Serbia Wins Davis Cup, Makes History

by Craig Hickman


Reuters

Serbia's team captain Bogdan Obradovic and members Nenad Zimonjic, Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki (L-R) raise up the Davis Cup trophy in Belgrade December 5, 2010.

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Relative to other tennis powerhouses, Serbian tennis remains underfunded. Still, the nation just won its first Davis Cup on the strings of unheralded Viktor Troicki.

It can thank Guy Forget, the coach of France's team, for a bit assist. Not that I didn't think Michael Llodra wouldn't make an intriguing choice in the final rubber. But his 30-year-old body didn't recover from yesterday's doubles marathon, and that was clear from the first point.

As someone tweeted, this tie was ultimately decided in the locker room this morning.

Amélie Mauresmo was not pleased.


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But make no mistake. Troicki earned his nation's victory with remarkable returns of serve, and viciously dipping passing shots that simply defied logic.

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He got the chance to secure victory on the strength of Novak Djokovic's play against Gael Monfils in the day's first match. (Monfils needs to rein in himself. He has zero on-court discipline. And I mean zero.)


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In the end, it was too easy. I had hoped for a more competitive final match of 2010, and perhaps with Gilles Simon, a counterpuncher who fights to the finish, the match may have featured a more compelling scoreline even if the result remained the same.

We'll never know.

What we do know is that Serbia becomes the 13th nation to win the Davis Cup and only the second in history to prevail in its final debut. Interestingly, Croatia was the first back in 2005.

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Serbian President Boris Tadic gestures.


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Face Of The Day

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Retired French tennis player Amélie Mauresmo turned coach watches the match between Mardy Fish of U.S and Michael Llodra of France, during their quarterfinal singles match on the fifth day of the AEGON Championships tennis tournament at Queen's Club, in west London on June 11, 2010.

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Singles - Quarterfinals
[8] F Lopez (ESP) d [1] R Nadal (ESP) 76(5) 64
[7] S Querrey (USA) d X Malisse (BEL) 63 75
M Fish (USA) d [12] M Llodra (FRA) 64 64
R Schuettler (GER) d [14] D Sela (ISR) 75 64

Singles - Third Round
M Fish (USA) d [3] A Murray (GBR) 64 16 76(2)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [5] M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) 64 62
N Djokovic (SRB) / J Erlich (ISR) d [2] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) 46 76(6) 10-3
K Beck (SVK) / D Skoch (CZE) d [6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) 63 76(3)
[8] J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB) 64 61

Doubles - Second Round
[6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) d M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) W/O (Nadal - right hamstring)

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Halle

Singles - Quarterfinals
[1] R Federer (SUI) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) 75 63
[8] L Hewitt (AUS) d [WC] A Beck (GER) 76(0) 61
P Petzschner (GER) d L Lacko (SVK) 64 63
B Becker (GER) d [WC] M Zverev (GER) 76(4) 60

Doubles - Semifinals
S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Youzhny (RUS) d [1] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 36 63 11-9

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Birmingham

Singles - Quarterfinals
(1/WC) Li Na (CHN) d. (Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) 64 62
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) 62 64
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) d. (3) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 67(5) 64 63
(4) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (5) Sara Errani (ITA) 76(2) 75

Singles - Third Round
(1) Li Na (CHN) d. (13) Angelique Kerber (GER) 46 63 75
(5) Sara Errani (ITA) d. Marina Erakovic (NZL) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) 62 62

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. Pelletier/Senoglu (CAN/TUR) 61 61
(2) Black/Raymond (ZIM/USA) d. Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) 63 62
Grandin/Spears (RSA/USA) d. (4) Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) 75 36 10-6

Doubles - First Round
(1) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. (WC) Robson/Watson (GBR/GBR) 64 64
(2) Black/Raymond (ZIM/USA) d. Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA) 67(3) 75 10-5
(3) Hsieh/Kudryavtseva (TPE/RUS) d. Dzehalevich/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) 61 64
(4) Chuang/Govortsova (TPE/BLR) d. Ditty/Savchuk (USA/UKR) 63 63
Pelletier/Senoglu (CAN/TUR) d. (WC) Keothavong/South (GBR/GBR) 76(3) 63
King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. Czink/Errani (HUN/ITA) 76(1) 63
Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 16 64 10-6

All-Country Finals

Already today, Michael Llodra defeated Julien Benneateau in the All-French final at the Open 13 in Marseille.

