Fed Cup Photos

AP

Petra Kvitova, left, from Czech Republic is embraced by the team's captain Petr Pala, right, as she celebrates after defeating Daniela Hantuchova from Slovakia in their world group first round tennis match in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Kvitova won the match 6-4, 6-2 and gave Czech Republic a decisive 3-0 lead.

Getty

Aleksandra Krunic (L) and Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia celebrate after beating Sharon Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada during their Fed Cup doubles tennis match on February 6, 2011, in Novi Sad, Serbia. Serbia won the tie.


Reuters

US player Bethanie Mattek-Sands returns the ball against Belgian Kim Clijsters during the Fed Cup first round match on February 6, 2011 in Antwerp. Belgium won the tie.



Getty

Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (L) is congatulated by her former teammate Anastasia Myskina (R) as they celebrate a victory over the French duo of Alize Cornet and Julie Coin during their doubles match of the Fed Cup tennis match in Moscow on February 6, 2011. Russia won the tie.

Checking In

It's pouring rain. Has been all day. Figured I'd cozy up to the television and finally take in some tennis. Watch a full match, even. Missed 99% of the USA vs. Russia Fed Cup tie. Haven't even checked to see who advanced. I suspect Russia. When are the women going to learn how to hold serve?

Since my favorite clay court tournament began, I've seen about 10 total games. Here and there. Saw Juan Carlos Ferrero thoroughly outhit by a player I don't believe I've ever heard of. Ferrero isn't getting any younger. Played too much tennis in South America. Gotta make hay while the sun shines, no? Saw Roger Federer completely disappear in the last stretch of his match. As though he, like me, had something else to do.

Clay is funny that way.

Maine clay is even funnier. This farmer is right out straight and I'm not even done with spring planting. Couldn't even keep my eyes open in front of the television. Probably shouldn't have taken on the other thing I've taken on that I've yet to talk at all about in these parts. We'll get to that some other time.

Meantime, enjoy what appears to be a rather listless event. Says the one who's watched a mere 10 games.

Where the hell is Andy Roddick?

Fed Cup Open Thread

AP

From left, United States tennis players Christina McHale, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin before their Fed Cup World Group first round tennis match in Lievin, northern France, Saturday Feb. 6, 2010.

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FRANCE v USA
Venue: Stade Couvert Regional Lievin, Lievin, FRA (clay – indoors)

France
Alize Cornet
Julie Coin
Pauline Parmentier
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro
Captain: Nicolas Escude

USA
Melanie Oudin
Shenay Perry
Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Liezel Huber
Captain: Mary Joe Fernandez

UKRAINE v ITALY
Venue: Palace of Sports "Lokomotiv", Kharkiv, UKR (hard – indoors)

Ukraine
Alona Bondarenko
Kateryna Bondarenko
Viktoria Kutuzova
Mariya Koryttseva
Captain: Vlodymyr Bogdanov

Italy
Flavia Pennetta
Francesca Schiavone
Sara Errani
Roberta Vinci
Captain: Corrado Barazzutti

CZECH REPUBLIC v GERMANY
Venue: Brno Exhibition Centre (Hall B), Brno, CZE (hard – indoors)

Czech Republic
Lucie Safarova
Lucie Hradecka
Petra Kvitova
Kveta Peschke
Captain: Petr Pala

Germany
Andrea Petkovic
Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Tatjana Malek
Kristina Barrois
Captain: Barbara Rittner

SERBIA v RUSSIA
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, SRB (hard – indoors)

Serbia
Jelena Jankovic
Ana Ivanovic
Bojana Jovanovski
Ana Jovanovic
Captain: Dejan Vranes

Russia
Alisa Kleybanova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Vera Dushevina
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

Italy Wins Second Fed Cup

Getty

Team Italy (left Corrado Barazzutti, Francesca Schiavone, Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta) lift the trophy after the final match of the Fed Cup World Group between Italy and the USA at Circolo Tennis Rocco Polimeni on November 8, 2009 in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

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Twas a clean sweep.

