Tennis

[Chaky]

It's Davis Cup weekend!

These are the ties going on in the World Group Quarterfinal:

Russia vs France

Belgium vs Germany

USA vs Spain

Sweden vs Argentina

And in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I - 2nd Round among others we've got:

Great Britain vs Netherlands

Andy Murray has been passed fit to play after struggling to overcome hip and groin injuries. Tim Henman is also making his return to Davis Cup after a three year absence.

I'm also hoping USA and Russia can get through.

[Chaky]

Update after Day 1:

World Group

Russia vs France 1-1

R1 - P.MATHIEU (FRA) def. N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) 2-6 6-2 6-1 7-5

R2 - M.YOUZHNY (RUS) def. R.GASQUET (FRA) 6-2 6-3 6-7(8) 5-7 8-6

Belgium vs Germany 0-2

R1 - T.HAAS (GER) def. K.VLIEGEN (BEL) 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4 6-2

R2 - P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER) def. O.ROCHUS (BEL) 6-3 7-5 7-6(4)

USA vs Spain 2-0

R1 - J.BLAKE (USA) def. T.ROBREDO (ESP) 6-4 6-3 6-4

R2 - A.RODDICK (USA) def. F.VERDASCO (ESP) 7-6(5) 6-1 6-4

Sweden vs Argentina 2-0

R1 - T.JOHANSSON (SWE) def. D.NALBANDIAN (ARG) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-2 7-6(0)

R2 - R.SODERLING (SWE) def. J.DEL POTRO (ARG) 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4

Bit of a shock to see Davydenko and Nalbandian lose. The Russia-France tie looked like it would be good on paper and it's living up to it.

Europe/Africa Zone Group I

Great Britain vs Netherlands 2-0

R1 - A.MURRAY (GBR) def. R.SLUITER (NED) 6-3 7-5 6-2

R2 - T.HENMAN (GBR) def. R.HAASE (NED) 7-6(4) 6-3 7-6(4)

A winning return for Tim Henman and Andy Murray also showed no problems with his recent injury woes.

Doubles tomorrow. USA are almost certain to wrap up victory with the Bryan Brothers in action.

All the other results at www.daviscup.com

[Chaky]

Greg Rusedski and Jamie Murray in doubles for Britain but the line-up is subject to change. Captain John Lloyd has several options and can change his line-up an hour before the match. Perhaps sticking Jamie with his brother?

Should see Safin in action for Russia today too.

[Chaky]

GB won!

J.MURRAY / G.RUSEDSKI (GBR) def. R.HAASE / R.WASSEN (NED)

6-1 3-6 6-3 7-6(5)

That's an unassailable 3-0 lead.

After this tie Greg Rusedski announced his official retirement from tennis. He played Davis Cup for Britain for 13 years, was British no. 1 for a long time and was a former US Open finalist. He won 15 titles, reached a highest ranking of #4 in the world and at one time held the record for fastest ever recorded serve of 149mph.

[Chaky]

Results from the World Group after Day 2:

Sweden 3 - Argentina 0

J.BJORKMAN / T.JOHANSSON (SWE) def. D.NALBANDIAN / G.CANAS (ARG)

4-6 7-6(4) 6-2 6-3

A superb result for Sweden in wrapping up their tie already on Day 2.

USA 3 - Spain 0

B.BRYAN / M.BRYAN (USA) def. F.LOPEZ / F.VERDASCO (ESP)

7-5 6-3 3-6 7-6(5)

The Bryans wrapped it up as expected. The Spaniards needed Nadal to make this tie a contest.

Belgium 0 - Germany 3

M.KOHLMANN / A.WASKE (GER) def. C.ROCHUS / O.ROCHUS (BEL)

4-6 6-2 6-3 6-1

Good result for the Germans and they make the semis for the first time since 1995.

Russia 2 - France 1

I.ANDREEV / N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) def. S.GROSJEAN / M.LLODRA (FRA)

3-6 7-5 6-3 3-6 6-3

The most intriguing tie is the only one still unresolved going into Day 3. Safin and Youzhny were dropped (blisters and fatigue respectively) in favor of Andreev and Davydenko and that selection paid off.

