La Copa de la Vida
Well, this isn't World Cup soccer (I mean,
futbol!), but staying alive in the Davis Cup World Group is still a matter of pride for the countries involved.
This past weekend four nations battled for a place in the Davis Cup final, while eight other nations battled against relegation to the Zonal Groups.
Davis Cup.com has the complete match reports and results.
After trumping Australia in a
heated tie last July on Sydney grass courts,
Argentina fell on hard courts in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Guillermo Coria's serving hiccups cost him the first match against Karol Beck. David Nalbandian then kept Argentina afloat at 1-all the first day by beating Hrbaty.
Beck and teammate Michal Mertinak beat Nalbandian and Mariano Puerta in the doubles on the second day, and Hrbaty played his heart out in the singles match against Coria. His win clinched Slovakia's place in the final. The score for this tie ended 4-1 Slovak Republic after Puerta retired with a wrist injury in his match with Karol Kucera.
This is the first time Slovakia has reached the DC final, and they will be playing Croatia--also a first-time DC finalist after
beating a Marat Safin-less Russia. Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny played the singles matches for Russia while Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov played doubles. At the end of the first day, Russia and Croatia had split the singles matches: Davydenko had dropped a set but triumphed over Mario Ancic, while Ivan Ljubicic had slugged out a five-set win over Youzhny.
Ljubicic and Ancic pulled off Croatia's doubles win over Andreev and Tursunov on the second day, and
Ljubicic hammered out a singles victory over Davydenko on the third day, deciding the tie in Croatia's favor. Tursunov prevailed over Croatian serving giant Ivo Karlovic but to no avail, as Croatia had already won three out of the five matches to be played.
For all the controversy over doubles changes in the ATP, the Davis Cup doubles match on the second day plays a pivotal role in a team's momentum.
From Peter Bodo's Tennis World:
Doubles is probably the most overlooked component in Davis Cup play, and one of the great things about the competition is the pivotal role of doubles. Great Davis Cup squads feature great doubles squads, period—and not necessarily one that includes a top singles player.
The U.S. is not a great Davis Cup squad, but thanks to Mike and Bob Bryan, it's a competitive one. We'd be lost without them.
For the US Davis Cup team, only the doubles match is considered a lock, as the Bryan twins are a model of consistency in winning. It is the doubles match win that puts the US ahead when one of the singles players fails to win on the first day. In March's
first round knock-out loss to Croatia (on home turf, no less), the importance of their doubles matches was underscored when Bob and Mike lost against Ancic and Ljubicic, and Andy Roddick couldn't take out Ljubicic.
In their play-off tie against Belgium, James Blake put the US DC team on the back foot after losing in straight sets to Olivier Rochus. Roddick kept the team afloat with a resounding victory over Olivier's brother Christophe. The doubles win by Bob and Mike Bryan, however, took some of the pressure off both singles players to win their next matches. If Roddick couldn't beat Olivier, then maybe Blake could clinch the tie with a win over Christophe. Ultimately, Blake didn't have to play linchpin as
Roddick scored the third win for the US (though his victory is marred by a controversial line call that resulted in a break of Oli Rochus's serve in the fifth set). This secures their place in the World Group for 2006.
Other nations dodged bullets and remain flying in formation in the World Group, but the
Czech Republic was shot out of the sky due to the efforts of Germany's Tommy Haas.
Haas played 14 sets, both singles and doubles. He lost the opening singles match against Tomas Berdych in five sets, but Nicholas Kiefer pulled Germany up by its bootstraps and defeated Tomas Zib after dropping only one set against the Czech. The doubles match went to Germany, and it fell to Kiefer and Haas to win either matches if they wanted the promotion to World Group status. Kiefer struck the final blow, and Germany will assume a place in the 2006 World Group. The Czech Republic, in consequence, has lost its distinction as the only nation to have remained in the World Group since 1981.
NOTE: The part about the Germany-Czech Republic tie has been edited. Thanks to a reader who noted that Germany won the doubles and not the Czech Republic. It's that dratted new ATP doubles scoring scheme, I tell you! :)
Smells Like Team Spirit
While a normal singles or doubles tennis match is simply player versus player, a team competition has an added dimension. The player no longer only plays for himself or herself; instead, the win or loss is counted as part of the entire effort by the team. Yet the player can't have someone else serve, or hit returns, or put away a ball; it's still very much
mano a mano, but a win from one player can offset a teammate's loss. Overall, though, one team will still have to win more matches than the opposing team.
