OK just for a change I thought I would do a post on the Davis cup weekend which was just there and it saw the world group teams play out the semi final stages to see who would reach the final, and I will also cover the world group play offs, to see who would reach the world group.
So let's start with the world group semi final matches, and to begin the defending champions, the Czeck republic who were up against Argentina. In their first singles match, Radek Stepanek, the hero of the Czeck republic's triumph last year, took on Juan Monaco of Argentina, and it was Stepanek who impressed once again as he beat the Argentine in straight sets 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 to give his team a winning start. In the second singles rubber we had Tomas Berdych face Leo Mayer in a tight four set match which saw Berdych finally win through as he gave his team the 2-0 lead after a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. And in the decisive rubber, the doubles one, Stepanek and Berdych both teamed up and put on impressive show to dismiss the Argentine team of Carlos Berlocq and Horacio Zeballos in 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to seal their place in their second consecutive Davis cup final. This really shows just how impressive the Czeck republic team are, especially as they are really the combination of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who both together won the title for the country last year. And on the evidence of their performance here, in the final they will be tough to stop.
However that might all change as in waiting for the Czeck republic would be the winner of the next tie, which was between Serbia and Canada. In the first match Novak Djokovic, the world no.1, who had just come off the receiving end of a stinging defeat in the US Open final, bounced back in fine style here as he dismissed Vasek Pospisil in straight sets, conceding only six games with a 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 victory. However in the 2nd rubber, things didn't quite go according to plan for Serbia as Janko Tipsarevic was defeated by Milos Raonic in a very tight battle, with Raonic just edging Tipsy in the 5th set to win the match 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8. And on the second day, the doubles rubber would give either team a pivotal lead, and the match itself was another epic battle as the Canadian team edged Serbia again as Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil won in 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 10-8 to give Canada a 2-1 lead. Going into the final day, things looked mighty precarious for Serbia, however Djokovic confidently levelled the scores as he beat Raonic in their singles rubber 7-6, 6-2, 6-2. And it was up to Janko Tipsarevic to try and win the tie for Serbia in the crucial final rubber, who did just that after a tight straight set win against Vasek Pospisil in 7-6, 6-2, 7-6, which saw the Serbs reach their second Davis cup final.
Well this sets up a very intruiging clash for the Davis cup final between the Czeck republic and Serbia, and no doubt it promises to be quite a cracker. But who will win it?????? Well I have to go with Serbia as they have Novak Djokovic, who will play a key part in both singles matches, although where the odds might tip in the Czeck team's favour is that Stepanek and Berdych have never lost a doubles match so far in Davis cup, and if Berdy or Stepanek can win two of the other singles rubbers then it might just see them come through. But however it goes I'm sure it promises to be one hell of a final and one to remember I'm sure, but my money is on Serbia for a possible 3-2 victory.
Right now let's get onto the world group play-offs, starting with Spain who were dumped out of the world group earlier this year, so this is where they were looking to fight their way back in and in their way stood the Ukraine. With Rafa being on top form this year in his comeback, his team were keen to get him back on their side, and despite concerns that Rafa might have skipped the Davis cup in order to recover from his tremendous efforts on the hard court swing, Rafa turned up to play. And in the first singles rubber, Rafa showed no trouble whatsoever in getting past Serigy Stakhovsky, as he looked a home on the clay (back on the Manolo Sonata stadium in Madrid) and raced to victory with a 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 win. Fernando Verdasco (sorry this was the second singles rubber!) played against the Ukraine No.1, Alexandr Dolgopolov in what was a tighter match but it eventually saw Verdasco win in 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, which saw Spain take a decisive 2-0 lead on day one. On the second day in the key doubles rubber, the Spanish team made their move with doubles pairing of Rafa and Marc Lopez sealing their place back in the world group after a hard fought four set win in 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. So that's Spain back in the big time again, and let's see who else would join them.
