So that's my tennis weekend at Braehead Arena over, as I went to see Great Britain again there who took on Hungary to win a place in Group I of the Africa/Europe Zone in the Davis Cup.
I went both on the Saturday and the Sunday, so I had an excellent opportunity to catch up with both the singles and the doubles, although the crucial rubber matches took place on Friday and Saturday. On Friday the first two singles matches were between James Ward and the Hungary No.2 Atilla Balazs and Andy Murray and Sebo Kiss. The first match was naturally the tougher of the two, as James Ward took Balazs who is ranked in the top 300, and the match also at one point was threatened when Wardy sprained his ankle, but thankfully despite being sick on court at one point in the 3rd set and dropping that set, he managed to come through and win the match in 4, winning 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. This was a gutsy effort from James Ward and it was also a crucial win for Great Britain to get that first match under their belt.
The second match proved to be also fairly tricky for Andy Murray who took on part time player Sebo Kiss, who has no ranking, and is currently studying law. And by the evidence of this match he made the wrong career choice, as Kiss, while he was outplayed in the first two sets, really found his feet in the 3rd and pushed Andy to a tiebreak, which the Muzza won to seal the match in 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(3). It was a really good performance from an unknown player such as Kiss, and surely it should encourage to carry on playing more tennis, so much so that Andy encouraged him by praising his efforts too.
In the doubles match on Saturday, the upcoming and very talented doubles partnership of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins took on the Hungarian team Atilla Balazs and Kornel Bardoczky. This was a very entertaining tight match, which the two brits managed to seal in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Despite the scoreline it was a tough match and again credit has to be given to Balazs and Bardockzy who themselves are excellent players. It was also really good to see Colin and Ross play in the flesh as I had previously not seen them before on TV or anywhere else. But this match was the key one in securing Great Britain's victory and their move into Africa/Europe Group I.
On Sunday the last two matches were dead rubber matches, so it was the best of 3 sets, and the Muzza was given quite a test in the Hungarian Gyorgy Balazs (brother of Atilla I think!) who pushed him to a first set tiebreak, which Andy won, but in the 2nd set Andy got a break and closed out the match in 7-6(3), 6-3. This was another really good match and it was also good to finally see Andy in action in a real match, as last time when he played Laurent Bram it was just a straight set drubbing. I managed to take some halfway decent pics (not many though) and some shaky vids of the Muzza playing so they will be going up onto Facebook real soon. And onto the final match of the tie, which was between Colin Fleming and Sebo Kiss, who again provided a very entertaining and farily tight contest. Despite being a break down in the 2nd set, Colin managed to break back and take a break himself before winning the match and sealing Hungary's fate in 6-4, 6-3. Overall that's a 5-0 win to Great Britain.
Despite their loss though I really do have to say well done to Hungary as they were all really good talented players, who unfortunately were up against a stronger team in Great Britain. But they did show some real promise, and every match proved to be quite a contest, which made the tie all the more entertaining to watch. But well done to Great Britain, as that's them moving onwards and upwards, and as long as Andy plays with them, they can move further up the ranks, so here's hoping he continues to play.
So quickly to catch up with the other teams results in the Davis Cup world group, France has been defeated by Spain as Rafa lead the team to victory, defeating both Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. However the defending champions Serbia, have unfortunately been knocked out by Argentina, as Novak Djokovic didn't participate in the Friday match, and Victor Troicki lost the match to Del Potro. The doubles team however did throw Serbia a lifeline as did Janko Tipsarevic in his match, but Djokovic who did play on the Sunday, due to his back injury he sustained during the US Open, was forced to retire again as he collapsed in great pain during the 2nd set, trailing 6-7, 0-3 ret. This match marks Djokovic's third loss of the season and second retiral.
Its a great shame for Djokovic who fought so hard to win the US Open only to have to play the Davis cup so soon after the event, he said himself in a press conference last week that he felt it was too much in too little time to play both events. And there is no doubt about the fact that Djokovic this year has played more matches than any other player, so the fatigue and physical strain have finally taken their toll on his body. In fact in his post match interview that he said that he felt the pain in his back even from the start of the US Open and it gradually grew throughout the tournament where it really manifested itself toward the end of the final, so in retrospect it was a miracle that he managed to come through and win the US Open without facing another retiral. So we will just have to wait and see how Djokovic is for the next few tournaments as its possible he may have to take time out from his tennis for now, next up for him is supposed to be the China Open in early October of which he is the defending champion, but it remains to be seen if he will be well enough to play. Anyway all the best to you Djoko, hope you recover soon, although the longer he is out, the more chance it gives other players to win the bigger titles! ;-)
But Spain deserve a big congrats for getting through to the final once again and Argentina also, and it has to be said that Rafa is without doubt the fittest athlete on the men's tour. Despite playing the brutally exhaustive final at the US Open, Rafa still went out on the clay and won both of his rubber round matches for Spain in straight sets no less. So it is sheer testament to his incredible stamina and fitness that he was able to come through both events. And Spain are the hot favourites to win the Davis cup now for sure, although Argentina might have the home advantage and they have in form Del Potro on their side, but on the other hand Spain has Rafa, so I would really have to go with Spain on this. It would also be a great end to the year for Rafa, having lost in 3 of the 4 slams this season, he will have the chance to reclaim the Davis Cup for his country.
Anyway that's enough tennis for now, there a few more tournaments to follow, Toyko and China, Shanghai for the men, also Toyko and Beijing for the ladies.
Till then tarra.
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