Later today, David Ferrer will face off against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the All-Spanish final at the Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires.

And Sam Querrey will take the court against John Isner in the All-American final at the Region Morgan's Keenan Championships in Memphis for the "next big thing in American tennis" bragging rights.

Who you got?

French Hope

AP

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga holds his trophy after defeating France's Michael Llodra 7-5, 7-6(4) during their final match of the Open 13 tennis tournament, in Marseille, southern France, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009.

TMS Roma 5/6/08 - A Four Match Summary

by Savannah

I was home and got to watch tennis all day. It wasn't a planned day, it just happened. The day started with Andy Roddick facing Mardy Fish. On Monday Fish beat Michael Llodra of France. I didn't see the match but Llodra is no slouch on clay so the match today was highly anticipated. When a news article appeared in which Andy said he had spent a lot of time moving into the new apartment in New York City he'll share with his fiancee many tennis heads took that as Andy sending up the white flag and admitting he was set for a second round exit. Instead of a competitive match Mardy seemed to revert to the role of good friend and played nothing like he had the day before against Llodra. Andy played in his usual style and won easily in straight sets.

Andy's match was followed by another highly anticipated match between Roger Federer and Guillermo Canas. This would be their first meeting on clay. I'm sure Canas and his team watched the tape later to make sure he was really on court against Federer. Roger had no intention of letting Guillermo even think he had a chance. It's not that Willy didn't try. Roger made sure to crush every idea Willy had. Another fairly easy straight set victory and a pretty dull match unless you're a Roger Federer fan.

Then came the match that for tennisheads was interesting but probably got a ho-hum from mainstream media. Fernando Gonzalez was coming off victory in Munich and it can be said he should've been a tad tired. Janko Tipsarevic is the thinking person's Serbian player. Breathing issues? He wears a tape over his nose to assist him in that area just like football players do. Obnoxious family? Never in sight. Oddly timed medical time outs? Not Janko. Drama? Jelena must be playing somewhere this week. Check that tournament out.

Janko took the court with what can only be described as supreme confidence. Not arrogance, just confidence in his game and that he had a good chance of beating his opponent. Janko's confidence had to soar when he took the first set 6-3 over a seemingly befuddled Gonzalez. It looked as if Janko was on his way to a straight set victory when Fernando woke up. He stopped missing and he stopped himself from reverting to his old hit hard and harder style. When the dust settled the set had been leveled at 6 all. Janko still didn't seem rattled. About three minutes later he was. Fernando won the tiebreak 7-0.
The third set turned into a exhibition of clay court tennis at it's best. Great shots. Waiting out your opponent, pushing him into making a mistake by going for too much. Once again after twelve games the score stood at six games apiece and another tiebreaker had to be played. This was no seven zip beat down. Both men played well but Gonzalez, the one who has played big matches before, used all of his experience and pulled out the tiebreak 8-6. Experience won that match for him.

The other great match of the day took place under the stars. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was playing his first tournament after an injury kept him out of competition for a few weeks. He was playing Gilles Simon someone this fan had never seen play before. Simon won the first set over an obviously rusty Tsonga 6-2. When Tsonga fell behind in the second set I went and took care of some personal business thinking Simon would win easily. Wrong. Tsonga had managed to win the second set 6-4 and the two men were preparing to start the third set. Once again Gilles took the lead 5-2 and it looked as if he were on his way to the next round. But Jo had other plans. Patiently, his feet now firmly under him on the slippery red clay he fought his way back, pulling even at five all. Once again at the end of twelve games two players found themselves tied at six games apiece.

As I said above when all else is equal the player who has the most experience to call upon will win. It looked as if Tsonga was going to win when he tightened up and missed both match points he had on his serve. It should be mentioned that Gilles was serving for the match at 5-2 when Tsonga made his run. Simon knowing he'd dodged a bullet with Tsonga missing those two match points calmly closed out the match taking the tiebreaker 8-6.

Both Janko and Jo-Wilfried learned valuable lessons today. When they get over the bitterness and watch the tapes they'll see where they lost their matches and understand why. For me as a fan I enjoyed a day of clay court tennis.

Davis Cup Postscript

First, thank you to Savannah for filling in yesterday. I had technical issues over the weekend. I did recover from my migraine, but it left me rather lethargic. I guess it was good there were no big celebrations on Saturday night. I wouldn't have had the energy to snoop them out.