That's what Russia's Fed Cup team did last weekend, defeating France in a closely-fought rematch of last year's final which was held in Moscow. This year, the setting was Roland Garros in Paris, home of the French Open and thousands of French fans. Played in a best-of-five-matches format over two days, France and Russia first faced off with Mary Pierce versus Elena Dementieva, and Amelie Mauresmo versus Anastasia Myskina. Dementieva won her first singles match, but Myskina lost hers to let the match count even out at 1-all.
The next day, Dementieva felled Mauresmo in their singles match, bringing the Russians up to lead 2-1. Myskina had a lead in her match against Pierce, but squandered it; the French evened the count at 2-all. This pushed the match into a deciding doubles match. Myskina sat out this match as Dinara Safina (yes, Marat Safin's little sister) teamed up with Dementieva against Pierce and Mauresmo.
Reading the
Fed Cup match report, it seems to have been a very exciting Sunday at Court Philippe Chatrier. Numerous breaks of serve, confidence waxing and waning for both doubles teams, the final set was played in failing light with the possibility that play would be suspended due to darkness. The Russians managed to hold their nerve in the end, so congratulations to them for defending their title.
The French were understandably desperately disappointed to have lost such a close contest, but they seemed to take some solace in having given their all and played a huge part in such a memorable final.
"I am proud of my performance this weekend," said Pierce. "We played some high-level tennis. The public were great. It's just a pity that we didn't win."
***
In World Team Tennis news, Martina Hingis led the New York Sportimes to their first championship win over the Newport Beach Breakers. A
WTT match, in contrast to regular tennis matches, is composed of a single set played to 5 games. Each game counts toward the point total of the team. The team that wins the most points in a certain period of time wins. It's not as drawn-out as a regular match and thus less stressful on the bodies of the professionals who play it (Anna Kournikova, who plays for the Sacramento Capitals, springs to mind).
From Tennis Week:
An avid tennis fan, who continues to scout potential opponents and follow tournament results both on television and on the Internet, Hingis herself seems unsure if her surgically-repaired left ankle and soft second serve could withstand the rigors of today's hard-hitting opponents. She concedes the thought of a comeback has crossed her mind.
"This format really suits me, but if I had to play two out of three sets that's a different story," Hingis said. "But playing five games singles doubles mixed is perfectly suited for me. Of course it's tempting when you win 5-0, 5-1 matches, but you never know what would happen after that. I've just tried to improve as the matches go on and I feel like I'm getting better and better and more comfortable on the court. I'm really enjoying it."
***
This upcoming weekend, the USA Davis Cup team (Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Bob and Mike Bryan) will meet the Belgian team (Oliver and Christophe Rochus, Steve Darcis, and Kristof Vliegen) in a play-off to stay in the World Group. Don't understand the significance of this tie?
From Davis Cup.com:
While 134 nations have entered the Davis Cup for 2005, only 16 countries qualify for the elite World Group each year.
They reach the World Group as follows:
(a) eight of the nations that make the World Group cut are the first round tie winners from the previous year’s World Group competition.
(b) the eight losers from the first round ties in the World Group go into a 16-team World Group Play-off competition. Into this also go the winners of the Zonal Group I sections (two nations from Asia/Oceania Group I, two from Americas Group I, and four from Europe/Africa Group I). A draw is used to determine the Play-Off ties. The eight winners from these World Group Play-Off ties are then placed in the World Group for the following year, while the losers are placed in Group I in their Zone.
It simply means that
if USA loses in their tie against Belgium, they'll fall back into the Zonal Group and won't be in contention to win Davis Cup in 2006. Instead, they will have to play for a place in the 2007 World Group. That's not something desirable for Team USA, which after a final showing against Spain last year was knocked out of contention for the Cup this year by Croatia.
Deconstructing a "Cat Fight"
You know it's a slow week in tennis when players' alleged disputes with one another surface on the news pages--and the players named don't even have a say in the matter.
The English version of the Korean news website Digital Chosunilbo reported that Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have some bad blood between them, as seen in their refusal to take the same flight to Korea where they are playing in an exhibition match in Seoul. This news story seems to have some problem distinguishing between the sisters Serena and Venus; in addition to providing an image of Venus instead of Serena, they also reported that Serena defeated Maria in the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year. It was
Venus who did the deed, and it was
in the semifinals;
Serena went out in the third round to Jill Craybas.
