The country side is just breathtaking.

Spain consolidate the break and is up 4-1 with Germany to serve.

I have been watching the tour on a off. Doing too many things at a time, but paying the most attention to Fer/Feli ;-)

Annie What about the Aussie DC teams,gee we are in the wilderness,we were a great force in DC we sit behind the USA as most DC ties ever. Sigh!

Set point at 30-40 for Russia with Jonathan serving
40-40 Marat nets FH return
40-A Jonathan nets volley
40-40 Marat nets BH return on 2nd serve
A-40 Andy volley winner
Israel holds as Jonathan hit smash winner

Russia serving at 5-4 to force 5th set

The double faults are killing Keifer and Germany.
The Russians will be serving the level the match a two sets all

AM: oh i know. Australia was always a tennis powerhouse too! it's just depressing isn't it? But you guys have been penalized on top of everything else. Now you're not in the world group anymore, right?

Tfactor I would rather in some ways watch the glorious scenery of the Tour lol!

I have seen those spainsih boys before not bad lookers I suppose.

Annie We havent been in the top for a while now,trying to get back in the mix,but hey dosent look good.With the fine etc.

Also we havent the players anymore really,except for Lleyton who isnt getting any younger.

Russia forces the 5th set holding at 15 capped off by Marat Ace wide

I know AM, I have it on my TV right now and yes the scenery is breathtaking but Fer&Feli are doing a good job here and I really want Spain to move on (hoping Rafa can play in the final) ;-)

what happened to Petzchner? Why isn't he playing? When Germany played Spain last year, they played Kohlschreiber/Petzschner in the doubles and it took the Spaniards til 12-10 in the 5th to beat them.

This spain v. ger match is good doubles.