Some Strong Statements: Davis Cup Quarterfinal Recap

I was admittedly a little behind the eight ball last week and almost entirely missed the action as a couple countries vied for the semifinal spots in this year's Davis Cup World Group. But despite my lack of attention, there was a ton to talk about this weekend -- from stunning comebacks to one-sided drubbings we saw heavy favorites be shown the exit and some long counted out emerge as real forces. And the teams left standing at the end may not have been the ones you expected.

France vs. Great Britain

Despite its long history and legendary athletes, Great Britain hasn't been much of a force in the World Group for a while -- they'd been relegated to regional play for years, and after finally winning a playoff tie in 2013, they lost in the quarterfinals to Italy last season. And while they faced an intimidating opponent over the weekend -- three top fifteen players, including Wimbledon semifinalist Richard Gasquet, helmed the French squad -- they brought some firepower of their own. After Gilles Simon gave France an early lead, world #3 Andy Murray came out swinging against an always-tough Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, narrowly winning the first two sets before running away with the third. Murray then teamed with his older brother Jamie in the doubles rubber to give the Brits a 2-1 lead going into the final day of play. And while Simon put up a fight in the first reverse singles match, the two-time Grand Slam champion proved the stronger, rebounding after dropping the opening set and clinching the win in four. It sends the team to their first World Group semi since 1981, and maybe makes them a real favorite to take home the Cup.

Australia vs. Kazakhstan

Of course there are a couple ties left before the trophy is handed out, and if this weekend's performance is any indication, the ever-persistent Aussies continue to be a force. But somewhat surprisingly, despite a host of hot young stars, it was the veterans who ultimately delivered. Nineteen year old Thanasi Kokkinakis, who made his way to the Roland Garros third round, and 2014 upstart Nick Kyrgios, who stunned Milos Raonic this year at the All England Club, both lost their singles matches, putting the boys from Down Under at a 0-2 deficit to the Kazakhs by the end of Friday. But then the older guys stepped up to the plate -- big-serving Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt, likely playing his last few matches in Davis Cup, teamed up to get Australia on the board. And each dominated their singles turns, cementing an unlikely comeback late on Sunday. Whether they'll be able to repeat against Britain in the semis -- or whether the young guns will be able to step up to the plate this time -- remains to be seen. But it sure serves notice that the team can never be counted out.

Argentina vs. Serbia

Argentina, three times a runner-up for the Davis Cup crown in the last decade, was never in quite so precarious a situation this weekend, despite facing off against a tough Serbian team, themselves champions a few years ago. A couple of under-the-radar players -- Leonardo Mayer, barely in the top forty, and Federico Delbonis, ranked sixty-sixth in the world -- took advantage of an absent Novak Djokovic to give their country a 2-0 advantage heading into the weekend. And, maybe more impressively, Mayer teamed with Carlos Berlocq -- ranked now well in the triple digits -- to pull off a stunning defeat of 2014 comeback kid Viktor Troicki and doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic and clinch the win on Saturday. Young Dusan Lajovic was able to get the Serbs on the board, avoiding a total shut-out, but it was too little, too late, and the South Americans were able to earn a trip back to the semifinals. And with decidedly more experience than their next opponents, they have a solid shot at continuing their run.

Canada vs. Belgium

But maybe the hugely underrated Belgians will put up a bigger fight than we expect. Playing in their first World Group quarterfinal in eight years, the team, which had dethroned the reigning champion Swiss in the first round, pulled no punches against the Canadians this weekend either. Giant-killer Steve Darcis came back after dropping the first set to give his country an early lead, while 2014 standout David Goffin easily handled Filip Peliwo in three sets. Without their top player Milos Raonic, Canada was certainly at a disadvantage, but even with the help of their own star veteran Daniel Nestor, a doubles titleist in Dubai and Sydney so far this year, they weren't able to make an impact and the Belgians swept over them with an astounding 5-0 score. Interestingly the Europeans do hold an edge over the Argentines in Davis Cup play -- they won the only tie the pair's ever contested way back in 1948 -- but with homefield advantage for September's semifinal tie, they might be able to ride their underdog status to a win again.

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With a couple new faces getting themselves in the mix this year at Davis Cup, things really could get shaken up a bit as we come down to the wire. Whether highly-decorated stars add a long-missing honor to their resumé, or emerging talent makes a big statement for their country, it seems like we're in for a little more excitement than usual.

And whoever takes the opportunity to shine now could reap some big rewards.

Down to the Wire

I love it when the final rubber of a Davis Cup tie actually means something -- it wasn't since Russia defeated Argentina in 2006 that the last match was played to completion. And this year, after four hard-fought rubbers, we were finally given the chance to see two countries fight their hearts out for their honor.