This confusion was also picked up by Russian news service MosNews, which took it a step further by naming Venus as Maria's opponent in the exhibition match, instead of Serena.
The Chosun report labels the two (three?) players as bitter rivals; MosNews goes further and says "Both Maria and Venus said they had no desire at all to bump into each other on the plane" but did not substantiate this with further quotes from the two named players. Instead, MosNews quoted a statement that the Chosun article supposedly solicited from Itar Tass, the managing group that arranged the exhibition.
From MosNews:
"We were initially going to bring both of them aboard the same plane, but at the strong insistence of both sides, who said they didn’t want to run into each other in the narrow confines of first class, we are bringing them to Korea on separate planes," the managing group was quoted by the Chosun news website as saying.
Sharapova’s flight from Los Angeles will arrive at Incheon International Airport at 4:50 p.m. on Sept. 16, while Williams’ plane from New York will arrive about 10 minutes later.
The Russian also insisted that she would stay in a different hotel, Itar Tass adds.
"Since many fans will flock to Sharapova, Williams' pride might be hurt, so we plan to put them in separate hotels," one of the organizers was quoted by Chosun news as saying.
The idea for the match came from the Russian tennis star, who won the Hansol Korea Open last year and said she wanted to return to Korea because of her happy memories of the nation. However, when the organizers proposed putting her up against Williams, she was initially against the idea. This summer Sharapova lost the semi-finals of Wimbledon to the American, who eventually won the tournament.
Chosun's article (updated September 16) does not have the quoted statements from Itar Tass, but it does have the information about which hotels the players will be staying at and their arrival times.
From the Digital Chosunilbo:
Despite being billed as a friendly, the fierce PR war of sponsors ahead of the match stinted nothing to major tournaments. KIA motors, the official sponsor of this match, will provide a souped-up version of their sedans as official cars while the athletes stay in Korea. Eight five-star hotels vied to attract the two stars. Like last year, Sharapova will stay at the Shilla Hotel’s premium suite, reportedly costing around W7 million (US$7,000) a day, while Williams will stay in the Jamsil Lotte Hotel, the official hotel of the match.
Sharapova and Williams will give autographs at Hyundai Department Store in Samsung-dong, Seoul on Saturday afternoon. During this 30 minute event that starts at 2 pm, this area is expected to be heavily inundated with fans. Although the match has not yet begun, the two tennis stars are already engaged in a fierce war of nerves, even insisting on taking separate planes, although they ended up arriving just 10 minutes apart from each other.
With the lack of real quotes from the Sharapova and Williams camps, the confusion in the identity of the Williams sister who is playing in the exhibition, and the poor fact-checking of these articles, it seems to me that this "cat fight" is just spin created by the organizers of the exhibition match in order to generate buzz (and ticket sales) for the event.
(Related posts on this can be found on
Pro Tennis Fan and
On the Baseline.)
UPDATE: Lisen of Pro Tennis Fan posted a
short blog entry linking to a video clip showing Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams arriving in Korea. This answers Aaress's question:
is it Venus or Serena?
The Sun Sets on the US Open
Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.--Dylan Thomas
I won't run circles around the news that Roger Federer beat Andre Agassi in the men's final. In the first three sets, Agassi was in every service game of Federer's and even claimed the second set by breaking Federer's serve twice. Flustered, Federer had to raise his game and cut down on the errors streaming from his backhand in order to win the third set.
As the fourth set progressed, though, you could see Agassi was in trouble; he wasn't moving to balls he could have returned, much like what happened at the French Open when his nerve inflammation flared up in the first round. Federer began throwing some heat on his serves and groundstrokes as well, holding at love and breaking Agassi in all but one of his service games. Then, Federer served for it and
claimed the championship 6-3,2-6,7-6,6-1.
The sky was in the final throes of sunset as the USTA officials handed the two players their trophies. It would have been a poetic end to the day if Agassi had won the title in this sunset of his career (and on the anniversary of 9-11, too...). But tennis--even with the best players making it seem like an art--is a sport, and no master writer holds the pen to give us the Cinderella ending for Agassi. It's not the end for him, anyway; at this point,
Agassi intends to keep working. Rage on, Andre.
