Davis cup - quarterfinal

As I mentioned before Tomas Berdych is not going to play DC quarter in Japan this weekend and Nishi due to his groin injury doesn't play either. That is sad news for fans.

So Japanese lineup should be:
- Go Soeda (ranked 134.), Tacuma Ito (149.), Jasutaka Učijama (277.) Taro Daniel (190.)
and Czechs with:
- Rosol (40.), Step (49.), Vesely (67.)
It is expected that Step and Rosol will play the singles and also the double. Step is 35 yo and is going to play three BO5 matches within three days in front of Japanese crowds.
Czechs sare favorites, but there can happen whatever in Japan, especially when Step wants to play all three days and unpredictable Rosol. That could be a funny weekend.

I was thinking about Rosol last night!
S.Tignor had an article featuring tennis upsets and underdogs on tennis.com yesterday and I mentioned Rosol -Nadal match, as my favourite one  ever.
I watched a few clips of how it all happened again and it still gives me the same excitement and buzz....how awesome and fearless Rosol was in that match!!!!!
The way he served it out....something else!
No matter what he does in the rest of his career, Rosol The Great will have a very special part in the heart of every tennis fan.....and I would say many players, too!
I noticed when he played Fed recently, Fed gave him a really warm handshake at the net

That aside, isn't it funny how Berd and Stan, the big "promise" of AO, fizzled out since?
Don't things change fast in tennis....

And now Davis Cup, after such a long time, no Serbia and no Nole in the 2nd round....well, he deserves a rest!
We have Federer as the big name after a while in Davis Cup instead.
No matter how much I like him (and Stan, but much less) and would personally be happy for them to win DC I will be behind France as I love that country.

It will be very interesting to see GB with Murray against Italy, too, can't wait for Murray-Fognini!

So, should be a good weekend of tennis.

noleisthebest wrote:That aside, isn't it funny how Berd and Stan, the big "promise" of AO, fizzled out since?
Don't things change fast in tennis....

Yes, for once the DC gets interesting. I am actually shared between France and Swiss....though I would typically support France in such matches....the fact that France is more likely to mess up after makes me hesitate. 

Berd and Stan...

Well funny duo those 2. Berd is known to collapsing under pressure. he cannot beat the physical players (and frankly only Fed when Fed can't serve) whereas Stan can beat the physical players....on a very good day though he had the worst or one of the worst TB record in the history of the game. 

Yet it's 2 players who can make it harder for the top players than 95% of the rest of the field.

Yes, Stan and Berd are interesting....

I am so happy for Stan to have won his AO slam, and am pretty sure that will be his only one, to him so, so special!

He had his one chance and took it in style.
Berd had his chance in Wimbledon final against the same player and blew it.

That shows the clear difference between the two.

In the past  both have been chokers and head-cases, but Stan somehow managed to overcome it, and that is a huge achievement in itself.

To go into your first slam final and go for it with all your might, I am so happy it paid off for him.
He really deserved it after beating Nole, esp after their AO 2013 match.

Yes, on that first set alone, Stan deserved that AO. Whether Nadal was impaired of not is irrelevant as once again, he showed that once his physique drops slightly, he is made to look very average as Stan showed in that first set.

Yes, Stan was majestic in the 1st set. Had he cracked under pressure even for one minute, the "impaired" Nadal would have been all over him in no time..14 slams and counting !

1st rubber already started.
Good old Step scored a win over Soeda; what a legend... 35 and still travelling all over the world to play DC!

GB Italy looks most interesting today with Ward-Fognini and Murray -Seppi. Heavy rain in Naples atm, BBC showing it live online.
Kuku-Fed should be OK, too.
France-Germany starting soon, quite interesting too with this Goykowicz, from what I remember of one of his runs last year (although I haven't actually seen him) he has a booming serve.

Anyone got a decent link for non BBC matches?

Rain delays the start of GB-Italy rubbers.

Yes Step is so good. The way he took a set off Nadal in IW playing brilliant shots....Nadal's stamina finally got the better of him at the end.

I thought France was playing Switzerland for some reasons. Swiss and France should be the favourite of that DC. Would they meet in SF or Final?

France and Switzerland would meet in the Final. Here's the draw:

Japan v Czech

France v Germany


Italy v GB

Switzerland v Kazakhstan

Projected SF is France-Czech Republic & Italy/GB-Switzerland.

