It was a great weekend for heroes, if not for Andy Murray, whose Great Britain Davis Cup squad went down in stinky flames to Poland in - get this - Group I zonal competition. And at home, no less.
That's right, Murray and company weren't even fighting for the privilege of remaining in the World Group, as were so many marquee names this weekend; they're wallowing down in the zonal pits and it's fair to ask, can you get there (WG) from here? Or, at what point is Murray entitled to throw up his hands and walk away from the Davis Cup mess, much like Roger Federer did some years ago, grumbling: Get me someone, anyone who can play this stupid game!
While the importance of Davis Cup remains an issue among some fans and the media persists in ignoring this all-around terrific competition, the nations of the world continue to field increasingly formidable squads and produce sometimes insanely competitive and/or dramatic ties. How about Nicolas Lapentti, at the mind-blowing age of 33, leading Ecuador into the elite World Group fold by playing two best-of-five singles and a doubles over three consecutive days, on clay, to lead his squad past Brazil - in Brazil?
Meet Nico Lapentti, Davis Cup MVP of this week. We're not taking questions.
Lapentti won his Day One singles i handily but, playing alongside his brother Giovanni, he had to grind out fives sets to help secure the doubles. Thus, in the scripted meeting of No. 1s, Lapentti played the fourth, potentially clinching rubber against Brazilian no. 1 Marcos Daniel. Long story short: Lapentti won it, 8-6 in the fifth
And this is what Lapentti said in the wake of his great effort: “It is one of the most special moments of my life. I really couldn’t believe when the match finished, because it was so up and down. I was very tired after the first two sets but this is the beauty of Davis Cup, the energy of a team and the energy of a country."
Come on, sports editors and broadcasters of the USA, give it up for Davis Cup. How about a little love? And yes, I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face, even though I'm already blue in the face. Davis Cup is, along with the four Grand Slam events, an absolutely critical crown jewel of the game. And there's nothing wrong with the format; Davis Cup has had a player-commitment problem, not a format problem.
But as an increasing number of players from formerly off-the-radar nations contend at majors (Djokovic is a great example; Federer would have been one, too, if only he weren't playing tennis for different stakes than everyone else) and earn big reputations by winning them, the status of Davis Cup will continue to grow. One net-gain for tennis in this period of relative weakness in the US is that the indifference of the media here is not an embarrassment for Davis Cup, nor does anyone else in the world give a hoot about our general attitude toward the competition. The decline of talent in the US has boosted Davis Cup worldwide.
And consider this: Roger Federer played the key role in keeping Switzerland in the World Group. Chile, France, Serbia, India, Sweden and Ecuador - a mix of tennis powers and game outsiders - will join the Swiss. We had some very big names in the breech with the embarrassment of relegation to the Davis Cup minors (in some nations, that's considered a scandal) at stake.The key players who stepped up for their nations included Lapentti, Nicolas Massu (Chile), Somdev Devvarman (India), Robin Soderling (Sweden), and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France). Serbia didn't even feel obliged to play Novak Djokovic - which just shows how far that small nation has advanced in the tennis food chain. It's still a laundry list of familiar names, if you know that Lapentti was once in the top 10, Massu an Olympic Games singles gold medalist, and Devvarman a two-time NCAA champion. You probably know about that Federer guy, too.
And you've got the love the plain-jane but information rich Davis Cup website of the ITF. It's not nearly as slick and "now" as the ATP or WTA sites, but it's incomparably easier to navigate and just feels like a real, no-nonsense, tennis nut's site.
Of course, it was a lost weekend for Andy Murray; Great Britain now drops back another league, to Group II.But hey - they're probably still dancing in the streets in Cracow.
Mornin', all. It promises to be a quiet Sunday for the World Group in Davis Cup: The Czech Republic and Spain are through to the final. You never know what's going to happen in Davis Cup, especially when you have a wild-card personality like Radek Stepanek in the mix. Add a mercurial power-player like Tomas Berdych, who's capable of punishing the ball and taking out anyone on the proverbial given day, and you have the recipe for a potential upset in the final.