***
Though there was no fairytale ending for Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters ran away with the glass slipper and the US Open women's singles title. Being the
winner of the US Open Series leading up to the Open, Clijsters is set to fill that trophy with a whopping $2.2 million in prize money and bonus from the USTA. It is the biggest single payday for a tennis player. One could say that after failing to bag a major four times previously,
Kim did it this time in grand fashion, steamrolling Mary Pierce 6-3,6-1.
***
Other results from the 2005 US Open:
After making the final of all three previous Slam tournaments this year, the Bryan twins Bob and Mike finally say Four's the charm and
win the US Open men's doubles. Chest bump, anyone?
Daniela Hantuchova captured the US Open mixed doubles title with first-time partner Mahesh Bhupathi. She now has doubles titles for each of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Samantha Stosur and Lisa Raymond
claimed the US Open women's double title by defeating Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta 6-2,5-7,6-3. This is Stosur's first title from a major.
***
It's also time for me to take a short hiatus. With my thesis work heating up and tennis in the doldrums until later this month, I'll only be updating sporadically over the next two weeks. Good night!
Tennis is the Winner
I just love watching night matches on TV. There's an element of theater to watching a match played under the spotlights, and the crowd applauds excellent performances regardless of who is the favorite.
What do you do when both players are the crowd favorite, and both are playing gutsy, visceral tennis? You have an atmosphere that is positively electric and a match that has you on the edge of your seat until the last point of the final set tiebreaker. Then you have to give both players a standing ovation.
I think the
quarterfinal match Andre Agassi and James Blake played exemplifies these qualities. Obviously, since both were American, the US Open crowd were that much more excited about the match. Agassi's long-standing acquaintance with New York during Open season tipped the scales in his favor, but if you didn't have a favorite going into the match, seeing Blake dominate those first two sets would have made him the favorite in your mind.
And then, the fire sparked in Agassi's eyes during the third set, and you could feel the momentum shifting to him. Blake just kept fighting, running after every single ball off Agassi's racquet. While Agassi won the next two sets, Blake stayed right there with him. His hard work seemed to pay off as he earned a chance to serve out the match in the fifth. Then Agassi's expertise and experience shone through as he broke back to even the match at 5-all. It was all Blake could do to bring the match into a fifth-set tiebreaker.
The US Open is the only major that has instituted a final-set tiebreaker instead of having the players play regular games until one of them wins by a margin of two games. In tiebreakers, anything can happen. I almost thought Blake would win it after going up 3-0 by breaking Agassi on the first point of the breaker and holding on his two serves. Both players really raised their games and it would have been a great match regardless of who won, but that clean forehand winner by Agassi at match point was simply the best way it had to end. Agassi 3-6,3-6,6-3,6-3,7-6.
The fact that the match ended at roughly 1:30AM New York time didn't seem to bother the crowd. If anything, they simply got louder and more enthusiastic as the match went on, and both players fed on that energy. Andre said it best: "I wasn't the winner; tennis was."
***
Heard on the radio today: "I've always been in love with Roger Federer, but his girlfriend's got him signed, sealed, delivered."
Federer made an express delivery last night,
eliminating former nemesis David Nalbandian in straight sets at their quarterfinal match. It was kind of anticlimactic, after having such epic quarterfinal matches otherwise; aside from Agassi vs. Blake, Robby Ginepri vs. Guillermo Coria and Lleyton Hewitt vs. Jarkko Nieminen also went to five sets.
***
The women's semifinals are coming up today. With Elena Dementieva scoring an upset over Lindsay Davenport (via final-set tiebreaker) and Mary Pierce breezing through her match against Amelie Mauresmo, their semifinal match could be something to watch;
both weren't considered serious threats until lately. Come Saturday, though, either of them could be facing the winner of the Sharapova-Clijsters semifinal, and both Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters are favorites to win the Open.
It's too bad both my favorites (Maria and Kim) are playing in the same semifinal. I would have liked to see them duel it out in the final, but what can you do? That's the luck of the draw.
The Open So Far
The US Open is now deep into its second week. Many have gone; only a few remain as the quarterfinals commence. It's a mixed bag of old faces and new faces for the men's draw.
