More Davis Cup News

* Germany clinches against weakened Spain

* Gasquet, Tsonga clinch for France

* Swiss backup team clinches against Serbia

* Japan, Czechs, Kazakhs, Italians lead 2-1

* Americans still alive, but Murray awaits

****** TODAY’S NEWS ******

 

Davis Cup

 

The #1 way to get ahead in Davis Cup is to have great players. But the #1 way to falter is to lack players who can fill in when your top players go down.

And that, unfortunately, was what has happened to Canada. Milos Raonic was already out, and as had been feared, on Saturday we learned that Vasek Pospisil was unavailable also. That meant that Daniel Nestor had to play doubles with Frank Dancevic, and it didn’t work. Kei Nishikori, despite his relative lack of doubles credentials and the fact that he was playing with unknown Yasutaka Uchiyama, beat Dancevic/Nestor 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-4. Nishikori will play the first match on Sunday, meaning that he will have the chance to earn all three points for Japan.

If the day’s first tie saw Japan effectively clinch, the second saw Belgium stave off defeat in a fairly dramatic way. Ruben Bemelmans, who hadn’t looked good in singles, teamed with almost-retired Olivier Rochus to beat Kazakhstan’s Kukushkin/Korolev 6-2 6-7 6-3 7-6. Belgium is still down 2-1, but given how inconsistent all the singles players are in this tie, that contest is far from over.

It really does look as if there was something wrong with Fernando Verdasco. He didn’t play singles, even though he was the Spanish #2, and when it came time for doubles, he played — but he and David Marrero really didn’t look like themselves. Germany, which had been listing Tommy Haas and Daniel Brands for doubles, substituted Philipp Kohlschreiber for Brands, and it worked — Haas (who had skipped the singles) and Kohlschreiber beat the Spanish duo 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-3. Since the Germans had won both the singles matches, that tie is settled — and, for the second straight year, the Spanish are out in the first round. Pretty amazing that a nation with Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer couldn’t win a match.

It’s rather less of a surprise to find that France is through, since they were facing a weak Australian team. What is interesting is how they got there. Their listed doubles team was Julien Benneteau (a good doubles player) and Gael Monfils (not noted for doubles). We don’t know why the French substituted for them, but they decided to play Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga instead. At least Gasquet and Tsonga should get Sunday off, because they beat Chris Guccione (whose serve seems to have lost some bite) and Lleyton Hewitt 5-7 7-6 6-2 7-5, giving France a 3-0 lead.

It wouldn’t really be Davis Cup unless the Czechs lied about their doubles team, now would it? They had listed Rosol/Vesely, but of course they played Berdych/Stepanek. More interesting was the fact that the Dutch also substituted, playing a tired Robin Haase rather than Thiemo de Bakker with their doubles specialist Jean-Julien Rojer. It didn’t help; Berdych and Stepanek won 7-5 1-6 7-6 7-6. We have to think Radek Stepanek is pretty tired by now, but if the Czechs are lucky, Berdych can win the fourth match and Stepanek won’t find himself called on for yet another case of fifth-match heroics.

The Swiss, fascinatingly, didn’t play either Roger Federer or Stanislas Wawrinka in doubles against Serbia. Perhaps they felt (with some logic) that they could afford to lose the match. So Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer (combined doubles ranking: 1573) got the call. Against a Serbian team with Nenad Zimonjic on it, that sounded pretty fatal. But the Swiss had the psychological advantage of being up 2-0. And Zimonjic was playing with inexperienced Filip Krajinovic. It took more than three hours, but the Swiss clinched the tie 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-2. Now the question is, who gets stuck playing the reverse singles?

We’ll have to see if Italy lost more than they won in taking the doubles point. As we expected, they put Fabio Fognini in the doubles, and he and Simone Bolelli edged Argentina’s Schwank/Zeballos 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-4. But it took almost four hours, and Italy’s lead is only 2-1, and given how Andreas Seppi has been playing, the Italians probably need another singles point from Fognini. How much did this take out of him?

Great Britain had been talking about playing Andy Murray on all three days, presumably on the grounds that they didn’t have much hope of winning three singles matches and so had to win the doubles. But with two points already in the bank, they decided to go with the reasonable strategy of letting Fleming/Inglot play the Bryans and resting Murray for the singles. After all, they were going to lose this match anyway… although it was closer than expected. After two great sets, the Bryans briefly blinked. Emphasize briefly. They kept the Americans alive 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-1 — but that will only matter if Sam Querrey finds a way to beat Murray in the reverse singles.