[The Joker]

OMG Chaky, your such a hardcore tennis fan .

[Frederick]

I bet Safin was partying the night before. 'Blisters'? Yeah right.

[Chaky]

OMG Chaky, your such a hardcore tennis fan .

Damn straight!

[Chaky]

Okay my tennis obsession will have to go on hold for a short while. Davis Cup can sometimes bring the closet tennis supporters out of the woodwork to support their country, and... well I was supporting Team GB... on my own.

Anyway today was the last day so it's a final round-up.

There were no whitewashes in the World Group with all losing countries at least salvaging a point in the dead singles rubbers.

USA 4 - Spain 1

T.ROBREDO (ESP) def. B.BRYAN (USA) 6-4 6-4

J.BLAKE (USA) def. F.LOPEZ (ESP) 6-3 7-6(3)

Sweden 4 - Argentina 1

J.BJORKMAN (SWE) def. S.PRIETO (ARG) 6-1 6-2

J.DEL POTRO (ARG) def. R.LINDSTEDT (SWE) 7-6(7) 6-4

Germany 3 - Belgium 2

C.ROCHUS (BEL) def. M.KOHLMANN (GER) 3-6 6-4 6-4

D.NORMAN (BEL) def. P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER) 6-2 6-3

And in the only tie still with live matches on the final day it went down to a live fifth rubber. Sebastian Grosjean salvaged some French pride following his disappointing showing in the doubles yesterday with a hard-fought win over Igor Andreev. Russia needed a savior for the crucial fifth rubber and once again stepping up to the plate was Marat Safin (blisters and all).

Russia 3 - France 2

S.GROSJEAN (FRA) def. I.ANDREEV (RUS) 7-5 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4

M.SAFIN (RUS) def. P.MATHIEU (FRA) 7-6(3) 6-3 6-2

So the semifinals in September are set:

Germany vs Russia

USA vs Sweden

Okay I give up now. But wait, it is the ladies' turn in a couple of weeks: Fed Cup!

[ohisee]

i find it interesting that they even play the remaining singles matches if victory is already clinched

the US shouldnt have any trouble against SWE should they? what surface is it on?

[Chaky]

i find it interesting that they even play the remaining singles matches if victory is already clinched

the US shouldnt have any trouble against SWE should they? what surface is it on?

People have already paid their money to go to Day 3 so if the tie has already been won the organisers will normally put on at least one match for the spectators. Also, the losing country often want to try to get a point to salvage some pride. There are four players on each squad so the captain will normally select the worst of the four to play a dead rubber or just to give them some match play in a Davis Cup atmosphere (which is a lot rowdier than most other tournaments).

The Swedes will host the USA so they get to choose the surface. It's not until September so I don't know what surface it will be. As long as the States have Roddick and Blake they will be the heavy favorites in that tie.

The Russians host Germany and are probably favorites there.

Here are the other nations which made it into the World Group playoffs:

Brazil

Peru

Japan

Korea

Great Britain

Israel

Slovak Republic

Serbia

They will be drawn against the eight losing teams from February's World Group first round ties.

[ninanina19]

I didn't know you were such a tennis fan Chaky!!! They never broadcast davis cup here. We were lucky to see a match from The Family Circle Cup (I assumed they played it because of Venus). Anyway the summer/late spring is my favorite time of year. First the French, then Wimbledon, then a whole load of tournaments in the US that they actually broadcast on ESPN 2 and then the US open which I might be going to!!! Also I'm going to Belgrade this summer so yay!!!

[ninanina19]

I think they're in the 3rd round at Monte-Carlo right now. The men I mean. I know Roddick pulled out and Federer got through (he had a bye the first round) but he had a tough match. Djokovic also got through.

[Chaky]

I didn't know you were such a tennis fan Chaky!!!

...then the US open which I might be going to!!! Also I'm going to Belgrade this summer so yay!!!

Yeah, I love tennis. I try to play but I'm not very good. More enthusiasm than talent. I'm going to Wimbledon this year which I'm really excited about. I might also go to the tournament at Birmingham. I went last year and got to meet several players: Chakvetadze , Sharapova, Jankovic, many others...

