Well as my headline has put it this post will cover the semi finals of this year's Davis cup which see Great Britain reach the semi finals of the event for the first time in quite some time with Australia as their opponents and we'll find out who got through. Also alongisde that will be the results of the other semi final tie between Argentina and Belgium so we'll find out who will be in the final of the sport's largest team event in November (well OK the title sort of gives it away!).
So as the main focus of this post will be the tie between GB and Australia let's start with them and Day 1 of the event. And the first match was between Andy Murray and the Aussie No.2, Thanasi Kokkinakis in what turned out to be an incredibly one sided match that saw Andy ruthlessly dominate the young Australian from the get go as he broke him in the 1st set to take the lead. In the 2nd set however the young Oz lad was obliterated by Andy who handed him out a creamy bagel to take the two sets to love lead. And in the 3rd set Andy broke Kokkinakis yet again and he effortlessly went on to seal the deal with an emphatic victory winning 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to put GB ahead in the tie. Well this was a commanding performance from Andy who had truly shaken off the dust of his performances at the US Open and he thoroughly put the young Kokkinakis in his place here which gave GB the best possible start.
However the 2nd match on day 1 was between the Aussie No.1, Bernard Tomic and the British No.2 Dan Evans (well not in actual ranking terms as Aljaz Bedene is the actual No.2 but he's not allowed to play due to the ITF rulings on players who are foreign nationals but I digress!). And this match promised to be a close one as Dan got the better of Tomic in the only previous meeting they had back at the US Open two years ago. However Tomic has much improved as a player this year and it showed in the first two sets as Tomic went a break up and closed out the 1st and took the 2nd on a tiebreak. Dan also suffered going down another break in the 3rd set which made him look pretty much dead in the water, however he did manage to fight back and level the scores again and he went on to take the 3rd set in the tiebreak to keep himself alive. However in the 4th set Dan went a break down again and then later a double break but he managed to recover one of the breaks back from Tomic but he wasn't so lucky on the second one as Tomic who appeared to be struggling physically finally served out the match in just over 3 hours with a dramatic 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 scoreline.
Well this really was a gutsy performance from Dan Evans who acquited himself well in this match especially after he went two sets and a break down before he clawed his way back into it by taking the 3rd set. However in the end Dan wasn't quite able to hold on as well as he could and Tomic in the end showed just enough to get himself over the finish line but only just you feel as Dan was still coming at him and had Dan held his serve who knows how it might have went. But this saw Day 1 end on level terms for both teams as GB and Aussies were both locked at 1-1.
So now onto Day 2 which was the crucial doubles rubber day which would effectively decide which team would go into the final as whoever won it would have the upper hand going to the last day. And there was some talk of who might play the doubles as it was supposed to be Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot, however after the Aussies levelled the tie it was soon revealed that Jamie and Andy would take on double duty and they went out to face the intimidating pairing of Lleyton Hewitt and the big serving Sam Groth. And the match itself did not disappoint as it was a thoroughly entertaining and gripping contest which saw both teams momentum swing starting with the first set where the Aussies broke the Murrays early on to take the opener. In the 2nd set however the Murrays fought back to finally break Groth's imposing serve and went on to level the match at a set all. And in the 3rd set the Murray brothers made their move and broke Hewitt and Groth to move ahead in the match for the first time and take the two sets to one lead. In the 4th set things went by serve until 5-5 and then the Murrays made their move and broke the Aussies service to serve for the match. However things didn't quite pan out so soon as Hewitt and Groth broke back and went on to take the 4th set in a tense tiebreak to level the match. But in the 5th set the Murrays soon regained control of the match as they went up a break but later squandered it as the scores were even at 4-4. But at 5-4 with Hewit and Groth serving it was Andy who racked up two break points and sealed the most important win of the tie in an epic five set match that saw the Murray brothers put their team 2-1 up against the Aussies with a stunning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory.
It has to be said this was easily one of the best matches of the year, singles or doubles and both teams give their absolute all in this match with both of them playing some spectacular points at the same time. And there was no doubt that this was a vital match to win for either team as whoever won it would be more or less guaranteed to go into the final even if there were potentially two matches to be played. So Andy and Jamie deserve nothing but credit for pulling off such a magnificent victory for their team and it put them in a very good position for the final day.
Which brings me onto the final day (Day 3) which saw the first reverse singles match up where the respective countries No.1's went up against each other as Andy Murray took on Bernard Tomic in the pivotal 4th and maybe decisive rubber. And right from the start it was Andy who played the better tennis as he often left Tomic baffled at what to do next as he struggled to cope with Andy's incredible defense which saw Andy nab a break. However as Andy served for the set at 5-3 he dropped service and he was forced to break Tomic again to go on and take the opening set. In the 2nd set Andy continued his dominance over Tomic as he broke him again and this time he suffered no problems in serving out for the two sets to love lead. And from here for Tomic there was no way back as yet again he suffered an early break, followed by another later to go 5-2 up Andy served it out for one of the biggest wins of his career as he secured Great Britain's place in the Davis cup final with a very impressive victory in 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.
So this was as good a result as team GB could have hoped for after winning the thrilling doubles match the day before there were concerns that Andy may not have been fit enough to play the singles match given that he had injured his back again. However Andy as he said after, disguised his pain as well as he could and he played a terrific match to outclass Tomic and put his team into the final of the event for the first time since 1978. And this really puts them in a strong position to go on and possibly claim the title for the first time in 79 years when Fred Perry lead Great Britain to victory back then as well.
