Men Tennis Update – Davis Cup Sunday, April 7, 2013

Written by: Staff on 6th April 2013

Men Tennis Update - Davis Cup Sunday, April 7, 2013

epa03566283 Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in action against Juergen Melzer of Austria during their Davis Cup World group first round tennis match in Astana, Kazakhstan, 03 February 2013. EPA/IGOR KOVALENKO |

Davis Cup

By the looks of things, Radek Stepanek wasn’t ready to come back.

Stepanek had the chance to clinch a semifinal spot for the Czechs as he and Jan Hajek teamed up to face Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Yuriy Schukin. Other than Stepanek, there isn’t much doubles prowess there. But Golubev and Schukin at least were healthy. They won the doubles 7-6 6-4 6-3. To be sure, the Czechs still lead 2-1, and the Kazakhs looked pretty bad in the opening singles.

Since all the other ties had been level at 1-1 after Friday’s action, that meant, as a side effect, that every tie would still be live on Sunday.

And one of those live ties, France versus Argentina, looks a lot more tense than most people expected, because David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos shocked the French team of Benneteau/Llodra 3-6 7-6 7-5 6-3. So France is down 2-1, and the first reverse singles is between Juan Monaco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Monaco looked very good, and Tsonga not good at all, on Friday….

The tie between the Americans and the Serbs was high drama indeed. The Serbs did not substitute Viktor Troicki for Ilija Bozoljac, apparently concluding that they might need Troicki for singles. You’d think that would put the Serbs at a disadvantage in doubles. And yet, Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic managed to win the first two sets against the Bryans. The Bryans clawed back, and the fifth set — which lasted for much more than an hour — started with 26 straight holds. But then the Serbs broke. The Bryans had two break points in the next game — and couldn’t convert. Serbia had a 7-6 7-6 5-7 4-6 15-13 win — and a 2-1 lead, with Novak Djokovic still available to play reverse singles. Things look pretty dark for the Americans.

The rule on Saturday seemed to be that the later the match started, the more sets it required. The Czech/Kazakh tie, which started first, was over in three sets. France versus Argentina, second on the schedule, lasted three sets. The Serbia/USA contest went five. And the last contest to start, between Canada and Italy, also went to a fifth set. Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil won the first two sets relatively easily. But Italy’s Daniele Bracciali and Fabio Fognini (replacing Paolo Lorenzi) clawed things level. And we again had a multi-hour final set. And a near-infinite game 25. But it was, once again, game 27 that saw the key break — and, amazingly, it was in game 27! Canada made the score 2-1 by winning 6-3 6-4 3-6 3-6 15-13.

What makes it even more interesting is that Fognini, who is scheduled to play the reverse singles, will be tired. Of course, so will his potential opponent Popisil. Of course, it won’t matter if Milos Raonic, who is rested, can beat Andreas Seppi, who is also rested.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Andrey Golubev, Bob Bryan, Boise, Davis Cup, Ilija Bozoljac, Mike Bryan, Nenad Zimonjic, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, US tennis news, Yuriy Schukin