OK, everybody, what do you say we all pause from our preoccupations with Andy’s stinko backhand, Good Girl Kim’s champagne giveaway, Rusty and Bec’s battle with the Aussie tabs, the Aussie tennis establishment, Australian Open tournament direc . . . well, with everyone, it sometimes seems-let’s drop it all and revel in the glory of the Davis Cup weekend that is now upon us.
Sorry, any of you post-modernists out there. I get called an old F#@$ here and a conservative J&^% there, but I love Davis Cup, and I love it just the way it is: I’ll take the intrigue and even mayhem that sometimes accompanies the alternating home ground rule. I don’t mind the four-week commitment required of a team that makes it to the finals.
If I could brain blitz every player in the world, or if I merely ruled the world (it was my destiny, of course, but I became a tennis journalist instead. The things we do for love!), I would make every single tennis player out there a hopeless, happy slave to a schedule that started with the eight Grand Slam weeks and the one-to-four Davis Cup weeks blacked out in advance, and so what if it means you can’t pick up that 300K appearance fee for entering the Gas-Be-Gone Anti-Flatulence Remedy Classic. Just cowboy up and do the right thing.
If you want to get a sense of the warmth and bonhomie Davis Cup creates, just read the U.S. squad’s pre-draw presser transcript. You can’t fake this stuff, folks, and you can’t make it up. Davis Cup can make even the most hard-bitten and jaded of pros get all weak-kneed and teary-eyed. You’d think the just watched the Director’s Cut of Old Yeller for gosh sakes. Check out Ivan Ljubicic's comments on the pride he feels as a Davis Cupper. Incidentally, over at Court Coverage, our favorite Canadian hottie, Kamakshi, links to a moving story about Ljubicic’s travails. It's from some kind of U.N. site, but I’m having trouble getting the link to work (figures, it’s the U.N., right?).
Anyway, my favorite quote from the U.S. presser I mention above is Andy Roddick’s description of this Davis Cup memory:
This tie, BTW, isn't a slam dunk for the U.S. by any stretch. We probably got the draw we wanted, with Roddick going up against the Romanian No. 2, Andrei Pavel, to kick things off. But Pavel is a talented, versatile veteran with a hard-court Masters title to his name (Canadian Open) along with two fourth-round appearances at the U.S. Open. The guy never looks like he’s very fit; he’s also kind of hangdog, so you can get the impression that he’s loafing on court. But he’s a gifted player with great feel for the ball and solid court sense.
The second rubber will be a rematch of last year’s New Haven semifinals between James Blake and Victor Hanescu. Blake won the first meeting in three tough sets, and went on to win the title—setting the stage for his great run at the U .S. Open.
OK, you give Blake the karma advantage. On the other hand, James has been shaky in Davis Cup in the past, and Hanescu emerged last year as a very solid, adaptable player (this is a guy who lists his surfaces of choice as clay and grass), and remember, he beat David Nalbandian to get to the quarters last year in Paris, where it took a full effort by The Mighty Fed to derail him.
Thankfully for U.S. fans, we have a money doubles team in the Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob. I’ve always felt that doubles is the key to a great Davis Cup squad, including some of the dynastic U.S. teams of the past (in the Smith/Ashe and McEnroe eras). In fact, one of the main reasons to love Davis Cup is because doubles plays such a crucial (but still underrated) role in so many ties. It's the pivotal third of five matches, so any tie that ends 1-1 on Day One is very much about doubles.
But this is Davis Cup, it’s not just about the U.S., right? So let’s take a whirlwind tour round the world to check out the other ties in progress. I’m a big fan of the ITF’s Davis Cup site; it really captures the international spirit, and it even offers live scoring!
Croatia at Austria: Breaking news: Mario Ancic came back from a scare at the hands of Jurgen Melzer to win the first rubber. Got to like the Croats; they appreciate just how great an honor it is to be the defending champs.
Sweden at Argentina: I was looking at this one as a potential upset, because of underachieving Argentina’s chronic inability to play up to its Davis Cup potential. But at home, with Nalbandian already rolling through the opening rubber, I can’t see the Swedes pulling off the upset.
Russia at Netherlands: Dmitry Tursunov won the first rubber; Nikolay Davydenko is not about to lose the second. The Russians could be the sleeper squad, especially if our favorite knucklehead, Marat Safin, gets his act—and health—together.
Spain at Belarus: Fired up by the home crowd, Max Mirnyi set the table on the fast carpet with an upset of Tommy Robredo. Watch this one; it could be another early flameout for Spain. They're a bunch of whiners when they have to play on someone else's court.
Australia at Switzerland: The Mighty Fed chose to sit this out and it may cost the Swiss a chance to win, now that Aussie super-journeyman Peter Luczak took the first rubber.
France at Germany: Sebastian Grosjean avenged that controversy-marred Australian Open loss to Nicolas Kiefer in a big way, licking the surly German 6-0 in the third. Why is it that the Germans—like the current Argentineans—are such dogs in Davis Cup?
Slovak Republic at Chile: Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu showed what kind of damage they’re capable of inflicting at patriotic lovefests at the Athens Olympics, which makes them a pretty impressive brace of singles players for Davis Cup. A lot will depend on their draw, because of the choice-of-ground component. They should roll through the dismantled Slovak Dream Team (last year’s finalists) in the cozy confines of Rancagua (Is that like Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island?) stadium.
There you have it.
My prediction: James Blake will get into the Davis Cup groove and the U.S. will go deep into the competition, anchored by the Bumpin’ Bryans. Sure, I’m talking with my heart. What do you want, this is Davis Cup!