Fernandez and Farina Receive Fed Cup Award

Mary Joe Fernandez and Silvia Farina Honored with 2009 Fed Cup Award of Excellence


Silvia Farina (Elia)

NEWPORT, R.I., U.S.A., November 7, 2009 - The International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have announced that Mary Joe Fernandez, USA Fed Cup Captain, and Silvia Farina, the player with the most Fed Cup wins in Italy's history, are the recipients of the 2009 Fed Cup Award of Excellence. Presentation of the Fed Cup Award of Excellence will be made on Sunday, November 8 in Reggio Calabria, Italy during the Fed Cup World Group Final presented by BNP Paribas and contested between USA and Italy.

Presenting the award will be ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti and Jane Brown Grimes, president emerita of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum.

"Mary Joe and Silvia have played an important role in the history and growth of the Fed Cup, with Mary Joe leading Team USA to their first final in nine years and Silvia posting such tremendous results for Italy over the years," said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. "They have both been active contributors to the Fed Cup and we are honored today to present them with the 2009 Fed Cup Award of Excellence."

The Fed Cup Award of Excellence was inaugurated by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Tennis Federation in 2001. The Fed Cup Award of Excellence is presented to a person who represents the ideals and spirit of the Fed Cup competition and must be a member of a past or present Fed Cup team.

Current Team USA Captain Mary Joe Fernandez was a member of the 1996 winning Fed Cup team. During her career, Fernandez had seven WTA singles victories, 17 doubles titles and was ranked as high as No. #4 in the world. Fernandez captured two Grand Slam doubles victories (1996 French Open with Lindsay Davenport and 1991 Australian Open with Patty Fendick). In addition, she was the runner-up in three Grand Slam singles tournaments. Fernandez has two Olympic gold medals, won in partnership with Gigi Fernández. Fernandez retired in 2000 and is currently a commentator for ESPN.

Italy's Silvia Farina reached a career high world ranking of No. 11 in 2002. She captured three singles victories and 11 doubles victories during her career. In addition, she represented Italy on nine Fed Cup teams and three Olympic teams. Farina has a record 23 Fed Cup victories, more than any other Italian player in Fed Cup history.

Past recipients of the Fed Cup Award of Excellence are Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Conchita Martinez in 2001; Great Britain's Virginia Wade in 2002; Larisa Savchenko of Latvia in 2003; Olga Morozova of Russia in 2004; Françoise "Frankie" Dürr of France in 2005; Sabine Appelmans of Belgium in 2006; Lea Pericoli of Italy in 2007; and Miguel Margets of Spain in 2008.

The 2009 World Group Fed Cup Final presented by BNP Paribas will be contested in Calabria, Italy between USA and Italy on November 7 - 8. The tournament will be streamed live on www.fedcup.tv

Fed Cup Final Open Thread

Getty

USA team during the national anthems at the Final of the Fed Cup World Group between Italy and the USA at Circolo Tennis Rocco Polimeni on November 7, 2009 in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

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Italy leads USA 1-0. I haven't checked the scores, but that would mean Flavia Pennetta had her way with Alexa Glatch. Melanie Oudin just broke Francesca Schiavone in the fourth game of the second rubber.

Serena To Play Fed Cup

Mary Jo Fernandez is overjoyed.

“I am very excited that Serena wants to represent her country. As Captain, you want to have your best players competing, and Serena is the best in the world. Liezel is unquestionably our team leader and her strong doubles play has clinched both ties this season. Melanie is possibly the most improved player in the world this year, as evidenced by her incredible run at the US Open, and Alexa won two key matches on the road against the Czech Republic in April and will not be intimidated by the environment. I strongly believe that this team can go into Italy and win the Fed Cup title.”

Sorrelle?