Play began Friday and, admittedly, I thought Serbia would run away with it. Armed with a U.S. Open finalist in Novak Djokovic and a World Tour Final champion in Nenad Zimonjic, as well as homefield advantage, it looked like the team should have had the cards stacked in its favor. And when France made the first dent in the scoreboard -- Gael Monfils beat Janko Tipsarevic hardly breaking a sweat -- I wasn't worried their lead would last. Not surprisingly, Nole evened the score with a routine win over Gilles Simon later that day and Zimonjic teamed with Viktor Troicki to build a two-set lead on the pairing of Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement.

But that's when things got interesting. All four players took a break after the second set, and France got off to a quick lead to start the third by winning Troicki's first service game. The Serbs had a few shots to pull even in the eighth game, but some masterful play by Llodra, ranked a respectable #29 in doubles, got them out of trouble and kept them in the lead -- two games later they had forced another set.

Both teams raised their play then -- there were six aces in the fourth set and another five service winners as players held their games rather easily on both sides of the net. It wasn't until several games later that the French rattled off three games in a row to tie up the match. They then broke the ever-solid Zimonjic to start the fifth and never looked back -- after four and a half hours of play, the French had secured a surprising 2-1 lead.



Djokovic was again able to draw things even on Sunday when he kept his record against Monfils unblemished. The world #3 broke the Frenchman's serve seven times to win in straight sets, making the final match so much more important. Originally expected to pit Simon against Tipsarevic, both teams subbed in the alternates and Troicki was forced to face Llodra a second day in a row.

And this time, the Serb was not intimidated. After losing serve several times on Saturday, he was able to keep his own games in check. He out-aced the Frenchman and won more than half of his return points. He made more errors than his opponent, but that was more a symptom of his aggressive play -- he also shot nearly twice as many winners -- and after about two hours and much less drama than the previous day, he had sealed in the Serbs' very first Davis Cup.



In doing so, Serbia became the thirteenth nation to claim the championship, and they certainly put themselves on the map as a force to beat in the sport. If we didn't already know the force and potential contained within the teeny country, we certainly do now.

And that could give others reason to stop and take notice next year.

It's Not Over Yet

Sure, most of the action on the men's Tour is over for the year, but we've still got the Davis Cup finals this weekend, and this year things could get pretty interesting.

First-time finalist Serbia takes on France, making its first appearance at the championship tie since 2002, and both teams boast players who've made quite a statement in recent months.

France has actually won the Cup nine times, third on the all-time champions' list, but six of those wins came before World War II. They put in a nice showing earlier in the decade, led by the likes of Nicolas Escude and Sebastien Grosjean, but these days they have a fighting chance to reclaim the title. They began their 2010 run by blanking two-time defending champion Spain in the quarters and doing the same to 2008 second-place finishers Argentina a few months later.

Though one of their top players is sitting out this weekend, Gael Monfils, a winner in Montpellier and a runner-up in Paris, is riding high on the momentum of six wins over top-twenty players -- including Andy Murray and Roger Federer -- in about a month. And Michael Llodra, who had his own miracle run in Bercy, has fought his way to #23 in the world, his highest career ranking. Adding Metz champ Gilles Simon and Arnaud Clement to the list, and you might see some big wins this weekend.

But Serbia is making its first appearance in the finals, and given their roster of players, you might wonder what's taken them so long. Helmed by world #3 and London semifinalist Novak Djokovic, they have a Grade-A team. Viktor Troicki, who nearly stopped Nole's New York run in the first round, and Janko Tipsarevic, who vanquished Andy Roddick in the U.S. Open's second round round out the singles field. And World Tour Finals doubles champ Nenad Zimonjic promises to bring the power that's kept him in that discipline's top five for two and a half years.

Play kicks of Friday with Tipsarevic taking on Monfils, the man who pushed him out at Flushing Meadows. Still, they've split wins in their four previous meetings, so it could be Janko's turn to get ahead. Djokovic follows with a rubber against former top-ten Simon, a man he's beaten in five of their six match-ups. I don't expect him to cede that advantage on his homecourt.

In my view, it seems like Serbia is the favorite to win their first Davis Cup this weekend, but if we've learned anything this year, it's that nothing is for certain. But I have a feeling this championship won't be quite as one-sided as they've been in the past few years.

And the result might just usher in a new era of regional domination in men's tennis.

It's Playoff Time!

There's a crisp wind in the air these days, and I can smell a turn in the season. Football teams are back in action and baseball players are staging their last campaigns to make the World Series. With all this excitement, it's no wonder that tennis too is getting in the team spirit this fall.