So other teams that came through to the world group included Switzerland, who featured Stan Wawrinka, the in form Swiss player, who filled in for Roger Federer, as he played his part leading his team to victory with a 4-1 result against Ecuador. Australia also managed to power through to the world group as they won 4-1 against Poland, with the help of Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic who won both their rubber singles matches, although the Aussies lost their doubles tie, the deal was clinched by Tomic on the final day as he took out Lukaz Kubot in straight sets. Japan had a much tighter tie on their hands as they managed to edge their way past Colombia, with Kei Nishikori doing his part to win both his singles rubbers, after the team lost one single and the doubles rubber, Go Soeda clinched the deal with a four set win against Allejandro Falla to reach the world group with a 3-2 result.
Which brings me onto the last tie I will mention which was Great Britain who took on Croatia in an away match on Croatian soil in Umag, on clay courts. It was a long road for Great Britain to get this far to the world group play-offs as they hadn't been there since 2008, so in order do do it they really need their best man, and thankfully for them he showed up, i.e. Andy Murray. So let's have a look at the tie, starting with on day one in the first singles rubber match, Andy Murray took on a 16 year old juinor player, Borna Coric, who had just won the US Open junior title. And despite it looking like a very one-sided maatch, Coric actually showed some very promising signs as he managed to push Andy fairly hard in the first set, before Andy closed it out with a break. However in the second set, Andy breezed through to hand Coric a bagel, and in the 3rd set, despite going a break down, Andy quickly pulled it back as he sped to victory to claim the first win for GB in 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.
In the 2nd rubber however fortunes changed for GB as Dan Evans, who has recently been on impressive form by reaching the 3rd round of the US Open, but he couldn't find a way past the Croatian No.2 (well No.1 in Marin Cilic's absence, who has been suspended due to failing a drug test) Ivan Dodig. Dodig who is by far the more experienced player (and five years Dan's senior at 28) sped to victory against Dan taking the match with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win, which saw both teams level pegged 1-1 on day one. On day two, the pivotal doubles rubber proved to be the toughest match of the tie so far, which saw team GB's doubles partnership of Andy Murray and Colin Fleming face off Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic. Andy and Flemo got off to a strong start as they took a two set lead, and despite being a break up in the 3rd set, they surrendered the break and let the Croats back in and play went to a tiebreak, which saw the Croatians nabs the 3rd set, courtesy of a double fault from Flemo's racquet. In the 4th set however, normality was restored as the Brits broke the Croatian team twice and sped to victory to take the decisive 2-1 lead.
And on the final day, Andy Murray did his bit for GB as he played Ivan Dodig in what was to be the crucial singles rubber. The match itself was a very entertaining one, and Dodig put up a good fight but Andy in the end outclassed him and played the big points way better, and Andy also put in a surprisingly good serving performance as he landed in over 70% of his first serves in for the match, which is virtually unheard of! ;-) And after going two sets to love up, Andy broke early in the 3rd set to take a further lead, although there was a bit of drama in Andy's last service game when serving out for the tie at 5-4. This was when Dodig tried to make his move to break back and he hit a couple of cracking winners, and he hit what appeared to be another that would bring up a break point, but the umpire called it out. And with Dodig looking desparately at the umpire and disagreeing with the call, he had to relent as the point went to Andy, which gave him match point, and with a hostile booing crowd in the background Andy served out the match with no problems as Dodig went long with his return to give team GB their place in the world group with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory, giving Great Britain the decisive lead 3-1.
Although it looked to be quite a comfortable victory for Andy, the match itself was quite a competitive one, and Dodig deserves alot of credit for showing his fighting qualities on the court, but in the end Andy proved to be just too good for him. And it would be hard not to feel sorry for Dodig as that break point went begging, which could have got him back in the match. However the crowd didn't deserve much sympathy as they kept booing throughout the last point of the match as Andy was trying to serve it out, which was well out of line, and while you can appreciate their annoyance, its not right that they should continue to boo when the player is trying to serve! Regardless of that though this sees Great Britain back among the big boys, and they can now compete against the biggest teams in the world, but in order to do well they will need Andy Murray that's for sure, so he will need to try and make himself available when he can. This victory will also hopefully help Andy in getting over his Wimbledon comedown and maybe he can get back on form for the rest of the season, as he is set to start the Asian hard court swing in Thialand next week.
So that's it for now, more to follow soon on the Asian hard court swing for the men and the ladies tour in the next few weeks.
Bye for now!
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