****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******

 

Men’s Look Forward: Montpellier, Vina del Mar, Zagreb

 

In terms of player activity, we’re still in the post-Australian Open lull. And, oddly enough, a very large fraction of the players who are playing this week were the ones who played Davis Cup also. It’s as if everyone is determined to overplay or not play at all.

Of course, some of that is geography. It’s natural, e.g., that a lot of French players would want to play Montpellier, which as a result features three of the four members of the French Davis Cup team (who will have to make a quick surface transition…). As a matter of fact, five of the eight seeds are French. Richard Gasquet, France’s #1 player, is also the #1 seed. Gilles Simon, who did not play Davis Cup, is #2 — lucky for him that the top four seeds have byes, because he has been hurting. Jerzy Janowicz is #3, Dmitry Tursunov #4, and Gael Monfils #5 (giving us five Top Thirty players). Jarkko Nieminen has the #6 seed, with two more Frenchman, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau, rounding out the seeds. There aren’t a lot of unseeded threats in the draw, unless Paul-Henri Mathieu — who needed a wildcard to get into a field where the cutoff was around #110 — can come back to life.

Zagreb is even weaker — no Top Ten players, and only three Top Thirty players. It did, however, manage to land two Croat seeds. Tommy Haas, who played a limited Davis Cup schedule, is #1, with Mikhail Youzhny #2 and Philipp Kohlschreiber #3. Then come the Croats: Ivan Dodig is #4 and defending champion Marin Cilic #5. Lukas Rosol, who was on the Czech Davis Cup team but didn’t get to do much, is #6; Radek Stepanek, who perhaps played more Davis Cup than was good for him, is #7; Igor Sijsling has the #8 seed despite being ranked #62 last week. There aren’t many big threats in that draw, either, although Dodig may find the crowd a little confused about who to root for; he may face Ivo Karlovic in round two.

Vina del Mar is perhaps most notable for the fact that Nicolas Almagro is finally making his return to action here; he is the #3 seed in a draw that has only five Top Fifty players. Fabio Fognini, who has been playing Davis Cup in Argentina, is the #1 seed. Tommy Robredo — one of the many Spanish players to skip Davis Cup — is #2, Almagro #3, Marcel Granollers #4, and Jeremy Chardy is #5 and the last Top Fifty player. Alexandr Dolgopolov has the #6 seed, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is #7, and Federico Delbonis is #8. This is another one where there aren’t many noteworthy unseeded players, although Garcia-Lopez might face promising youngster Alejandro Gonzales in round two; Dolgopolov’s second round opponent might be defending champion Horacio Zeballos.

The Rankings

Last year at this time, we had three winners who were to take three very different courses for the rest of 2013. One was to have one of the best years of his career, one was to win and then immediately go into a deep funk, and one was not even to be allowed to play out the season. The third of those was Marin Cilic, who won Zagreb over Jurgen Melzer, with Mikhail Youzhny and Robin Haase semifinalists. Melzer, who hasn’t been able to play for months, will fall below #35. Cilic may be even worse off; at least he is playing, but his Top Fifty spot is in danger.

The title at Montpellier went to Richard Gasquet, who went on to hit the Top Ten; he beat Benoit Paire in the final, with Jarkko Nieminen and Michael Llodra semifinalists. Llodra looks like toast.

The guy who won a title and went nowhere was Vina del Mar champion Horacio Zeballos, who managed to beat Rafael Nadal (newly returned to action) in the final; the semifinalists were Jeremy Chardy and Carlos Berlocq.

Nadal isn’t even going to notice the loss of those points; he will stay #1 by more than 3000 points. Indeed, it appears the only possible change in the Top Ten is at #9/#10; if Gasquet fails to reach the semifinal, he will lose the #9 spot to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. There might be a little movement at the low end of the Top Twenty, and it looks as if Benoit Paire, who isn’t playing this week, will lose his Top 25 spot.

 

 

 

RANKINGS

 

**DRAWS

 

Montpellier — week of February 3, 2014

1 Gasquet

–bye

Mathieu (WC)

Mahut

de Schepper

Qualifier

8 Benneteau

 

3 Janowicz

–bye

Bautista Agut

Mannarino

Gabashvili

Brown

Przysiezny

7 Roger-Vasselin

 

5 Monfils

Kubot

Kamke

Sousa

Istomin

Qualifier

–bye

4 Tursunov

 

6 Nieminen

Nedovyesov

Herbert

Qualifier

Llodra

Qualifier

–bye

2 Simon

Vina del Mar — week of February 3, 2014

1 Fognini

–bye

Bedene

Robert

Volandri

Carreno Busta

Garin (WC)