In the men's draw, Roger Federer made the quarterfinals despite still playing
spotty tennis against Nicholas Kiefer. Andre Agassi pulled out a five-setter against Xavier Malisse, Lleyton Hewitt rolled over Dominik Hrbaty (he of the pink shirt with peek-a-boo holes), Guillermo Coria defeated Nicolas Massu in an ill-tempered match, and just a few minutes ago David Nalbandian dropped the first set before defeating Davide Sanguinetti. These men have been to this stage of the US Open before (Coria and Nalbandian once in 2003), but
James Blake,
Robby Ginepri, and
Jarkko Nieminen are first-time US Open quarterfinalists. Blake and Ginepri have never even been to a Slam quarterfinal before this one. After years of American men's tennis being represented solely by Roddick and Agassi, you could say, "Surprise!"
There are few surprises in the women's draw, however. Tonight's quarterfinal matches featured Maria Sharapova versus Nadia Petrova, and Venus Williams versus Kim Clijsters. The Sharapova-Petrova match concluded with Sharapova finally eking out a win in three sets over her countrywoman, with Yuri Sharapov in the stands yelling and screaming (so what's new?).
Venus Williams is enjoying a resurgence in her career,
defeating sister Serena in the fourth round and leveling their
career head-to-head to 7-all. Kim Clijsters has come off a hot summer hardcourt run, winning the US Open Series.
In tomorrow's women's quarterfinals, Elena Dementieva faces Lindsay Davenport while two French citizens, Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo, will do battle. Dementieva worked with Richard Krajicek on her serve while she was at Wimbledon, which may have helped her reach this stage of the tournament for the second time; she was a finalist last year. Davenport continues her quest to make her third Slam final this year.
Mary Pierce defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne in a rematch of their French Open final, and Amelie Mauresmo will be seeking to reprise her role as perennial Slam semifinalist.
Must-See Tennis
Apparently I missed a
showcase of exciting tennis the other day when I played badminton instead of watching Roger Federer defeat Fabrice Santoro in the second round of the US Open. Yes, it was a foregone conclusion, but it would have been something to see the best player in the world be tested to his limits and raise his level to win. Federer won in straight sets, but the way people are describing the match, it seems to have been as exciting as the match Federer played against Takao Suzuki at the Australian Open in January.
From The Observer:
"Federer seemed to enjoy it as much as the crowd. 'I had a blast out there,' he said. 'I knew it would be interesting; the way he plays, the way I play. He just has so many options. You think he's going to stay back, he comes in. You think he's going to come in, he stays back. We've played many times, but this, maybe, was the best.'"
Federer is now facing his third round opponent Olivier Rochus. One would think that the small but terrible 5'5" Rochus would be outmatched by the 6'1" Federer. Not if Rochus has anything to say about it. Both players have one-handed backhands, all-court styles, and flashy shotmaking on the basis of flawless footwork. Federer leads their
career head-to-head 2-0, but with the way Rochus is playing right now, he's not going to let Federer roll over him easily.
This Federer-Rochus match has the crowd cheering for both players, as did the Santoro match. Of course, the crowd couldn't help being partisan during wild card James Blake's stunning upset of #2 seed Rafael Nadal in four sets. Blake, after all, is American. That match I missed, too, much to my regret.
From the LA Times:
"Blake was a worthy adversary, armed not with kryptonite but with a potent serve and an explosive ground game. He hit 53 winners, including 10 aces, and was six for eight on break-point opportunities.
"By the end, Nadal did not look like a Grand Slam champion but a frustrated 19-year-old. The French Open winner sounded like one in the interview room.
"'I just lost one of the best tournaments in the world, so I am not very happy now,' said Nadal, who has won nine titles this year."
This US Open has not been short on drama, and it's only just entering the second week of play. I hope I'll be able to watch more strongly contested matches like these as the rest of the tournament unfolds.
Save Doubles
Two months ago I wrote unfavorably about the
impending format changes to men's doubles the ATP is seeking to implement after the US Open. Apparently, I was in agreement with professional doubles players, most singles players, and even the ATP Players' Council who voted 8-0 against the impending changes.
The ATP is addressing this resistance by saying the
changes will be made gradually, but the star doubles players are not taking any chances. Save Doubles, a non-profit entity started by these players, has sent out a
press release detailing the grounds on which they are filing a lawsuit against the ATP.
"The complaint seeks injunctive relief to stop the ATP's and its directors alleged unlawful and anticompetitive conduct against athletes who excel in doubles. The players charge the ATP and its directors with antitrust violations and breaches of fiduciary duties."
Here's a
translation and explanation of all that legalese.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of these recognizable names in the world of doubles: Bob and Mike Bryan, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, and Mahesh Bhupathi, among others. They're bringing out the big guns, and the ATP had better snap to attention.