Or you would have that, if Spain did not have home-ground advantage. That prolonged hissing sound you hear is the air going out of the Czech balloon; with Rafael Nadal willing and eager to play (look at him in this picture; are we talking team spirit or what?) and Fernando Verdasco turning into a force on the tour this year, it's hard to see the Czech singles players playing at a sufficiently high level to stop the Spanish squad from adding to the nation's Davis Cup lore.
Spain will be shooting to improve it's record in Davis Cup finals to 4-1 since the year 2000. That's five World Group finals in less than a decade. Can you say dynasty? The lone Spanish loss in a final in this era occurred in 2003, when the team was beaten by Australian, Down Under on grass. Spain is also the defending champ, and back-to-back final rounds in today's talent-rich environment is a particularly telling feat. On top of all that, Spain defeated Israel this weekend without their two best players (Nadal and Verdasco).
In the most closely watched of the relegation battles, The Mighty Swiss chose not to play Roger Federer in the doubles, and that accounts partly for why the Italians were able to remain in contention for Day 3. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when the doubles decision was made, given that Swiss captain Severin Luthi is about as close as Federer comes to having a formal coach. The Swiss might have decided to try for the sweep by playing Federer in the doubles, but took the more prudent approach. I imagine that Federer himself chose not to push his luck, physically, and lobbied to let his teammates Marco Chiudinelli and Stan Wawrinka contest the doubles - and get to bask in the glory of clinching a place for the Swiss in the World Group for 2010. Well, that didn't work out so well. Simon Bolelli and Potito Starace handled them with ease, in straight sets, keeping Italian hopes alive in Genoa.
Federer is now set to clinch, and there's a good chance that the Italians will throw Fabio Fognini against him today in the fourth rubber, the first match of the day. It's hard to imagine Federer losing that one, but the Italians are at home on clay, and in Davis Cup, who knows? All I can say is that in the unlikely event that Federer loses, Stan the Man is going to have to put on his big boy pants. I get the feeling that the Swiss really, really want to be in the World Group for 2010, and that Davis Cup will be a priority for The Mighty Fed next year.
Enjoy the matches, everyone. See you at the same time, same place tomorrow.
I believe the correct term for what we're seeing play out at the Sporstka Dvorana in beautiful downtown Porec, Croatia, is "battle royale." Sigh. Another day, another sports cliche, like tower of power, or fearsome giant, or ace machine - all of which are appropriate descriptions of Ivo Karlovic, who yesterday served 78 aces in his epic five-setter with Radek Stepanek. Karlovic thereby shattered the all-time single-match record by a whopping 23 - that's no typo: twenty-three! - aces. . . unreturnables. . .untouchables, unseeables - call them what you will.
The match was indoors, but don't jump to any conclusions. It was on red clay. That's right, 78 aces on clay. I'm thinking if it was a hard court, or worse yet, indoor carpet, Karlovic might have taken that ace count to triple figure. Can you imagine, 100 aces in a match? Would that be possible, in the number of games he had to work with?
Of course, because we'll assume that the fifth set would not have ended on carpet the way it did after Stepanek and Karlovic split four tiebreakers and then went 16-14 in the fifth. They might still be playing on a fast carpet, because Karlovic may not have the game to break Stepanek, and the latter does not have the 12-foot long right arm that would enable him to get a racquet on Karlovic's bombs.
Man, do you love Davis Cup, or what?
That Karlovic somehow managed to lose the match is downright bizarre - hey, how did he do that? My interpretation is that it's a sign from on high that it is, in fact, a fair world. Nobody who rains down aces with the impunity of a Karlovic's ought to be able to actually win matches because of them, right?
Ah, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth in Porec tonight, for not only did Karlovic lose, he saw his game opponent erase four match points in a match that lasted five hours and 59 minutes - the fourth longest in Davis Cup history. And the 82 games it incorporated is a joint-record (for the tiebreaker era). And to make matters worse, Tomas Berdych then plunged a dagger into Croatian hearts by prevailing over Marin Cilic in another five-setter. Cilic battled back from two-sets-to-none down, but Berdych, to the surprise of many who follow him, hung tough.