Both matches should be brilliant, esp if GB beats Italy (possible but not very likely) and then Switzerland is coming to UK for that match...
They are scheduled after USO, so probably not in Wimbledon.
I can already see a packed O2, with GB having no home advantage at all  

They would be all behind GB...I can tell you that....and rightly so actually.

I'd behind France too if they get to the final v Federer. We have a good DC record and I want to keep it up.

However the loss would not be as bad as versus...GB for instance.

Well, I was in Wimbledon live for the Olympic final...Murray vs Fed, everyone around me cheered for Fed.
There was a bunch of "pro" fans that tried to stir the crowd with TEAM - GB! chants (I'd say 80% of the people didn't have a clue about tennis) during the entire match and only managed to get them going around the match point

....which can certainly not be said for the fiery Italians who are already full-on behind their man Fognini.
The court looks terrible, tough!
They don't seem to have covered it during that heavy rain....mamma mia!

oh dear.....Stan losing badly v Gobulev and so does Benetteau v Kamke......Stan certainly not number 3 consistency wise. He is going to retire now that he has a slam?????

Just saw the scores, too...I know Stan is not a symbol of consistency, but this drubbing from Golubev, who Nole's younger brother Marko nearly beat in Dubai 2 years ago...   
Maybe he is injured, he's been carrying stg since AO, remember struggled in DC 1st round match against Serbia in January.
What's up with Benneteau!!!?

Ward leveled 1:1 against Fognini who is having an MTO...

Fognini is so entertaining: beautiful ball-striking, flapping his arms around, frowning one moment and breaking into a big smile the next.... so much fabiolous operatic drama about him,  legend!!!  

So, Stan loses in 4 sets...Fed next against Kuku.
Fabio on his way with two sets and two breaks up.
Tsonga-Gojo starting.

Surprised Gasquet and Simon are not playing.

yes weird. Monfils could have played too....but regardless Benetteau should have never lost..unless he was injured....but I fear it was more nerves than anything.

I noticed this generation of Frenchies are funny like that...I was just thinking how meekly Llodra went to Troicki in that 5th rubber 2010 DC final...
It seems there is no leader in the team to lift it up.
I reckon Paire and Herbert will be great in DC once their time comes, they both have spark about them!

No matter the hype for the Swiss this year- it's still a 1 man gang.. Pressure always falls on Federer...    Big shoulders to handle it though

noleisthebest wrote:I noticed this generation of Frenchies are funny like that...I was just thinking how meekly Llodra went to Troicki in that 5th rubber 2010 DC final...
It seems there is no leader in the team to lift it up.
I reckon Paire and Herbert will be great in DC once their time comes, they both have spark about them!

yes.....Simon is actually one of the more solid...but even him is no rock.

truffin1 wrote:No matter the hype for the Swiss this year- it's still a 1 man gang.. Pressure always falls on Federer...    Big shoulders to handle it though

exactly...Stan showed again why he has the worst TB record in the history of tennis.

Tenez wrote:

truffin1 wrote:No matter the hype for the Swiss this year- it's still a 1 man gang.. Pressure always falls on Federer...    Big shoulders to handle it though

exactly...Stan showed again why he has the worst TB record in the history of tennis.

The swiss team gets their strategy wrong... just like last time against USA. Fed should always play the first rubber. Your best player always needs to play first to have the best chance to go 1-0 up and reduce the pressure on the player playing the 2nd rubber. Last time against USA, stan lost the first one and put too much pressure on Fed. Again this time Stan lost and Fed was put under pressure to level things up. 

Stan would have played much freely had Swiss were 1-0 up. He plays best when free, pressure kills his game.

Good point rotla....I guess people want to see Fed in the eve (bigger audience).

Anyway, Stan admits it was nerve and no injury:
https://fr.sports.yahoo.com/news/tennis-coupe-davis-wawrinka-nai-165511867--ten.html

Having said that, I am also a nervous player so I will not throw the first stone!   

Fed playing with 70% and cruising.....strange to hear Swiss German after a long time...

Speaking of Swiss, I played a Swiss woman yesterday.
I knew her for some time but didn't know where she was from.
Since I wore my special Nole t-shirt all week as a celebration of his Miami win, she smiled and said - oh, I know who you support...I then asked who she liked and she said she was Swiss...
So I started to sing praises to Fed, his tennis, SBH etc etc...and you know what she had to say: He is finished and needs to retire..... 

