* !Rock by Pete Bodo*
With another Fed Cup weekend in the books, it's time to take a quick look ahead to tennis' greatest three-day weekend, March 4-6, when the Davis Cup World Group first-round ties commence. I'm going to focus just on the big picture for the United States here, because we still have nearly a month before play begins.
New captain Jim Courier will begin his tenure in Santiago, Chile, in a tie on red clay in the Estadio Nacional. We know that Courier was a fair player on the red dirt. He won Roland Garros twice, which most of you know. What you may not know is that he holds a record that may be safe for long, long time. He's still the youngest player to have reached the final of all four Grand Slam events. It may not be as sexy a mark as, say, most Grand Slam singles titles, or most consecutive weeks ranked No. 1, but it tells you how good—and how mature—Courier was at a young age.
That's one of the first words to pop into my mind when I think of "Rock." This guy was in many ways born mature, although that self-awareness and natural equilibrium was overshadowed when he yielded to his temper. Courier never did explode; he always had too much self-control for that. But man, can this guy do a cold stare or a slow burn, or issue a slow and deliberate but absolutely withering comment or criticism. If you want to learn how to do sarcasm, Rock is your man.
Jim is 40 now, and very telegenic. He has a special relationship with the Australian Open (which he also won twice), where he labors for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Channel 7. He's also become a fixture on Rod Laver Arena as a post-match interviewer. He's gotten really good at the job; he asks interesting questions and in a quiet way challenges the players to engage, to think. It's always great when you sense that an interviewer is a peer and equal of the person being interviewed, rather than a sycophant or camp follower.
Courier is also a kind of tennis ambassador for Donnay, the racket manufacturer made famous by Bjorn Borg, and a senior tournament impresario (the Champion's Tour was his brainchild). Upon turning 40, Courier decided he needed a racket that was a little larger in the head, a little more forgiving, and capable of delivering more power than the racket he swung for 25 years, the Wilson Pro Staff. I'm told that it was Courier who reached out to Donnay when he first contemplated the change. Now they're partners.
Power is one element that Courier will have in ample supply no matter whom he names to his Davis Cup squad. Andy Roddick, John Isner, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, the Bryan brothers...hail, if you designed some kind of power shoot-out, those six guys could compete in one of those USA vs. rest-of-the-world battles and do awfully well. The problem, of course, is that power alone will not win you a tennis match, never mind an entire Davis Cup tie.
As we amble toward early March, it will be increasingly difficult to get accurate comparative data on the main contenders for a place on the team. The great tennis diaspora that takes place the end of the Australian Open, and lasts until the beginning of Indian Wells, is upon us. The only place that offered solid comparables was the Australian Open, and the results there were inconclusive and will be dated by the time Courier is obliged to name his team.
"I'll tell you one thing," Courier told me over the phone before the men's semis in Melbourne, "I've spent an awful lot of time these past few weeks running around from one court to another, keeping tabs on my guys."
Roddick looked good—until he ran afoul of Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round. It didn't seem like such a bad loss until we saw a very different "Manislas" W. capitulate to countryman Roger Federer in the next round. Mardy Fish was out of Australia in the second round, suffering from something more than the fatigue left over from his five-set, first-round battle with Victor Hanescu. Fish was the hero of the all-important playoff round victory over Colombia on the red clay of Bogota, but he's apparently suffering from a strange and as yet unidentified virus. "Right after he lost here," Courier said, "Mardy was off to Los Angeles to take a bunch of tests. He doesn't have the energy he needs. At this point we're just not sure where he stands."
Courier was a fierce competitor, so it's probably significant that when I threw the name John Isner out there, he remarked: "John is really a feisty competitor; I love that about him. And he's back in excellent shape." Isner played two good matches in Melbourne before he lost to Marin Cilic, 9-7 in the fifth. Isner's pal Querrey did not fare quite as well. Among all the singles candidates, he's the one whose tournament was flat-out awful. Querrey lost in the first round to Poland's Lukasz Kubot, in a real heartbreaker that went into overtime (Kubot won it 8-6 in the fifth). Courier said that Sam had "equipment issues" that hurt his confidence. Apparently, Querrey was trying out some different strings.
So if the tie with Chile were to have been played last week, Roddick and Isner would have been the clear choices to play singles. But Courier isn't putting too much emphasis on the Melbourne results.
"With the guys we have, we should be looking at a six man team," he said, looking out past the first tie to the indefinite future. The two other guys in that half-dozen are the Australian Open doubles champs and long-time Davis Cup go-to doubles team of Mike and Bob Bryan. But there's a cost to taking a dedicated doubles team when you have something like three or four equally qualified singles candidates; you reduce your options in singles by 33 per cent. That's a serious consideration, especially when you factor in that three of the U.S. singles players (Roddick is the exception) are very capable doubles players. Still, as Courier said, "The Bryans are the world's best doubles team. It would be awfully hard not to use them."
Courier believes that the U.S. has a legitimate chance to win the entire competition. He's also a big believer in momentum and confidence, which means, among other things, that he'll be willing to go with whomever has the hot hand. And he's glad that despite the inevitable jockeying for inclusion in the team, the Americans as a whole have a terrific attitude.
"The energy of this team is one of Pat (McEnroe's) great accomplishments," Courier said of his predecessor. "He shifted the entire vibe of Davis Cup, made the players really want to be part of it. And in this day and age, that was a great accomplishment. All these guys are extremely easy to deal with and eager to be part of this effort."
Chile may be easier to deal with, too, now that it seems Fernando Gonazlez will not be sufficiently recovered from hip surgery to lead the host team. But even if he does become available, he'll be woefully short of match play and conditioning. With Gonzalez, a former world No. 5 but now over 30 years old, out of the picture, Courier ought to have a successful debut regardless of whom he takes along on the trip.
When I asked Jim if he was nervous at all, he said, "No, not exactly. What I am is excited, and feeling challenged in a good way."