So the Czech Republic swept on day one, as did the Spanish team against the Cinderella squad from Israel. Are we entirely sure that the teams with the seemingly insurmountable lead will win their respective ties?
I'm afraid I don't have much hope for Israel, not with Spain's excellent doubles team of Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo in yoke, although I guess you can't overestimate Robredo's ability to screw up in Davis Cup. Like the Israelis,the Croatians are behind the eight ball but good. The Czech doubles team of Lukas Dlouhy (the newly minted US Open doubles champ with partner Leander Paes) and Jan Herynch has to be an odds-on favorite against the relative unknowns, Roko Karanusic and Lovro Zovko. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so perhaps the Croatians have a trick up their sleeve. They could send Cilic and Karlovic out there (albeit at the risk of getting busted for animal abuse).
But hey, you can always tell Karlovic to just stand there and serve - the rest will take care of itself.
After cutting Karlovic down to size, Stepanek praised the crowd, which was surprisingly fair through the entire 9 hour and 47 minute day - perhaps because plenty of Czechs made the trip to nearby Croatia. Stepanek said, "It was just an honor. That's why we play tennis, because of fans like this."
And that's why we love Davis Cup - because of days like this.
Consider this the Davis Crisis Center for today; I'm posting it early so that those of you who want to comment when play gets underway have some place to go.
ust as I was settling in at my desk, I got the news flash that the Swiss have gone up, 2-0, on the Italians on the first day of Davis Cup play. For non-American readers, the headline on this post is a play on the well-known refrain, "Break up the Yankees!," voiced over many years by disgruntled baseball fans who feared that no other team could ever compete with the dynastic Yankees because of the deep pockets and hard-charging Yankees' management. Do you European and Asian readers ever heard cries of "Break of Manchester United!", or "Break up the Mumbai Mastadons!"?
The Mighty Swiss, heretofore to be identified as TMS, as opposed to PMS, or TMF (The Mighty Fed), lost a grand total of 15 games in the first two rubbers. Does anyone else think that having Roger Federer screaming his lungs out on the sidelines and high-fiving you in the locker room might be an excellent motivating tool for a somewhat distractable young man like Stan Wawrinka?
Seriously, I was really glad to see TMF join TMS for this relegation tie, and as a Davis Cup lover and off-again/on-again tennis purist; a Davis Cup triumph in the rapidly shrinking window of opportunity for Federer is one of the very few meaningful additions he could make to his already over-stuffed resume. I hope this guy never applies for a job as a tennis pro. He'd never even get to the interview stage because he's insanely over-qualified.
We all saw the joy Federer took from his doubles triumph at the last Olympic Games. I'd like to see him drink from the even deeper well of Davis Cup satisfaction. One thing that almost every single great tennis player has told me, at one time or another, is that the feeling of being on a winning team, particularly one that competes on the formal, international level, is a rare, precious thrill. And TMF, while not exactly thrill-deprived these past few months, deserves to feel that - as much as anyone who competes for a living can be said to "deserve" anything.
And let's face it, the fraternity of Davis Cup champs is an exclusive club, and most of the best players - at least those produced by nations capable of fielding a decent no. 2 singles player - are part of it. Given TMF's reputation as a spokesman and representative of all that is fine about tennis, success in an event that's rich in tradition and laden with pageantry would further burnish his image. He's a United Nations kind of dude, and Davis Cup is nothing if not the shadow UN of tennis - even the competition is plagued by controversy and political manipulations (see below).
Speaking of Federer, y'all saw that he was fined for his use of inappropriate language during the men's final. To my mind, this gives Serena Williams a great opportunity to reclaim a little of her lost cache as a good sport. All she has to do is pick up the phone, call Federer, and say, Look, stud-muffin, I know danged well that you got fined only because my own outburst suddenly had everyone scrambling to make sure that there would be no appearance of a double-standard when it comes to disciplinary actions imposed by the Lords of Tennis. So here's what I'm gonna do - pay your $1500 out of my own pocket!