However that will all depend on the winner of the other semi final tie which was between Argentina and Belgium and if Argentina were to win they would guarantee the final would be played at home in the UK but if Belgium would win they would host the final themselves. And the tie itself was a close affair between both teams which saw both teams even pegged at the end of day 1 locked 1-1. On the 2nd day in the doubles it was Argentina that took the lead as they secured the crucial doubles match to put them on the verge of a victory 2-1.
However Argentina on the final day took a blow when their top player, Leonardo Mayer was forced to pull out of his singles match with injury and the Belgium No.1 David Goffin breezed past Diego Schwartzman in straight sets to level the tie. And the last decisive rubber saw the Belgian No.2, Steven Darcis take on the No.2 Argentine player, Federico Delbonis with both players having only 1 ranking point between them it promised to be a close match. And it proved to be so as well with both men sharing the first two sets before Darcis took the lead in the 3rd set to put him within a set of the final. And in the 4th set both men traded breaks but it was Darcis who finally managed to clinch the tie on the tiebreak which saw him collapse to the floor in delight as he beat Delbonis and Argentina with it to secure Belgium's place in the Davis cup final with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 win.
Soooooo this sets up the Davis cup final of 2015 which will be between Great Britain and Belgium and as a result of their win, Belgium will host the tie on their home ground. And this could create some issues for the GB team as they will no doubt be at the mercy of where Belgium choose to play the tie with talk of it most likely being played on an indoor clay court to give them the best possible chance of winning given that Andy Murray's weakest surface generally is considered to be clay. However Andy has had the best clay court season of his career this year so far as he won his first two titles on the surface having most notably beaten Rafael Nadal on the red dirt in his homeland in Spain at the Madrid open. So while Belgium might think an indoor clay court could be their best chance to nullify him it might not necessarily work out that way.
On the other hand there are now concerns for Andy with his back again as while he made it clear that it was not the recurring problem he had prior to his surgery it was however quite sore during practice last week leading up to the semi final tie and during it. And clay often has been a surface that aggravated Andy's back in the past which also could go against him should his back continue to be an issue. Andy however stated he felt it had to do with his muscles stiffening up after having not played tennis for about a week or so in between the US Open and practising for the Davis cup but whether or not it will become a persistent problem again remains to be seen but let's hope for his sake its not.
And it has since been confirmed (updated 24.09) that the Belgium team will indeed play the tie on an indoor clay court at the Flanders Expo arena in Ghent. So this now raises the question for Andy: what will he decide to do about playing at the ATP World Tour Finals in November? Because Andy had said after the semi finals tie that if Belgium choose to host the event on a clay court he may have to miss the year end ATP championships at the o2 in London as due to the short turnaround time between the two events (only 5 days) it wouldn't be long enough for Andy to acclimatise to the surface and he would need more practice time to get ready.
However this could land Andy in hot water with the ATP because the ATP chairman, Chris Kermode spoke out after hearing Andy's comments saying that Andy will be expected to play the event as it is a mandatory tournament and only if Andy was injured would he expect him not to play. And if Andy were to make the decision to withdraw then it could see him being handed a penalty (a possible tour ban was rumoured) as well as a financial forfeit for the event and dropping valuable ranking points (as the event is worth 1500 points to the winner, which he would no doubt lose in this event should he withdraw).
Personally I think however (for what my opinion is worth lol!) that should Great Britain have to play the tie on clay in Novemeber then Andy should skip the year end championships to give himself the best possible chance to win the Davis cup as chances like this don't come around often and it could well be a case of now or never. Now this might put him at odds with the ATP and may result in some repercussions but in all honesty this is an event that has for the last few years been dominated by Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer so I don't ever really see Andy in with a chance of winning it anytime soon, but he does stand a chance of winning in November in Belgium and that's why if it arises then he should skip London.
But it will be up to Andy to negotiate his decision with the ATP as both events are crucial one way or another to him for different reasons. And one way around Andy's problem is that he could spend a few days practising on clay long before the event and in between the ATP tournaments before the o2 however the change of surfaces could hamper Andy's ability to adapt between surfaces and in between the other events which are all on hard court. But for now we will have to wait and see what Andy's decision will be regarding the ATP World tour finals and hope that whatever happens it won't have a drastic impact on his chances for the Davis cup final.
So for now I won't bother with making an outright prediction on who will win this tie just now in the final but I do think that Great Britain with Andy and Jamie Murray have a very strong shout at winning the title all the same. However given that it will be home advantage for Belgium it still will be a very tough tie for them to win and Belgium could very well gain the upper hand if they win the doubles rubber then it could leave Great Britain scuppered even if Andy wins both his singles rubber matches, Belgium still have a shot to seal it if they go 2-1 after the doubles. So we will just have to wait and see and I might make a more decisive prediction as we near the Davis cup final which is still two months away. However one thing is for sure its going to be on hell of a tie and just maybe it will see Andy Murray join Fred Perry again in the history books for winning the Davis cup for the first time in almost 80 years and if there is one man that can do it, its Andy Murray.
Anyway so that's it for now and I will be back sometime in the near(ish) future with another tennis post.
Until then bye for now and well done again to team GB and their victory.