Over to Tsonga - Gojo...looks like Tsonga is the one with the shoulders on French team in this tie.
Nice atmosphere, real DC style!

noleisthebest wrote:Speaking of Swiss, I played a Swiss woman yesterday.
I knew her for some time but didn't know where she was from.
Since I wore my special Nole t-shirt all week as a celebration of his Miami win, she smiled and said - oh, I know who you support...I then asked who she liked and she said she was Swiss...
So I started to sing praises to Fed, his tennis, SBH etc etc...and you know what she had to say: He is finished and needs to retire..... 

Not that surprised. A real fan's reaction. They simply do not want to see their idol losing more often.

Yes, isn't that so sad.....

I was right, this Gojo has a booming serve.
4th set TB!!!

....and we have the 5th set.
Gojo's playing big!
ALLEZ France!!!

Strange situation!

Gojo had a bad cramp and got time violation for stretching on Tsonga's serve, then his coach got double warning from the match official.
Then he just disappeared into the tunnel after for the "toilet break" aka massage.
Clearly Gojo not fit enough for 5 sets which is a shame as he has played some heroic tennis.

not watching but 2/0 down and france is out!

Is Forget the coach? if so that explains why Gasquet is not playing. They hate each other.

I think Forget should quit!

Fantastic drama, Tsonga saves 2 MPs with 2 aces...one of those had to be challenged!
Davis Cup at its best.

Tenez wrote:not watching but 2/0 down and france is out!

Is Forget the coach? if so that explains why Gasquet is not playing. They hate each other.

I think Forget should quit!

You should watch, great match, full on attacking tennis from both players.
No, Forget is not the coach any more, Clement is, Gasquet is on the bench cheering the team as is Monfils.

If you were the coach in the DC 2010 final instead of Forget, would you have chosen Llodra for that last match as well?

No...not Llodra..unless the match is on woodfloor.

Do you know that Tips was chosen for that match first and then broke down and cried privatly in front of Troicki telling him he was scared of losing that match (he lost his first match on the first day), and Troicki then said to him, "don't worry Janko, I'll play and I'm going to win."
I love him for saying that!

Ouch!!!!!!

Gojo just won

That guy is a better player than his record so far shows.

Just in time to watch the 3rd ....and final MP! Poor Tsonga...not sure whether it s mental or physique.

noleisthebest wrote:Do you know that Tips was chosen for that match first and then broke down and cried privatly in front of Troicki telling him he was scared of losing that match (he lost his first match on the first day), and Troicki then said to him, "don't worry Janko, I'll play and I'm going to win."
I love him for saying that!

Nice one! Poor Tips....how is he doing nowadays? when you think he was a consistent top 10 a couple of years ago!!!!

Gojo had a Rosol SW19 moment....the beauty of Davis Cup, from nobody to somebody in one match!

Still...far from over...France needs to win all 3 matches, though.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Do you know that Tips was chosen for that match first and then broke down and cried privatly in front of Troicki telling him he was scared of losing that match (he lost his first match on the first day), and Troicki then said to him, "don't worry Janko, I'll play and I'm going to win."
I love him for saying that!

Nice one! Poor Tips....how is he doing nowadays? when you think he was a consistent top 10 a couple of years ago!!!!

Tips is recovering from a very bad heel tendon injury, not sure whether he had a surgery or not.
He has become a dad in the meantime, and looks really happy with his little baby girl.

Well I think it is more down Jo than Gojo!

Something is wrong with Tsonga atm.

Tenez wrote:Well I think it is more down Jo than Gojo!

Something is wrong with Tsonga atm.

He's been off his best for a very long time, since that win over Fed in Wimbledon 2011.
Such a shame, he was so promising and exciting back in AO 2008... Looks like he's lost faith.
I saw him in O2 against Nole in 2013. That was his first match under Rasheed, he looked so insecure and lost. Rasheed took all that nice natural aggression and sprite out of Tsonga.
He needs to find a good coach asap, he is such a lovely guy.

Murray 2-0 sets up. Seppi has blown away his chances in thin air. Poor match overall.

A good 3rd set from Murray to give 1-1 for GB.

To be expected. The double is going to be key in that encounter.

Tenez wrote:To be expected. The double is going to be key in that encounter.

Yes, and even for the Swiss. If they go 1-2 down, Stan will again be under a mountain of pressure to win the deciding rubber against Kukushkin who is not as bad as his rankings suggest. Or maybe Stan isn't as good as his ranking suggests.

I'd say Stan is as good as his ranking suggests. He should win comfortably.

FedererKing wrote:I'd say Stan is as good as his ranking suggests.  He should win comfortably.

Did he look comfortable in any of his matches after the AO win?