Anyway. . . I'm pulling for Israel to win the Davis Cup, because of the way the squad stepped up and won in Sweden despite the horrible political machinations in play, as well as the way Israel won (every singles match went five sets and the tie was decided in the fifth and last rubber, with Harel Levy nosing out Andreas Vinceguerra 8-6 in the fifth). The tie is already has taken a place in the pantheon of great Davis Cup ties.
Although Israel followed up with a massive win over Russia under considerably less controversial circumstances, this present tie againt Spain, on red clay in Murcia, is a big ask. The only hope for Israel would have been Spain chosing to play Tommy Robredo in the singles, but wiser heads prevailed and Juan Carlos Ferrero got the call as David Ferrer's wingman (hat tip to our AmyLu for waxing poetic at the US Open about Robredo's manifest shortcomings in Davis Cup play).
But I'm still pulling for Israel, because it's not about backing the perpetual front-runners and favorites. Here at home, I'm a Jets and Mets man (although I don't even follow baseball), so I hope I get a chance to pull for the Swiss next year, or at least until the cry "Break Up the Swiss!" resounds around the world.
Feel free to use this post for match-calling, or the usual Your Call style of chit-chat. I'll be around this weekend; have a good one!
Mornin'. Packing day today, so this will be the only post until Jackie-Oh publishes the Deuce Club. She's done an amazing job as TennisWorld's social director, and I'm looking forward to more highly interactive sessions like we had week ago with those music videos.
I should have post up soon at ESPN, in which I riff a little on Swiss Davis Cup and Roger Federer confidant Severin Luthi's recent suggestion that Roger will be playing in the Switzerland vs. Italy tie (September), which the Swiss must win to remain in the "big league" World Group. I crunched some numbers to show just what Federer has been up against for most of his career as a Davis Cup performer. The stats suggest that while it's great for Davis Cup fans (like me) to call on Roger to play, it's neither accurate nor fair to accuse him of blowing off Davis Cup duty simply to accumulate greater individual glory (is that still possible for this guy? But that's getting ahead of ourselves. . .).
Federer, who's still got some tread on the tires, has already played one more Davis Cup tie than Pete Sampras (The Mighty Fed has played 17, by my count; anyone care to fact check?). But Sampras played in four finals, two of which earned the U.S. the giant birthday-cake- impersonating Davis Cup. In the first of those successful efforts (1992 vs., ironically, Switzerland), Sampras played only doubles. In the other final, Sampras wrote his name large in Davis Cup lore and legend by almost single-handedly sweeping Russia, on a very slow clay court in Moscow. He won both his singles (he had to be carried off the court, cramping, at the end of one of them) and he paired with Todd Martin in the winning doubles. It was an epic performance and, by Pete's own account, one of his career highlights.
Now look at Federer - he's played more ties than Sampras, but has never been able to carry Switzerland past the semifinals. The real killer stat, though, is that Federer is 35-11 in Cup play, including a brilliant 25-6 in singles. Sampras, by contrast, was 19-6 (15-8 in singles). To me, the key detail here is that Federer has already played 21 more matches than Sampras did in his entire career. And that a lot of tennis.
Granted, Sampras was no McEnroe when it came to Davis Cup play (Mac's career record: 59-10), and he had the luxury of beng part of a stable of great players who more-or-less shared the DC duties. But the numbers here underscore how much work Federer has already done in what has amounted to little more than wheel-spinninig by the Swiss. It used to be that no matter what Federer did, he simply didn't have adequate support to give the Swiss a realistic shot at the Cup. But with Stanislaus Wawrinka having emerged as at Top 10-level player, the scenario changed.
It might be a smart move for Federer to raise Davis Cup higher on his list of priorities, now that the no. 1 ranking isn't of paramount importance and he's secured the Grand Slam singles titles record. I don't think Federer "needs" to perform Davis Cup heroics to add to his legacy, but I do believe it a shame that a guy of his towering ability should be denied the satisfaction of a successful Davis Cup campaign - despite the investment it requires.