So you're going to Belgrade. Do you have a Serbian connection?

Djokovic, Ljubicic and Robredo went out of Monte Carlo today. Federer and Nadal had easy wins. Nadal is now unbeaten on clay in 64 consecutive matches! I think everyone now just wants a Federer-Nadal final. I certainly do!

It's also Fed Cup week for the ladies. The big World Group stuff doesn't start until Saturday. But the teams further down the leagues have been in action already in a round robin section. Team Great Britain had a good start beating Bulgaria 3-0 but had a setback against Luxembourg today and went down 2-1. They now play Poland and I think they have to whitewash them to stand a chance of going through to the play-off. Poland are clear favorites so it's going to be really tough.

[Chaky]

Team GB at the Fed Cup lost 0-3 to Poland so they're out. To be expected really, Poland are the strongest team in the group. GB should really have beaten Luxembourg. Aside from that the big guns take to the stage on Saturday in the World Group. Go Russia and USA!

Federer and Nadal are both into the semis in Monte Carlo. Nadal continued his clay winning streak. And Roger had a triumph of his own - the 500th win of his professional career!

In celebration of this and just for the hell of making a tenuous connection (and my 100th post) here's a pic of Jeisa backstage at Miss Sixty reading the tennis news.

[Chaky]

Rafa spanked Fedex 6-4 6-4 in the Monte Carlo final.

Roger was making way too many errors on his usually trust forehand. General consensus is that based on today's performance he hasn't closed the gap with King Rafa on clay. Well Rog will probably get a couple more cracks at Nadal in Rome and Hamburg before the all-important Roland Garros showdown.

[ninanina19]

Rafa just beat Canas too!!! Poor Roger, he hasn't been lucky in his draws. Hopefully he'll get his confidence back for the French.

[Chaky]

Rafa just beat Canas too!!! Poor Roger, he hasn't been lucky in his draws. Hopefully he'll get his confidence back for the French.

Barcelona was Rafa's 20th title and he extended his consecutive clay court wins to 72! During his winning streak he's beaten Roger 5 times. I don't think you could ever say Roger is unlucky in his draws. He met an inspired Canas and should have won against him in Miami. Nadal employs the perfect tactics against him on clay so his real struggle is neutralising that. There's a couple more Masters events before Roland Garros where they could meet.

But you don't have to wait that long! On Wednesday Roger (King of Grass) and Rafa (Clay Court Master) play an exhibition match in Mallorca with a bit of a twist. The court has been specially built: it's grass on one side and clay on the other! The Battle of the Surfaces.

Click the link: BBC Sport

I don't think they're televising this here but I expect it will crop up on Youtube.

[Chaky]

The Battle of the Surfaces is over!

Nadal bt. Federer 7-5 4-6 7-6 (12-10)

Apparently the quality of the grass wasn't so good. According to Eurosport:

"The organisers had experienced problems with the grass side of the court after the original turf had failed to cope with the indoor location and then fell victim to a plague of worms.

As a result they decided to lay a brand new surface the night before the clash, transporting in 400 square metres of putting green grass from a local golf club supplier."

[Chaky]

Shock news. Kim Clijsters has announced her immediate retirement from professional tennis!

Kim had been planning to retire towards the end of the season when she was getting married to her fiancé, basketball player Brian Lynch. She had a number of tournaments still on her schedule including a final Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon. But now she claims that a run of injuries have forced her to call it a day earlier than expected.

I was never a big fan of Kim Clijsters. Her goody-two-shoes persona was never particularly appealing to me and she used to put the smack down on a number of my favorite players on a regular basis. But I can acknowledge that she was a fantastic player who in my opinion has failed to live up to her potential. She only won one Slam, the US Open 2005, but it seemed to me that once she had that elusive Slam win she was never as motivated again. She could have racked up the big titles but perhaps in the later stages of tournaments she lacked the killer instinct - maybe she's just too nice?

I feel sorry for her fans who wanted this amazing farewell tour to continue but at the end of the day Kim's gotta put her own interests first.