Right well this is a slightly different post as this will cover the quarter finals of the Davis cup which took place last weekend there. And I will cover mainly the tie between Great Britain and Italy as both teams were looking to reach the semi finals, which could set up a clash potentially with Switzerland. So let's have a look at how the weekend's tennis went....
So starting with day 1 of the tie, which was a home tie for Italy as it was in Naples and it saw the Italian No.1, Fabio Fognini, who has had an excellent run of form this season so far, especially on clay, up against the British No.2 (actually 3) James Ward. Wardy certainly went into this match as the underdog as his chances of winning were pretty remote, however he still had his chances especially as Fognini was misfiring quite a bit throughout. And after Fognini took the 1st set he started to wobble in the 2nd as James broke him twice to level the scores at a set all. In the 3rd set things were tight again but Fognini got the break and he took the lead and in the 4th he motored his way to victory as he downed Wardy with a double break and nabbed the first point for Italy with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win. This was good effort from James Ward who played a good match against an admittedly up and down Fognini, but in the end it was the Italian's calibre and experience that got him through.
The second match on day 1 was between Andy Murray and the Italian No.2, Andreas Seppi and Andy has an excellent head to head record over the Italian as he leads 5-1 going into this match. However the match itself was no gimme as Seppi put Andy through his paces especially in the first two sets and due to an earlier rain delay, played was eventually suspended toward the end of the second set. And as Andy had taken the first set with a break, the second was a real tussle as well and there were two very tight games which eventually saw both players level at 5-5 and then play was suspended due to bad light. On the 2nd day play resumed and Andy finally managed to break and take the two set lead and in the 3rd set Andy finally managed to get the win as he broke Seppi again and closed out the match with a tough 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win. This certainly was a tough opener for Andy but he proved to be more than up to the task and he played some great tennis when he needed to as he managed to get that much needed win under GB's belt and Seppi also deserves credit for his efforts.
As for the doubles match on day 2, the GB team captain, Leon Smith opted for Andy Murray to play with Colin Fleming, as he felt it would guarantee them better success. And it turned out to be a wise decision as Andy and Flemo took the courts against Fognini and Simon Bolelli and they dominated the Italian duo ruthlessly in the first two sets as they quickly established a two set lead. In the 3rd set however the Italians started their fightback as Andy and Colin made a few loose errors which let them right back into the match and they took the 3rd set. In the 4th set, the Italians continued their comeback as they broke early on in the set to take the lead, but it didn't last too long as at 5-4, Andy and Flemo broke back again and they went on to seal their own break and the stunned Fognini and Bolelli by taking the rubber and a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 result.
Now we move onto day 3 which saw Andy Murray take on Fabio Fognini in what proved to be a crucial rubber, which would either see Great Britain make it through to the semi finals if they would win or Italy square up the tie at 2-2 to force a deciding rubber. And in all honesty given Andy's performance so far in the tie he seemed to be the favourite to win this one, but Fognini had other ideas and also given that Andy had already spent over six hours on court over the last two days, it was the Italian that upset the odds. Fognini throughout the match played stellar tennis, despite going a break down at the start of the match, as soon as he broke back, Fabio raced to take the first set. In the 2nd set however Andy had some chances to break Fognini and move ahead, however Fabio saved all the break points on his serve and he went on to fashion a break of his own and nabbed a two set lead. In the 3rd set things looked pretty grim for Andy as Fognini showed no signs of wavering, holding serve superbly, whereas Andy struggled to hold onto his own. And at 5-4, the seemingly inevitable signs of defeat that had been looming since early on in the set finally reared their ugly head as Andy capitulated once more on his serve and Fabio pulled off a big upset to square the tie at 2-2 with a very impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Well this certainly wasn't the result most people would have predicted (apart from maybe the Italians!) and while Fognini's best surface is clay, I would have expected Andy to have put a great fight. However we have to remember that clay is Andy's weakest surface and Fognini is one of the best clay court players in the world and as he is ranked just outside the top 10 at No.13 in the world there really wasn't much between their rankings either. In the end though Fognini was the better player on the day and he thoroughly outplayed Andy who cut the figure of a beaten man by the time he went two sets to love down. And prior to this Great Britain looked to be in the driving seat, but with this loss it totally changed things and from hereon it looked like Italy would be the favourites and it would all hinge on the next and final decisive rubber.