The company is pretty good in Davis Cup Valhalla - all of the guys who are spoken of in the same breath as Federer have carved out comfortable niches there, even Bjorn Borg, whose situation vis a vis supporting cast was similar to Federer's. Borg led Sweden to a Davis Cup triumph that helped put Swedish tennis - and Borg - on the sporting radar. The lore and legend of Davis Cup is incomplete without a Federer chapter, and Federer's own resume has that one, irritatingly puzzling blank spot that Davis Cup distinction would fill.
Of course, even if Federer decides to prioritize Davis Cup, this isn't anything like a slam-dunk. Wawrinka, while capable of beating anyone, has always seemed a little prone to freezing up under pressure, and there's no greater pressure than the kind you face in Davis Cup. Just yesterday, Wawrinka was upset in the Swiss Open by no. 119 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, despite (or was it because?) Federer was not playing in their home championships. It was a great opportunity for the top-seeded Wawrinka. but he apparently choked it away (and will now fall out of the Top 20 to boot).
Federer might be better off with a less gifted and/or highly ranked player (but still a viable no. 2) who's got sand when it comes to facing pressure. Oh sure, Federer and Wawrinka won the Olympic games gold medal in doubles, but that was doubles, and if you can't step up and play like you deserve to win with Federer as your partner, you might want to contemplate changing to a more sedate occupation.
Don't think that Roger Federer isn't aware of these details as he contemplates what, if anything, to do about this Davis Cup thing.
Have a great weekend, everyone - I'll have a Your Call up tomorrow morning.
Hi everyone. With the third day of Davis Cup tennis beginning any moment, one nation, Israel, is already through to the semifinals for the first time, having clinched the third point yesterday with a five-set win in doubles over the Russian team. The other three quarterfinal ties are yet to be decided; in each case the fourth rubber is a live one, with the home team up 2-1.
As always, enjoy today's tennis.
-- Rosangel Valenti
Note: Master Ace has again provided us with timechecks for today (with all times TW time or US Eastern Standard Time), and a compilation of the results:
Argentina vs. Czech Republic in Ostrava - 7 AM Czech Republic leads tie 2-1 Juan Martin Del Potro vs Tomas Berdych Juan Monaco vs Ivo Minar
Previous results Tomas Berdych defeated Juan Monaco 6-4,2-6,2-6,6-3,6-2 Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Ivo Minar 6-1,6-3,6-3 Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Jose Acasuso and Leonardo Mayer 6-1,6-4,6-3
Germany vs. Spain in Marbella - 7 AM
Spain leads tie 2-1 Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Fernando Verdasco Andreas Beck vs Tommy Robredo
Previous results Fernando Verdasco defeated Andreas Beck 6-0,3-6,6-7(4),6-2,6-1 Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Tommy Robredo 6-3,6-4,6-4 Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco defeated Nicolas Kiefer and Mischa Zverev 6-3,7-6(1),6-7(6),6-3
United States vs. Croatia in Porec - 10 AM live on Tennis Channel
Croatia leads tie 2-1 James Blake vs Marin Cilic Mardy Fish vs Ivo Karlovic
Previous results Ivo Karlovic defeated James Blake 6-7,4-6,6-3,7-6(3),7-5 Marin Cilic defeated Mardy Fish 4-6,6-3,6-7(3),6-1,8-6 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated Roko Karanusic and Lovro Zovko 6-3,6-1,6-3
Russia vs. Israel in Tel Aviv - Israel wins tie 3-0
Previous results Harel Levy defeated Igor Andreev 6-4,6-2,4-6,6-2 Dudi Sela defeated Mikhail Youzhny 3-6,6-1,6-0,7-5 Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram defeated Igor Kunitsyn and Marat Safin 6-3,6-4,6-7(3),4-6,6-4
Mornin', folks. I was a little surprised by some of the reactions to my last post, A Charmed Life. After posting the piece, I felt I may have devoted too much of it to this fashion-image thing (territory I'd covered two weeks ago), but I did so to set up my main theme, which was how a combination of factors (including that one) work against many people fully appreciating Federer's strengths and talents.