You all already know what happened. And I don't have any great pictures to show you. That was one part of the technical difficulty.

Here are a few final thoughts from the weekend.

Andy Roddick played some of the best tennis I've ever seen him play. Clearly some weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He remains perfect in clenching ties. Ten wins. No losses. An American record. Bravo.

Paul-Henri Mathieu played some of the worst tennis I've ever seen him play.

James Blake continues to amaze me.

Richard Gasquet is a Class A wimp. He played the dead rubber with no tape on his blistered hand. Two days before, he sat out the live rubber against Andy. All that talent and no spine to go with it. I have no other words for Mr. Red Shoes.

Michael Llodra has the most effective serve in men's tennis. Period.

Despite the rankings, Llodra is currently the best doubles player in men's tennis

Bob and Mike Bryan have a mental block against Frenchmen. I didn't believe it until I saw it. They were tentative, anxious, and had weights on their ankles. Yes, they were outplayed. (Arnaud Clement isn't exactly a slouch. He and Llodra make a great team.) But even after winning the first set, the twins didn't play their game. Limited poaching. Poor communication. No stick on their volleys. Couldn't convert a break point and they had several opportunities when they were in control of the point. It was kind of painful. Not that they lost, mind you. But the how of it.

The Winston-Salem crowd is simply the best tennis crowd in the world.

I'll get my photos figured out and post them later this week.

Enjoy the claycourt season!

Blake's Heroics Put US in the Lead

James Blake is the hero yet again. His gutsy victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 put the United States ahead of France 2-0 going into tomorrow's crucial doubles rubber. And his teammates were thrilled.

Despite a terrible migraine that caused me to leave the live action after the first set of second rubber, I followed the match on the Internet at the hotel.

Imagine that. Local television didn't even carry the tie and Versus wasn't available on the slate of channels in my room.

Too bad for the local tennis fans who couldn't be in the coliseum because it was some match. Great tennis. High drama. Amazing atmosphere. A few late-match collapses/comebacks that tested the nerves of the players and spectators alike. Two match points saved.

And Blake wins another five-setter to boot.

In the first rubber, Andy Roddick beat Michael Llodra in three highly competitive sets 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

Team USA's leader got the crowd off their feet when he broke Michael's serve to take a 5-4 lead in the first set. With fierce returns, scrambling court coverage, and excellent passing shots, Andy was so hyped, he practically demanded that the crowd get up and stay up.

Too bad I couldn't stay for all the day's excitement.

Andy Roddick Knows The Way To San Jose

Andy Roddick won a title and I didn't get to see it. An American event, no television coverage. Oh well. Today isn't Tuesday so I won't write a tirade.

Today's other champions (minus one):


Michael Llodra, ABN AMRO World Team Tennis Champion


David Nalbandian, Copa Telmex Champion


Maria Sharapova, Qatar Total Open Champion

2008 Inaugural Champions

Mikhail Youznhy, Chenai Open Champion
"I am very happy with this title but I did not play against Rafael Nadal today. He was dead and could not move, I have to thank Carlos (Moya) for keeping him on the court for four hours last night. I really can't say much more about the final, bad luck for Rafa. This week I started slowly but then played better and better round after round. It is a great start to 2008."

All I can say is: Wow.



Andy Murray, Qatar ExxonMobil Open Champion
"It was a really good week. The first four matches were not easy, but relatively comfortable, and that one was by far the toughest. Did a lot of running, and the quality of tennis was very high. Stan has improved a lot over the last six months since he came back from his knee injury. I’m happy with the way the match went today."



Michael Llodra, Next Generation Adelaide International Champion
“This win will give me a lot of confidence for sure. When I came here I was the last one into the tournament but I made good preparation in December and I knew I could play good. I played in my first ATP final at this tournament and now I win the last tournament in Adelaide so it is good history for me.”

He jumped into the river Torrens after his victory. But he kept his clothes on. How shocking.




Li Na, Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts Champion
"I am so surprised I won," Li said. "I had four months off without playing, staying in bed with my rib injury; I don't know how I've been able to come back like this. My team told me this morning that I had already had a good week and I may as well go out and try and win one more!"

Congratulations to all the first winners on the regular tour in 2008. Special mention to Li for winning the first tournament in her comeback, joining a short list of great champions from years past.