And this was between GB's James Ward and Italy's Andreas Seppi to decide who would move into the semi finals and it had to be said that Italy were the overwhelming favourites going into this match especially as Seppi is ranked inside the top 40 and Wardy is ranked inside the top 200! And despite an edgy first set with both men showing signs of nerve and trading breaks it was Ward that blinked first and Seppi took the opening set. In the 2nd set things started to go downhill for James as the unforced errors starting to pile up and he went down another break to Seppi who was starting to find his ryhtym and he knocked Wardy off his own to grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set, Wardy was in serious trouble as he went a double break down, but he somehow managed to wrestle back one of the breaks from an edgy looking Seppi. Ward also saved two tie points at 3-5 as he managed to hold on to go 4-5 to force Seppi to serve for the match and the tie. However in the end, Seppi dispelled any signs of nerves as he served out the match with ease and secured Italy's place in the semi finals with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 result.
Well this was a very disappointing end to the tie for Great Britain who looked to be set for victory after taking the 2-1 lead going into the final day with Andy looking good to close it out. Unfortunately however Great Britain didn't really count on Fabio Fognini's terrific form in the crucial singles match with Andy and after the Italian whipped Andy, there was only going to be one winner. James Ward however to his credit fought as well as he could also on the day, but in the end Seppi was the better player as well and it was always going to be a very very big ask for Ward to dig out the win and matters weren't helped with his unforced errors which clocked in at 64 for the whole match. So in the end Italy's home tie worked to their advantage and playing on clay proved to be the right choice, especially given its Andy's weakest surface, and most of the European countries prefer to play clay. Perhaps the result might have been different if Great Britain had the advantage of playing at home as they certainly would have chosen indoor hard court over clay, also given there aren't that many clay courts in Britain anyway. But in the end Italy deserve the win and they did very well in fighting back to make it to the semi finals with Fognini no doubt being the hero of the tie.
As for Great Britain well that's them for this year in the Davis cup, but they have done exceptionally well in getting this far and they will still remain in the world group next year since they got into the quarter finals. And for Andy well its four weeks off ahead (well I'm sure he might put in a decent training block on clay at some point before May) as he won't return to the tour until the Mutua Madrid Open at the beginning of May and there is also a small matter of him trying to find a coach to replace Ivan Lendl, who given what he has helped Andy accomplish over the last two years, leaves some very tough shoes to fill.
So Andy will no doubt start his look for a new coach soon and he has already said that during his four weeks away from the tour before Madrid next month, that he intends to properly think it over and start making decisions on who he wants to choose and he aims to have his new coach in place before the French Open begins. Whoever it is they will of course have to ensure they can make the commitments necessary for Andy's career to progress and that was something Lendl eventually wasn't able to keep up as their partnership neared its end, Lendl spent less and less time on the tour with Andy, and this is something Andy needs to remedy with his next coach.
And in a way his split with Lendl has always bugged me as I think Lendl chose a poor time to split with Andy, not only did he do it before he was set to defend his title in Miami, it has also left him without a coach to help him prepare for the clay court season especially given that Andy is playing largely pain free now, which was something he wasn't doing pretty much the whole time on clay in the last two years when Lendl was still with him! And now that he is pain free he could very much have benefited from Lendl's invaluable input on how to perform well on clay given that he was a three time French Open champion. But what's done is done.
The good news for Andy is however over the clay court swing he has a chance to gain some points to help out his ranking, although he still has to reach the quarter finals of Madrid to maintain his points there from last year. But last year he retired in Rome in his first match against Marcel Granollers due to his lower back injury and he withdrew from the French Open, so now that Andy is injury free (well so far) he can stand to gain more points once he hits Rome and Roland Garros. However I think we will also have to accept that Andy doesn't really stand much chance of winning the French Open anyway or in Madrid or Rome either given that he has never reached the final of a clay court even. But regardless of that let's hope he can have a decent run on the red dirt before he is set to return to his beloved grass and defend his titles at Queens and Wimbledon.
As for the other teams in the Davis cup quarter final clash we had Switzerland who had a real battle on their hands against the Kazakhstan nation players who like Great Britain provided a surprising 2-1 lead over the Swiss, who were playing at home in Geneva. But on the 3rd day Stan and Rog dug out the wins they needed and secured their place in the semis to meet with Italy as they nabbed a close fought tie in 3-2. France also a narrow scrape as they had to fight from 2-0 down and battled their way back into the tie as they won the next three rubbers to win the tie 3-2 to reach the semis. And lastly the defending champs were in invincible form as Tomas Berdych, Lukas Rosol and Radek Stepanek combined their efforts to demolish Japan, who were missing their top player in Kei Nishikori, and the Czecks won 5-0.
So that's it for the Davis cup weekend and it was a disappointing end for Great Britain who will have to wait until next year to have another crack at going deeper next time.
And I with that I will leave yeeee there.
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