And oddly enough, the reactions, with the exception of a few readers, centered on the fashion bits and in a curious way. My commentary was denounced by many as meaningless or frivolous, after which the protesters immediately weighed-in on the theoretically "meaningless" observations - with gusto.
Meanwhile, most of the latter half of the post - the more game- based, fresher, and clearly less controversial material - went largely unremarked. I put it down to the fact that for many, any perceived criticism of their idol - whoever he is - becomes the dominant theme in any post. It's a forest-trees kind of thing, and it causes many people to seemingly abandon what capacity they have for critical, careful reading. It's a form of hysteria, I suppose, caused by drinking too much of the Kool-Aid. In fact, I noticed quite a few readers lurching around yesterday, belching, bellies distended and mouths disfigured by pink stains all around the lips. Maybe the best thing about these regular orgys of denunciation and outrage is the way they provide Grant with a platform for some of the funniest comments I've ever seen posted, anywhere. Anyone else suspect he's channeling that other Grant, Cary?
BTW, I inserted Gottfried von Cramm into the story because he seems to me overwhelmingly the model for Roger Federer - appreciated and lionized in his time for many of the same reasons as The Mighty Fed is admired today. The bits about Barbara Hutton were too tempting to pass up because of the glamour associations, but also because so many of Federer's most ardent and insistent fans are women who have a special most appreciation of men like Cramm and Federer. I imagine that if you polled women only (25-and-older, please) Federer might be the most beloved big-name athlete in the planet. But the counter-force of Rafa fans would certainly be significant.
One thing is for sure: no meaningless post can generate the volume of discussion and debate as some of these less-than-worshipful posts, so let's be honest about this: you can't have it both ways. You can't say you "don't care" about a certain issue and then go off writing long and passionate comments about it without automatically making someone (me) wonder: If this is so meaningless, why is everyone so eager to jump into the discussion. Surely, this stuff hits a nerve. The comments prove it.
Anyway, I've got to get to work on a Serena Williams post, and while it may seem impossible to rally your enthusiasm, let's remember we have Davis Cup coming up this weekend - the toughest weekend of the year, for players (and perhaps fans) alike. All I can say is, thank the Lord that Federer isn't playing Davis Cup. Let's leave that genie in the bottle, shall we?
Mornin', everyone. I'm shore glad that we at Tennis.com have such capable correspondents in the desert (Steve Tignor, ofConcrete Elbow fame, and our own Andrew Burton) at the BNP Paribas Open, because it's freed me up to work on a substantial project for Tennis, the mothership: US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe's Birmingham Diary. This will run in the July issue, and take you behind the scenes at the recent Davis Cup tie.
Would the material have been better if Roger Federer had represented Switzerland, as originally planned? I don't know. I do know that reviewing over 20 typed pages of my transcript with McEnroe, I've got loads more material - and excellent material at that - than I can possibly use. Well, the magazine's loss will be your gain, because I'll be able to publish the out-takes here, much like I did following me El Jon Wertheim and my extensive interview with Toni Nadal at last year's US Open.
A week ago Monday, I posted at ESPN (third item down) on McEnroe, who became the longest-serving Davis Cup captain in US history at Birmingham. I wrote the column as a tribute, partly because of McEnroe's Davis Cup record but also because I've always thought the world of Pat, going back to his early days as a fresh-out-of-college (Stanford University) journeyman, determined to make a mark on the pro tour despite having to operate in the rather long shadow cast by his older brother, John.
That shadow has never been as big a factor in Pat's life as an armchair psychologist might imagine. As he's told me of his decision to follow John's rather large footprints to Stanford, "Everyone said I was nuts, I was inviting comparisons to John, and that bar would be set pretty high. Well, the way I saw it I was going to be compared to John no matter what I did, so I might as well go and do what I want."