In just a few months, Spain will get the chance to defend its Davis Cup championship. This past weekend a strong team comprised of former #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and currenty top-twenty David Ferrer only ceded one rubber to a surprise Israeli team in the semifinals.

This December they'll meet another unlikely team in the finals -- the Czech Republic is making its first title run since breaking apart from Slovakia. They clinched a win over Croatia despite their opponent's strong serving Ivo Karlovic and U.S. Open quarterfinalist Marin Cilic.

And while the efforts of the two possible champions this weekend were spectacular, somehow the results of the World Group playoffs captured more of the attention.

Fresh off his heart-breaking loss at the U.S. Open finals, Roger Federer chose to take some time to regroup with his countrymen. He looked like his old formidable self against Italy, beating Simone Bolelli on Friday and surviving a two-plus hour rain delay on Sunday against Potito Starace on a surface that should have been much more comfortable to the Italian. With the help of Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss closed out their tie with a 3-2 win in the foreign land.

Serbia was similarly impressive in their win this weekend. Though #4 Novak Djokovic was absent, recuperating from a long summer in the States, the country's second best player Viktor Troicki was more than present. He battled through a persistent foot injury to win both of his rubbers, the first taking five sets and over three hours to complete. His teammates were just as unrelenting -- Janko Tipsarevic, who's had some success on the singles Tour, and Nenad Zimonjic, half of the #2 doubles team in the world, paired up to clinch the win, and even little-known Ilia Bozoljac, ranked in the triple digits, did his part to help in the sweep of Uzbekistan.

But the most unlikely victors this weekend were probably a under-appreciated team from India, led by veteran doubles champ Mahesh Bhupathi and former college standout Somdev Devvarman. In Johannesburg they took on a host of South African players whose names are much more recognizable -- Rik De Voest, Jeff Coetzee, Weslie Moodie -- but they were not intimidated. The University of Virginia alum, who's already beaten both Cilic and Karlovic this year, easily won his first rubber and survived a nearly five hour match against de Voest, coming back from two sets down, to clinch his team's victory. And so India, three times a runner-up for the Davis Cup title, made it back into the World Group with their performance this weekend.

You can be sure all these teams will be in a battling mood, seeking to back up what they showed us over the last few days -- we have yet to see who can talk the talk, but I know it's going to be quite a battle!

Shanghai Surprise

I don't think anyone believed we'd get to the last weekend in the 2008 men's tennis season and not see either of the two top players of the year battling for the ATP title.

But here we are and neither Rafael Nadal nor Roger Federer are in the finals -- neither even made it to the semis.

Instead we saw two men who've consistently been in top form this year -- Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko, respectively #3 and #5 in the world -- take on two who've really seen their stars soar in 2008 -- Gilles Simon and Andy Murray.

Given the momentum Simon and Murray had brought with them, I admit I was surprised on Saturday when both ND's were successful. Apparently the rigorous schedules of their opponents finally took their toll -- Murray had only taken one week off after his U.S. Open final appearance, and Simon had entered a mind-blowing twenty-eight tournaments this year. And so both Novak and Nikolay were able to exert their slow and steady pressure and advance to the championship game.



I said earlier that I questioned whether the four semifinalists really represented the best of men's tennis this year -- and to some extent I still have my doubts. But after watching the final match, I'm not quite as indifferent about the two players who made it to the end.

The Djokovic-Davydenko final was somewhat of a reprise of their Gold Group second round-robin match-up which Nole won, despite losing the second set 0-6. This time, however, he wasn't willing to let his nerves take over, even for a second. The 21 year old Serb dominated the first set, taking it 6-1. Despite some excellent points Nikolay, looking much older than his 27 years, just didn't seem that into it until late in the second. Facing two championship points at 3-5, Davydenko not only impressively served out the game, but broke Dkojovic immediately following. But Novak quickly regrouped, won the next two games, the set, and the tournament.



With his win Novak cemented his position at the top of men's tennis. After a booming start to the year, with tiles in Melbourne, Indian Wells and Rome, Djokovic had become rather quiet. Even though he advanced deep into the draws at the French and U.S. Opens, he couldn't win another title -- and he lost three straight times to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the runner-up at the Australian Open.

But his win here proves Novak is not just a one-title wonder and even brings him within spitting distance of the #2 spot -- not a bad way to end a year. It could make Rafa and Roger a little nervous when they look to defend their rankings in 2009.

Incidentally, Djokovic wasn't the only Serb to see success in Shanghai. Compatriot Nenad Zimonjic teamed up with Canadian Daniel Nestor to take the doubles championship, beating the Bryan brothers in straight sets. Their win makes them the #1 doubles team this year, ending Bob and Mike's three-year hold on that title.

Looks like there's going to be some sparks flying on the doubles' courts as well!



See y'all in January!