Davis Cup 2018
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
ph∞be- Posts : 2099
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
Note: I copied the article in full here as the New York Times requires a subscription - this was my last freebie!
The Current Davis Cup Is Disappearing, but Teams Still Want to Win It
Lucas Pouille of France was one of the most outspoken players against Davis Cup reforms. Philippe Huguen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Christopher Clarey | New York Times
Sept. 13, 2018
The Davis Cup, as we know it, is doomed, voted out of existence by the International Tennis Federation in August in favor of a shorter-form version that is set to launch in 2019.
But the long form still has a couple of rounds and months to go — call it a lame-duck Cup. The emotions are decidedly mixed this week for the semifinals of what has been tennis’s premier team competition since 1900.
In Zadar, Croatia, on the Dalmatian coast, the host country is playing the United States, whose captain, Jim Courier, was a strong proponent of the changes and still wants more reform by including Fed Cup, the women’s team event.
“I applaud the I.T.F. for making this move,” Courier said. “My hope is that they eventually find a format that can also include the Fed Cup being played alongside the Davis Cup during the same time and location to make it a festival for national team competition.”
In the other semifinal, Spain is facing France without Rafael Nadal, who is injured again. France’s captain, Yannick Noah, and his players were among the most vocal opponents of the Davis Cup changes, even if their tennis federation and its president, Bernard Giudicelli, voted in favor.
In the new version, there will be an 18-team final phase at a single site instead of the current format, in which two finalists play on one of the nations’ home turf. The best-of-five set matches that have been part of Davis Cup’s gladiatorial identity since the beginning will be replaced by best-of-three contests. Instead of five matches in each nation-to-nation duel, there will be three (two singles and one doubles).
“Shame on all these players, leaders and media who have just sold the soul of the Davis Cup,” Noah tweeted in French on Aug. 16, the day of the vote.
Noah’s dismay is understandable: The old-style Cup has brought him and France a lot of joy in the last 30 years, including a teary and transcendent upset of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and the United States in a smoky Lyon arena in 1991, which was unforgettable for those of us in attendance, too.
Lucas Pouille, the top-ranked French player, had once talked about mobilizing players to fight the new format.
“I realized that it served no purpose because we players did not have our say,” Pouille said in an interview with Le Monde, the French newspaper. “It was not useful to waste everyone’s time when it was already settled in advance. We were not consulted at all. The French Federation voted for it when I don’t know a single French player who was for it.”
It will be intriguing to see how the crowd and players react to Giudicelli over the weekend. But France, in this horse-trading context, may still end up hosting the first final in the new format next year. Lille and Madrid are the two announced contenders. Lille is where France won the Cup last year for the 10th time and where it will host the Spaniards this weekend.
“To know it’s the last one in this format gives you more motivation,” Pouille told Le Monde.
Others, like the top Croatian, Marin Cilic, have expressed similar sentiments, but Courier said the Americans were treating this as pressing business as usual.
Sixth-ranked Marin Cilic and Croatia host the United States in a Davis Cup semifinal this weekend. Antonio Bronic/Reuters
“The upcoming change in format doesn’t change the equation for us,” Courier said. “We’ve been urgently chasing the title each of the eight years I’ve been captain, and with some good play this weekend we’ll be one step away from it.”
For all Courier’s commitment and leadership, it has been a disappointing run during his eight-year tenure: some close defeats at home and not one final, even though the game’s best players like Roger Federer have hardly been fully committed to the event during this period.
The Americans, who have not won the Cup since 2007, will be underdogs on the outdoor clay in Zadar.
Their best singles player and leader, 10th-ranked John Isner, is at home in the United States awaiting the birth of his first child. Their best available doubles team, Mike Bryan and Jack Sock, who won the Wimbledon and United States Open titles this year, will not be able to play together in Zadar because Sock is out with a hip injury.
The Croatians have two strong singles players in the sixth-ranked Cilic and the 18th-ranked Borna Coric, as well as one of the world’s leading doubles players in Mate Pavic. He usually teams with Austrian Oliver Marach of Austria on tour but is expected play with Ivan Dodig for Davis Cup, unless the captain, Zeljko Krajan, decides to have Cilic play doubles.
For some, the most intriguing pairing in Zadar was always going to be the chair umpire Carlos Ramos and Katrina Adams, the president of the United States Tennis Association. Adams openly suggested sexism had played a role in Ramos’s clash with Serena Williams during the U.S. Open women’s singles final, which Williams lost to Naomi Osaka last Saturday after receiving three code violations.
Ramos, who will be in the chair for the Davis Cup in Croatia, spoke with Adams on Thursday, and The Associated Press reported overhearing Adams offer an apology for the fallout from the Open final. But Adams denied an interview request seeking to confirm the report.
In light of her public criticism of Ramos, any apology really ought to be just as public.
With Isner and Sock out, Courier has called on the 26-year-old Ryan Harrison and the 20-year-old Frances Tiafoe, a talented youngster ranked 40th who has a very tough assignment for his Davis Cup debut: facing Cilic on the road Friday.
“One thing we know and love about Davis Cup is that it’s rarely predictable,” Courier said.
It is usually meaningful, however, and there may not be much at stake in the other tier of matches being played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In a normal year, the eight teams to win in the qualifying round this weekend would next year advance to the World Group, the top level of the competition.
But with the changes, the winners will be guaranteed only a seeding in the opening round of Davis Cup next February: a 24-team, home-and-away round that will determine 12 of the teams that advance to the newfangled finals.
To make matters more confusing, the losers in this weekend’s qualifying round will also still qualify for next year’s opening round if their Davis Cup rankings are high enough to make the cut.
It is a lot to digest, and indigestion is hardly out of the question. Pouille once said he would refuse to play under the new format next year but has since left the door open, knowing that eligibility for the 2020 Olympics is linked to Davis Cup participation.