ROME (AP)— Venus and Serena Williams are interested in playing the Fed Cup final against Italy in November despite skipping the United States’ victory over the Czech Republic last weekend.

“I would love to play in the final. Serena and I would both love to play,” Venus Williams said Sunday at the Italian Open, where both sisters are entered. “We talked about it, and we just have to stay healthy. I really hope we can both play. It will be great for the U.S.”

Italy will host the Nov. 7-8 final at a site still to be determined.

Italy is looking for the slowest clay courts it can find to soften the impact of the Williamses’ punishing groundstrokes. Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti said he’s even considering holding the tie outside despite the late fall date, perhaps in southern Italy or the islands of Sardegna or Sicily.

“I would love an island, but wherever you put me, I’ll go,” Venus said.

In the 3-2 semifinal win over the Czech Republic, Fed Cup rookies Alexa Glatch and Bethanie Mattek-Sands lined up for U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

Italy is led by Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta, while Roberta Vinci has a 13-0 record in Fed Cup doubles. Vinci paired with Sara Errani in Italy’s 4-1 semifinal win over Russia.

The U.S. has won a record 17 Fed Cup titles but none since 2000, while the Italians have reached three of the past four finals, winning their only title in 2006 over Belgium.

“The Italians still have a great team,” Venus said. “They’re all very good athletes.”

Faces Of The Day

Reuters

Alexa Glatch, Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States celebrate after defeating the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova and Kveta Peschke during their Fed Cup semifinal tennis match in Brno April 26, 2009.

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They fought off a match point in the doubles. Which wouldn't have even mattered if Alexa Glatch didn't win both of her singles rubbers. I was impressed. She claims clay is her favorite surface -- yes, this is an American player -- but with her big serve and slow skidding slices off both wings, she could find success on grass. Nice to see Mattek-Sands redeem her terrible singles play in the last half of the doubles. And Liezel Huber is scary.

Savannah has more.

Flipping The Bird

Feisty, feisty.

"She gave the finger and should have been removed right away," she said.

France captain Nicolas Escude confirmed that the hosts were objecting to Pennetta's win due to the gesture towards the umpire.

Mauresmo earned a match point at 7-6 in the second set tiebreak thanks to an overrule. "We have prepared a letter for the supervisor to have the result of the match being revised," Escude said.

"At that moment, I didn't really see and cotton on," said Mauresmo, who indicated that when she did look up Pennetta appeared to have mouthed an insult at the chair, flicking her middle finger.

The point gave the Frenchwoman a match point but she then served a double fault and eventually slumped to defeat.

Pennetta, who did receive a warning for her conduct, said she was sorry afterwards.

Team Effort

Getty

But 17-year-old Melanie Oudin is the hero. In her Davis Cup debut she rallies against Argentina to keep the USA in the tie, allowing Leizel Huber, the world No. 1 in doubles, to close out the tie with Julie Ditty. And Jill Craybas did her part yesterday, getting the USA off to a 1-0 lead.

Mary Jo Fernandez is vicious. I was happy to see that side of her. She barked orders and support before every point from the sidelines. I liked it. Kudos for leading the USA back from the brink of defeat for the first time in Fed Cup history in her debut as captain.

We play the Czech Republic next. Italy, who upset France, will play Russia, who routed China, in the other world group semifinal.

Czech Mate

AP

Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova, center, celebrates with the team's captain Petr Pala, right, and teammates Lucie Safarova, 2nd left, and Kveta Peschke, left, after defeating Nuria Llagostera Vives from Spain in their Fed Cup world group first round tennis match played in Brno, Czech Republic, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. Kvitova won the match 6-4, 7-5 and secured for Czech Republic the semifinal.

Face Of The Day - Comment Of The Week II

(Updated)


Getty

Madona Najarian of Iran returns serve against Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan during their singles match of the Fed Cup in Perth on February 5, 2009. Voskoboeva won the match 6-0, 6-0.

