To the Brim Again

Will there ever come a time when tennis players and fans just throw up their hands and admit that Davis Cup is fine as it is? Probably not; no competition inspires as much hand-wringing and second-guessing. And there are legitimate reasons for that. But for those of us who actually tune in to it four times a year, no competition is as consistently satisfying, either. After watching another round of semifinals and relegation matches over the last three days, I’d go so far as to say that Davis Cup is that rare entertainment that never lets you down. Here are three reasons that was true again this weekend.

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Andy Murray was the hero of the weekend, as he led Great Britain to its first Cup final since 1978. Murray won his two singles matches, in straight sets, over Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic, and teamed with his brother Jamie to win a thrilling five-setter in doubles. Each of his fellow Big 4 members has had at least one moment in the Davis Cup sun; so far 2015 is Murray’s year.

Just as amazing, though, was what Murray didn’t do in his singles matches. He didn’t scream at his player’s box, he didn’t give his coach a sarcastic thumb’s up after every lost point, he didn’t bark out F-bombs on the sidelines or as he got ready to return serve, the way he did at the U.S. Open two weeks ago. Instead, Murray played with a razor-sharp, no-frills, no-messing-about sense of focus. And it worked. His backhand was better than it has ever been, and there was a fortress-like thoroughness to his game. Murray’s singles record in Davis Cup is now 25-2.

This is what playing for your country, rather than yourself, does to some people. The best and most talented players don’t let their mental vulnerabilities sabotage their talent the way they often do in tour matches. The pros always say there’s a special anxiety that comes with competing for their countries, but it also offers a special motivation; the top guys have no choice but to block out distractions and win. Coming into this weekend, Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Murray were a combined 134-18 in Davis Cup singles. The Cup effect was even more pronounced for talented head cases like Marat Safin and David Nalbandian, who played with an unfamiliar, straightforward resolve when they led their teams into battle. Where else could Marcos Baghdatis win 32 straight matches?

For all of these players, the little voice of doubt and negativity that they bring on court with them most of the time is silenced. In Davis Cup, tennis, for once, is no longer a reflection on the individual; it’s a reflection on the group. This adds responsibility, but it also seems to lessen doubt—you have a purpose bigger than yourself. Watching Murray ignore his (usually very loud) voice of negativity this weekend, and marveling at his level of play, I wondered what tennis would be like if it was always a team game, played with stakes this high. Would the quality rise? And who would win when the best players faced off?

Unfortunately—and here is one of those legitimate reasons for hand-wringing about the team competition—of the 193 matches played between the Big 4, just two of them have come in Davis Cup.

It may be heresy to some, but I admit to being conflicted about watching doubles as a fan. The pinball points can be exciting, and the hand skills that create them amazing to behold, but I miss the one-on-one psychological struggle of singles.

In Davis Cup, the struggle and the stakes are built-in, and that’s especially true in doubles. With a day to itself, and five sets to play itself out, doubles is, for once, the main event rather than the sideshow. It matters as much as singles.

Fans who have followed Great Britain’s path through the tournament have been rewarded with two of the best matches—doubles or otherwise—of 2015. The first was Bob and Mike Bryan’s win, 9-7 in the fifth set, over Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot, in the first-round tie between the U.S. and the Brits. The second came on Saturday, when Jamie and his brother Andy beat Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth 6-4 in the fifth.

The fast hands, the flying poaches, the lob returns, the sharp angles, the long, laugh-inducing smash-lob rallies: These are things you don’t see in singles; they’re elements of tennis that have largely been eliminated from the modern game, with its focus on, and marketing of, the individual star. But here, when they’re given meaning in Davis Cup, they engage the crowd in a way that even the best singles points don’t.

This isn't just true of players, it's true of fans as well. By early Sunday afternoon, I had finished watching my tape of Murray disposing of Tomic, and had assumed that Argentina, which led Belgium 2-1 after the doubles, had done the same and advanced to the final. Then I learned on Twitter that Belgium’s Steve Darcis was serving for the match, and the tie, against Federico Delbonis. Up until then, Darcis had been the weekend's anti-Murray, losing in singles and doubles. Now he had a chance to be the hero in the fifth rubber.

By the time I turned to the match, Darcis and Delbonis were at 5-4, 15-15 in the fourth and the Belgian crowd was on its feet—more than that, it looked like they were ready, en masse, to leap onto the court. And why not? They were about to reach their first Davis Cup final in 111 years. From my perspective, this was exciting, obviously, but it was also nerve-wracking. Could I deal with seeing Darcis blow it and lose? Was I ready to have my pleasant, low-stakes Sunday upended? When Darcis did lose that game, after holding two match points, I had to change the channel. I couldn’t see that crowd walk away disappointed. I couldn’t watch a fifth set.

But I couldn’t stay away, either. I turned back as the two players entered a fourth-set tiebreaker, but I kept the remote in my hand in case Darcis fell behind. Fortunately, he never did, and fortunately I got to see his final overhead winner, and his final leap of joy.

Darcis had come through, but Delbonis had pushed him to the limit; he had made him hit one more shot to clinch it. Here was a chance, at a time when just a few top male players dominate, to see two journeyman show us their best on one of the game’s great stages, to perform with the whole tennis world watching. Here was a chance, at a time of few surprises in men’s tennis, to see a genuinely surprising Davis Cup final take shape, between Great Britain and Belgium.

And here was a chance to see 59th-ranked Steve Darcis overcome his nerves and play a perfect point to win the tie—I’m not even sure how he held the racquet steady on that final smash. His diving celebration, and the pandemonium in the arena, ended up reverberating through my Sunday. Davis Cup hadn't let me down.