5 Chardy

 

3 Almagro

–bye

Qualifier

Ramos

Qualifier

Qualifier

Cuevas (PR)

8 Delbonis

 

7 Garcia-Lopez

Reister

Lorenzi

A Gonzalez

Giraldo

Qualifier

–bye

4 Granollers

 

6 Dolgopolov (WC)

Gimeno-Traver

Zeballos

Lama (WC)

Haider-Maurer

L Mayer

–bye

2 Robredo

Zagreb — week of February 3, 2014

1 Haas

–bye

Huta Galung

Becker

Qualifier

Stakhovsky

Kavcic

8 Sijsling

 

3 Kohlschreiber

–bye

Golubev

Hanescu

Qualifier

Coric (WC)

Hajek

7 Stepanek

 

5 Cilic

M Delic (WC)

Lajovic

Qualifier

Brands

Karlovic

–bye

4 Dodig

 

6 Rosol

Sela

Lacko

Struff

Qualifier

A Pavic (WC)

–bye

2 Youzhny

******** SCORES ********

 

DAVIS CUP

Czech Republic hosts Netherlands (Indoor Hard)

Friday: Tied 1-1

R Haase def. R Stepanek 3-6 6-4 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-1

T Berdych def. I Sijsling 6-3 6-3 6-0

Saturday: Czech Republic leads 2-1

Berdych/Stepanek def. Haase/Rojer 7-5 1-6 7-6(7-2) 7-6(7-4)

 

Japan hosts Canada (Indoor Hard)

Friday: Tied 1-1

K Nishikori def. P Polansky 6-4 6-4 6-4

F Dancevic def. G Soeda 6-4 7-6(7-2) 6-1

Saturday: Japan leads 2-1

Nishikori/Uchiyama def. Dancevic/Nestor 6-3 7-6(7-3) 4-6 6-4

 

Germany hosts Spain (Rebound Ace)

Friday: Germany leads 2-0

P Kohlschreiber def. R Bautista Agut 6-2 6-4 6-2

F Mayer def. F Lopez 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-4) 1-6 5-7 6-3

Saturday: Germany clinches 3-0

Haas/Kohlschreiber def. Marrero/Verdasco 7-6(7-5) 6-7(9-11) 7-6(9-7) 6-3

 

France hosts Australia (Indoor Clay)

Friday: France leads 2-0

R Gasquet def. N Kyrgios 7-6(7-3) 6-2 6-2

J Tsonga def. L Hewitt 6-3 6-2 7-6(6-2)

Saturday: France clinches 3-0

Gasquet/Tsonga def. Guccione/Hewitt 5-7 7-6(7-4) 6-2 7-5

 

Kazakhstan hosts Belgium (Indoor Hard)

Friday: Kazakhstan leads 2-0

M Kukushkin def. R Bemelmans 6-4 6-7(3-7) 6-2 6-3

A Golubev def. D Goffin 7-6(11-9) 3-6 4-6 6-2 12-10

Saturday: Kazakhstan leads 2-1

Bemelmans/Rochus def. Kukushkin/Korolev 6-2 6-7(4-7) 6-3 7-6(7-4)

 

Argentina hosts Italy (Clay)

Friday: Tied 1-1

C Berlocq def. A Seppi 4-6 6-0 6-2 6-1

F Fognini def. J Monaco 7-5 6-2 6-2

Saturday: Italy leads 2-1

Bolelli/Fognini def. Schwank/Zeballos 7-6(8-6) 6-7(8-10) 7-6(7-3) 6-4

 

Serbia hosts Switzerland (Indoor Hard)

Friday: Switzerland leads 2-0

R Federer def. I Bozoljac 6-4 7-5 6-2

S Wawrinka def. D Lajovic 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6(9-7)

Saturday: Switzerland clinches 3-0

Chiudinelli/Lammer def. Krajinovic/Zimonjic 7-6(7-3) 3-6 7-6(7-2) 6-2

 

United States hosts Great Britain (Clay)

Friday: Great Britain leads 2-0

A Murray def. D Young 6-1 6-2 6-3

J Ward def. S Querrey 1-6 7-6(7-3) 3-6 6-4 6-1

Saturday: Great Britain leads 2-1

Bryan/Bryan def. Fleming/Inglot 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-1

Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Daniel Nestor, David Ferrer, Davis Cup, Donald Young, Fernando Verdasco, Kei Nishikori, milos raonic, Rafael Nadal, Sam Querrey, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Tommy Haas, Vasek Pospisil

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