The ATP, which runs the men’s tour and is intent on organizing a team event of its own in 2020, would like to end that Olympic linkage. In an ideal world it would surely like to oversee the Olympic qualifying process instead of the I.T.F. But compromise remains possible, if not yet probable, as does a change in date for the Davis Cup’s final phase.
What is clear amid the fog is that after 118 years, the old Cup is just about done.
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Davis Cup 2018 Semi-Finals
Location: Lille, France
Benoit Paire made the French team for the first time... He had been dreaming of that day for many moons!
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2018
The #DavisCup semifinal in Lille starts tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/vQd59vn0mg
Location: Zadar, Croatia
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2018
The #DavisCup semifinal kicks off tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/f7K80JTkX8
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Davis Cup 2018 - World Group Play-Off
Good luck to SUISSE! Hopp Schwiiiiz! ... and to Daniel Nestor for his last match! Good to see Raonic on the team, though.
Notable absences: Djokovic and Krajinovic (Serbia), Andy Murray and Edmund (Great Britain), Del Potro (Argentina), Nishikori (Japan).
SWITZERLAND - SEDEN
Location: Biel, SwitzerlandCan defeat #Sweden for the first time in #DavisCup this weekend or will secure a 7th straight win?@jeff_kav looks ahead to the weekend https://t.co/zLTzFlXlhy pic.twitter.com/oqcTcQPpjz
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2018
CANADA - Netherlands
Location: Toronto, Canada@danielnestor has one more match left in his career! He's looking forward to signing off at #DavisCup pic.twitter.com/3df9SkVCj0
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2018
Austria - Australia
Location: Graz, Austria"Oneof the biggest occasions of the year"
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2018
@ThiemDomi is looking forward to this weekend's #DavisCup World Group play-off against Australia in Graz!
For @LeeCGoodall's full preview https://t.co/PWoM0dNmnK pic.twitter.com/8CYPHqVbBG
Great Britain - Uzbekistan
Location: Glasgow, ScotlandGB Captain Leon Smith
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Davis Cup 2018 - World Group Play-Off
Argentina - Colombia
Location: San Juan, Argentina#VamosArgentina pic.twitter.com/kcj5GNSrTS
— diego schwartzman (@dieschwartzman) September 13, 2018
Serbia - India
Location: Kraljevo, SerbiaTeam Serbia@DavisCupIdemo pic.twitter.com/NdjpjYKlqu
— Nenad Zimonjić(@nenadzim) September 13, 2018
Japan - Bosnia/Herzegovina
Location: Osaka, JapanIf the table tennis is this good, how good will the tennis be???
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2018
#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/cQZwBQ01VI
Japan v Bosnia/Herzegovina in table tennis
Hungary - Czech Republic
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
World Cup of Tennis is like the annual winner of a world tournament or a mini Olympic Games.
Dispensing with the Davis Cup with its traditions and joyous occasions is a pity. If money has been spent, or offered for a World Cup, then it could have been sent to reorganize the Davis Cup, which is country against country, much like the new plan.
And then, will this become another "measuring stick" for players in the records? A way of moving the goal posts yet again with a new category? I don't understand it yet, because not much has been outlined. I note that a couple of top players have known/spoken about it, but apparently Roger was not asked, yet he has the best historical overview, and a sense of what is good for the sport overall.
HeartoftheMatter- Posts : 2301
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
ph∞be- Posts : 2099
Join date : 2017-01-29
Re: Davis Cup 2018
ph∞be- Posts : 2099
Join date : 2017-01-29
Re: Davis Cup 2018
ph∞be- Posts : 2099
Join date : 2017-01-29
Re: Davis Cup 2018
My time for tennis watching is often at a premium these days, but I do catch up on the Davis Cup site, and here. It is so good to read the comments of those of you that are watching. Thank you dears.
A Croatia / France Final looks interesting and I will try & watch if I can.
Great to hear of DENIS's success!!He is such a poppet and I'm delighted for him.
InspiredTennis- Posts : 1285
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
Unfortunately, the doubles yesterday didn't quite live up to what was hoped for as a send-off to Daniel Nestor. But it was still a very emotional moment for Daniel when the whole stadium paid him such a well deserved tribute after the match.
Canadian doubles specialist Daniel Nestor acknowledges the cheers at the Coliseum after his final Davis Cup match on Saturday. (Jon Blacker / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Retiring at age 46, after 27 years as a Pro, with 91 ATP titles in 151 finals (1062-487 W-L), including 8 Grand Slams (in doubles).
Most wins by a Canadian in Davis Cup: 48, with 34 doubles triumphs.
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
Jim Courrier pulled out a straw out of his back pocket in the name of Sam Querrey, who defeated Cilic in four sets!
Now it is up to Coric (again) to save Croatia, or will Tiafoe give the USA a surprising (after yesterday score) ticket to the final?
Score: CRO-USA: 1-1 - 5-1 in 3rd set: Tiafoe serving to stay in the set.
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
CRO-USA
Tie: 2-2
5th Rubber: 2-2 - Coric-Tiafoe in a fifth decider set... A tough load for these youngsters!
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
YES!! Imagine how the loser will feel.
striker- Posts : 1399
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
A well contested match, with Borna breaking to win it 6-3 in the final set. What a burden for poor Frances. I hope he'll be okay.
So it is France -v- Croatia :CR2: in the final after all. I must be psychic!
InspiredTennis- Posts : 1285
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Re: Davis Cup 2018
Yes, feel bad for Tiafoe as he fought hard to bring this match into a fifth set. Sorry ! They just can't crack this nut... it's their fifth loss against Croatia, I believe!
Cromar- Posts : 6560
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