UPDATE: I'm moving this back up to the top of the page because the discussion is nothing short of scintillating.

UPDATE: Comment Of The Week II

HoiHa said...

It seems very clear that we must all be very careful about the assumptions we make, myself included of course.

Karen - Ironically, I was born and raised in Jamaica so I too am a Jamaican like yourself but I have made my home in Hong Kong and China for the past 12 years now. So I have lived in cultures and countries impacted by colonialism, racism, sexism and homophobia. I also travel for 6 months out of the year and have spent time on every continent - so I am not ignorant of other cultures and am very open to ideas and views that are decidedly not "western". My business partner is from Pakistan and is Muslim (though she is not observant).

I really do not care what a person chooses to believe for themselves provided that all persons are treated equally and have the same equality of opportunity.

I do not believe that women should be required to modify their dress according to how it will impact men. Women should be free to wear whatever they choose to wear. If they want to walk around in a bikini down a busy road - well IMHO they are idiots but I will fight for a woman's right to do that if that is what a woman wants to do.

My discomfort with the hijab and the concept of dressing "modestly" (be it Christian, Jewish, Islamic etc) is that it takes responibility for men's sexual behaviour out of the hands of men - where it belongs - and places it squarely on women. I believe that men have full control over their sexual impulses and to say otherwise not only infantalises men but also sets us along a very dangerous and slippery slope toward blaming the victim for male sexual violence.

In some religions the head is covered as an act of subservience to a/the higher power. Head covering in those religions is about the woman's (or man's)direct and personal relationship with her/his God. The hijab however is not about a woman's direct and personal relationship with Allah but rather is about womens' relationships with men and society and concern that human beings - and especially men - are somehow less than capable of controlling their sexual impulses and desires. I refuse to believe this is true.

If a woman chose to wear the hijab and told me that it had nothing to do with how men perceived her and had nothing to do with sexaul issues, then I would have no problem at all with it. But that is not what the hijab is about.

One can try and say that men also are expected to dress modestly in Islam but the truth is that Iran's (very talented) football team is not wearing the same outfit that the women's tennis team are wearing are they?

Having said all that, if a woman freely and after due consideration makes a personal choice (not one imposed on her by the State or by her family etc etc) to wear the hijab, then, while I may not like what it represents (same as I would not really like a woman who chose to wear a bikin down the high street), i would nevertheless support her right to wear it.

And of course their sexism in other religions and other cultures ... noone is claiming otherwise.

And BTW - Iranian sportswomen have admitted widely and freely that they do not have any choice over what they wear as their uniforms are state mandated and many feel that they cannot compete at the same level as other women as a result and feel hard done by because of it (http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/16flip.htm).

Yes, Safina is a Tatar Muslims. Sania Mirza is also Muslim.

Finally, I hope nobody on these boards is offended by comments here - this is a good and important discussion and especially so in the context of sport. All the best everyone and Happy Year of the Oxe (Gung hei fat choi).

Fri Feb 06, 10:53:00 PM

Fed Cup Weekend

Team France and Team Italy

WORLD GROUP FIRST ROUND

RUSSIA v CHINA, P.R.
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Moscow, RUS (hard – indoors)

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) v Zi Yan (CHN)
Elena Dementieva (RUS) v Shuai Zhang (CHN)
Elena Dementieva (RUS) v Zi Yan (CHN)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) v Shuai Zhang (CHN)
Anna Chakvetadze/Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) v Tian-Tian Sun/Zi Yan (CHN)

FRANCE v ITALY
Venue: Palais Des Sports, Orleans, FRA (hard – indoors)

Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) v Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
Alize Cornet (FRA) v Francesca Schiavone (ITA)
Alize Cornet (FRA) v Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) v Francesca Schaivone (ITA)
Severine Bremond/Nathalie Dechy (FRA) v Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA)

