DAVIS CUP TENNIS NEWS FROM THE QUEEN’S CLUB. GREAT BRITAIN IS TIED WITH THE FRENCH

Written by: Global Chick on 17th July 2015

DAVIS CUP TENNIS NEWS FROM THE QUEEN'S CLUB. GREAT BRITAIN IS TIED WITH THE FRENCH |

A Rush And A Push To level the tie – GB v France Day 1 Diary by Ros Satar

After the obligatory pre-draw and draw press conferences, we finally got down to the business of the weekend. Namely the Davis Cup Quarter-final, as once more this Barons Court in London played host to a bunch of tennis fans.

But not just any tennis fans. No. These are Davis Cup tennis fans. They are different breed altogether from the Pimms drinking members and well to do that usually frequent the Aegon Championships just a few weeks back.

Photo by Lovey

We have to hand it to We Are Tennis – they had a fantastic stand as the fans came in, handing out blue t-shirts to the French and red to Les Rosbifs –a cunning play on the words Roast Beef – the French nickname for us Brits.

Ahead of the main attraction both sides got to unfurl huge flags and the sound of the singing ‘entertainment’ could be heard all the way down Palliser Road. Hmm… get used to that, people. They sing at the start of all three days, the same thing.

British No. 3 James Ward had the honour of starting off the whole day, buoyed by achieving his goal over Wimbledon of reaching the Top 100, but against sometime-practice-partner Gilles Simon, the going was considerably tougher.

Simon hits flat and solidly, mixing up pace from time to time, after presumably lulling his opponent into a false sense of security. It is rare not to see Ward unwinding on his groundstrokes as time and again he was forced to play more defensive squash-type shots, his only saving grace being those long lanky levers of his to get to the ball.

In the first two sets it was just a single break, where Simon stepped up a gear that made the difference, but in the third set, Ward’s form slipped away as Simon ran away to a 4-0 lead. Ward got himself back on the board but it was all over in a little over an hour and three-quarters.

Praising his ‘crafty’ practice-pal, Ward said: “The guy moves very well, and even when I feel like I’m being aggressive, you can’t go too much because he gets a lot of balls back. It was very windy, it was moving around a lot there, so to time the ball perfect is very difficult. Sometimes you’re more worried about getting the ball in than trying to go for a winner and close to the line because the margins are small.

“He hits the ball very flat and moves very well, so even if guys are serving well, he returns well, he makes a lot of balls. And he’s pretty crafty, he puts the ball in places that are not always easy to attack from.”

Photo by Lovey

It was left to Andy Murray to level the tie, but this was also going to be no pushover, as the serving stats for the first set showed. It was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who actually blinked first, allowing Murray to serve out for the first set.

Having whipped the crowd up into quite the frenzy in this normally rather high class London suburb, Murray lapsed pretty quickly to give up the first game of the second set and to give the French a look in. He eventually broke back but we were treated to a second set tie-break with enough ebbs and flows to make the Thames Barrier buckle, as the pair tossed set-points about between them with reckless abandon.

Murray clinched it, but with both of them having taken various painful looking tumbles, Tsonga and Murray left the court, with the Frenchman taking a medical timeout for his knee.

Things started to unravel rather rapidement for Tsonga at the start of the third, broken straight away, and again as Murray built up a 4-1 lead. That’s not to say it was an easy trot to the finish (or even a walk of 500 miles, as the DJ played at the end of each set).

Murray looked to be riding the crest of a wave for old Britannia as he built up three match points, only squander them and prolong the agony of whether or not we could get one last Pimms before the concessions closed up!

One day gone, and French captain Arnaud Clement assessed the day: “The first one Gilles was stronger than James and it was clear, solid match. About the second match, Andy played a little bit better on the key points today, I think it was the thing that was the difference.”

Murray said: “I thought I did well. I mean the atmosphere helps. The crowd was great today, especially the important moments and yeah I was happy with the job I did today. I didn’t feel like I played amazing. I played some good shots at important times but it was very tough conditions today. It was extremely windy on the court today and swirling around a lot so it wasn’t easy to play very well.”

The doubles on Saturday will be pivotal, and the key question is whether Murray will opt to play the doubles with brother Jamie, who finished as the runner up ion the Wimbledon men’s doubles final (partnering Aussie John Peers). Jamie and Dom Inglot gave the Bryans a pretty good run for their money in the previous tie, and perhaps Jamie deserves a chance to shine for himself. Given that the third day is likely to be crucial, Leon Smith has an unenviable task on his hands.

He will chat to Andy, who admitted he needed to be honest about how he was feeling and also with the whole group before making a decision later tonight.

And so with that, we have a mouthwatering prospect of a doubles rubber when play starts tomorrow lunchtime.

Topics: 2015 Davis Cup, France, global chick, Great Britain, London, Queen's Club, Ros Satar, Sports, Tennis News

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July 17, 2015 at 12:59 pm

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