That's signature Pat McEnroe: realistic, shrewd, measured. . . much like he's been as Davis Cup captain. One of his great distinctions as DC captain is that he's never really upstaged his players (remember, he took over the job from John McEnroe - whose tenure as captain was as stormy and attention-grabbing as it was brief). He's a model of the stoic, low-key, decisive leader whose instincts are excellent. He eschews the big gamble or spectacular play and most of all he knows how to handle men - boys, actually, whom he's helped mold into men by creating a Davis Team spirit that hasn't been seen in the US since the days of Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, and Bob Lutz.
If poetic justice would be served, Pat McEnroe's go-to guy in Davis Cup would have been. . . John McEnroe (although Andy Roddick does an awfully good job standing in), and it's a shame that due to (among other things) the intransigence of Jimmy Connors, John never did experience the degree of team solidarity and spirit that the current US squad personifies.
In the big picture, the shadow that John once cast was dispelled long ago. Pat has been a Grand Slam semifinalist (Australian Open), a Grand Slam doubles champ (Roland Garros); in addition to being the Davis Cup chief (his players like to call him "captain," or sometimes "P-mac"). He's also a fixture in the ESPN commentary booth and - for about a year-and-a-half now - head of the USTA's elite player development program.
Pat McEnroe is, inarguably, the most ubiqutious man in the US tennis establishment - both at the professional and recreational/fan-viewer level. The fly in the ointment is that the American game hasn't been in great shape since Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi stopped lacing them up. But McEnroe is working on that, too, in his role as head of player-development. It reminds me that I owe you an update on that issue, which I'll deliver sometime soon.
So let me go wade into my notes and transcripts on the Birmingham tie (Did you know that Mike Bryan gets so nervous before and during Davis Cup doubles matches that he pops Maalox left and right, and insists that Pat keep an extra tablet of the antacid tucked into a pocket on his US team jacket when he sits courtside to shepherd the Bryan boys through a match?).
So now you know. Enjoy today's tennis from Indian Wells, catch up with you later. . . -- Pete
Mornin'. A little late to the game today, because my Outlook more-or-less crashed, but I wanted to give you a place to track today's action until I geta red-meat post up a little later. Those of you who watched Tennis Channel coverage of the USA vs. Switzerland Davis Cup tie may have seen the on-court interview Justin Gimelstob did with Andy Roddick following the third, clinching USA victory (I caught stretches of Justin's commentary during the matches and thought he was candid and insightful). Anyway, at one point in the Roddick interview Justin looked ahead to the next USA tie (vs. Croatia) and said, "And now you go on to Umag, and the red clay. . ."
I thought, whoa! Who said it was going to be in Umag, and on red clay? Am I nuts to think clay may not be the best choice for the tie? When I asked Roddick about Gimelstob's assumption in the presser afterwards, he said: "I'm not entirely convinced that it's going to be on clay. I don't know if that really helps them all that much. . It's going to be a choice of whether they want to try to help themselves a lot of just make us uncomfortable. I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that we'll play on clay, especially with the success they had against us twice on hard surfaces. . . We'll see. Everyone kind of quickly jumping to that assumption, but I don't know if it's a slam dunk."
Incidentally, Croatia is the only team that the USA has played but never beaten in Davis Cup competition (and that's a pool of 38 nations). USA is 0-2 vs. Croatia, and while you can't exactly call that domination, it's pretty impressive.
Mornin'. A little late to the game today, because my Outlook more-or-less crashed, but I wanted to give you a place to track today's action until I geta red-meat post up a little later. Those of you who watched Tennis Channel coverage of the USA vs. Switzerland Davis Cup tie may have seen the on-court interview Justin Gimelstob did with Andy Roddick following the third, clinching USA victory (I caught stretches of Justin's commentary during the matches and thought he was candid and insightful). Anyway, at one point in the Roddick interview Justin looked ahead to the next USA tie (vs. Croatia) and said, "And now you go on to Umag, and the red clay. . ."