USA v ARGENTINA
Venue: Surprise Racketball & Tennis Complex, Surprise, AZ, USA (hard – outdoors)

USA
Jullie Ditty
Jill Craybas
Melanie Oudin
Liezel Huber
Captain: Mary-Joe Fernandez

Argentina
Gisela Dulko
Betina Jozami
Soledad Esperon
Aranza Salut
Captain: Ricardo Rivera

CZECH REPUBLIC v SPAIN
Venue: Brno Exhibition Centre, Brno, CZE (carpet – indoors)

Petra Kvitova (CZE) v Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)
Iveta Benesova (CZE) v Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)
Iveta Benesova (CZE) v Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)
Petra Kvitova (CZE) v Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)
Iveta Benesova/Kveta Peschke (CZE) v Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)

WORLD GROUP II FIRST ROUND

SLOVAK REPUBLIC v BELGIUM
Venue: Sibamac Arena, Bratislava, SVK (hard – indoors)

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
Dominika Cibulkova/Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v Tamaryn Hendler/Sofie Oyen (BEL)

SWITZERLAND v GERMANY
Venue: Saalsporthalle, Zurich, SUI (hard – indoors)

Patty Schnyder (SUI) v Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v Sabine Lisicki (GER)
Patty Schnyder (SUI) v Sabine Lisicki (GER)
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)
Timea Bacsinszky/Patty Schnyder (SUI) v Kristina Barrois/Tatjana Malek (GER)

SERBIA v JAPAN
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, SRB (hard – indoors)

Ana Ivanovic (SRB) v Ai Sugiyama (JPN)
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) v Ayumi Morita (JPN)
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) v Ai Sugiyama (JPN)
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) v Ayumi Morita (JPN)
Ana Ivanovic/Jelena Jankovic (SRB) v Ayumi Morita/Ai Sugiyama (JPN)

UKRAINE v ISRAEL
Venue: Palace of Sports “Lokomotiv”, Kharkiv, UKR (hard – indoors)

Alona Bondarenko (UKR) v Tzipi Obziler (ISR)
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v Shahar Peer (ISR)
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) v Shahar Peer (ISR)
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v Tzipi Obziler (ISR)
Mariya Koryttseva/Olga Savchuk (UKR) v Julia Glushko/Shahar Peer (ISR)

Face Of The Day

AFP

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza is seen here addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on February 3, upon her return from Melbourne where she won the Australian Open mixed doubles title. India's chances of reaching the next stage of the Federation Cup however have been dealt a major blow with the late withdrawal of Mirza who cited a tear in abdominal muscle as the reason for pull-out.

Discrimination?

Zina Garrison thinks so. She's suing the USTA after negotiations for her Fed Cup captaincy contract broke down.

Surprise, Surprise

The USTA has chosen Surprise, Arizona, to host the quarterfinal Fed Cup tie against Argentina next February. I'll be surprised if both sisters don't commit, especially since they tend to foreswear regular WTA events between Melbourne and Miami.

Fed Cup Champions Once More

For a summary of the final day, click here.

Fed Cup Final

Fed Cup Final Draw
WORLD GROUP FINAL

SPAIN v RUSSIA
Venue: Club de Campo, Madrid, Spain
(clay – outdoors)

Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) v Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) v Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
Nuria Llagostera Vives/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) v Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Raise your hand if you care.

American Hero

(AP Photo)

I apologize for being a day late and a dollar short. But you can blame the rain in southern California for delaying the second day of Fed Cup action between USA and Germany until yesterday. By the time the matches ended, I had to be en route to Boston, where I now sit and throw together this scattered post.

Here's to Ashley Harkleroad, who came into her own once more and led the USA to a 4-1 victory in her Fed Cup debut. I said all I can say about her game and poise and composure in my last post, and it was nice to see her fight through her nerves and close out the tie on serve on her first attempt. Especially against the hot-ticket-of-the-moment in Sabine Lisicki.

For a woman so young, she is a tennis veteran of sorts. What with a marriage a divorce a broken engagement (I'm typing from memory here so if I'm wrong about these personal matters, someone correct me), a retirement from tennis because she couldn't handle the pressure of being America's Next Big Thing on women's side, and her comeback to the tour through challengers as the game seemed to have passed her by and we've got a gritty fighter who showed all that and more in for her team and her country.

Lindsay Davenport bounced back, as expected, and put a 46-minute beatdown on Julia Georges, a last minute substitution of Tatjana Malek who showed she could not handle the stress of Fed Cup. After the final singles rubber, Lindsay and veteran Lisa Raymond but on a brief doubles clinic against Anna-Lena Groenefeld (what the hell ever happened to her?) and Goerges, losing just two game.


(AFP/Getty Images)

Next up for the USA is a trip to Moscow to face Russia who overcame all of Israel in a 4-1 victory.

I watched the reverse singles of the Russia-Isreal tie and the Israeli crowd was back in full force trying to do whatever it could to get their players a victory. But Maria Sharapova and Anna Chakvetadze were having none of it.

For her part, AnnaC went practically bonkers out there. But that was her way of telling the crowd to go screw itself.

Vlad corrected my match facts. I hate when I get a fact from a match wrong, because there's really no excuse for that, but I stand by everything else I wrote. In particular, I've seen worse from crowds. That is my perception. I said I wouldn't go there, but I've changed my mind. Consider this a Tuesday Tirade if you must (you hear me, helen w?).

Agree or not, but I consider it worse when your home fans turn on you, boo you, and shout racist slurs at you in the finals of a Tier 1 event virtually in your own backyard as they did against Serena Williams at Indian Wells in 2001. I consider it worse when the French fans act like a lynch mob simply because you are trying to defend your title by beating a desperate and cheating woman in the 2003 Roland Garros semifinal. And lest you think I feel this way only because I'm a fan of Serena, I will point out that the Madrid fans were worse to Tomas Berdych, whom I no fan of, simply because he was beating homeboy Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Masters in 2006. Tomas had to serve through jeers and hit his groundstrokes through boos. And this was before his infamous finger shush to the crowd after the match, much like the one Sharapova gestured to the Israeli crowd after the first day of the tie in question. Tomas was chastised by fans; Maria, applauded. And who can forget the way the Flushing Meadows fans booed and hissed at a cramping Marcos Baghdatis in the the second round on the 2007 US Open simply because it was Andre Agassi's last Slam event? There's more, but I'll stop. You get my point.

None of the events above were venues where any such fan behavior was expected (well...) or ought to have been tolerated. Davis Cup and Fed Cup remain the only tennis competitions where such roudy and rude fan behavior is part of the attraction of the event. All players know what they're getting into. Know that they have to beat their opponents and the fans. No player expects to be coddled by the opposing team's fans because of what he or she might have gone through off the court during the off-season. This references a fan who suggested the crowd should be ashamed of itself if it knew that AnnaC's family home had been robbed at gunpoint in December. But AnnaC didn't back down from her attackers then. With her life on the line. That experience, which she emerged from physically unscathed, makes what she had to deal with on a tennis court a stroll in the park. Take a look:



Ultimately, how a visiting team deals with hostility can ultimately decide the outcome of a tie. Maria and AnnaC were defiant and antagonistic and it worked for them. Both admitted that the atmosphere motivated them even more to win their matches. Weaker-minded players may have cowered. But not these women. Oh, no. They held their ground, stood strong, and prevailed anyway.

So who, exactly, was harmed by the crowd's behavior?

And lest we also forget, the officials in Davis Cup and Fed Cup have the discretion to give the visiting team points or even games if the crowd's behavior crosses whatever line it needs to cross for the point and game penalties to be given. How often did they use that discretion during this tie?

Mob behavior is just that. If the tie officials don't do their jobs, well, then....