Vasek made the first set look pretty easy. Interesting contrast with what we were watching last Monday--this Cup match is what tennis played by humans looks like, I guess.
Vasek made the first set look pretty easy. Interesting contrast with what we were watching last Monday--this Cup match is what tennis played by humans looks like, I guess.
Exactly what I was thinking - the top guys can make the rest look like amateurs.
Why is the stadium in Israel called Canada Stadium? I was really confused for a while.
Why is the stadium in Israel called Canada Stadium? I was really confused for a while.
According to the G&M:
Quote:
Interestingly, the event is being played in the Canada Stadium, an impressive 5000 seat facility, named for the Canadian donors, lead by pharmaicist Murray Koffler, who contributed heavily to the stadium's construction.
Tsonga is a pretty miserable clay court player. Too bad Monfils wasn't available; France would probably had a better chance with him. All the same, Ferrer and Nadal would be too much for any French team on a clay court. Same for Argentina.
Djoker shouldn't have even played after his last two matches and with an apparent injury.
The Draw for 2012 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas will take place on Wednesday 21 September at the Four Seasons hotel in Bangkok, getting under way at 18:30 local time (11:30 GMT).
Quote:
The first round ties are scheduled to be played on 10-12 February 2012.
WORLD GROUP
Seeded nations
1. Spain
2. Argentina
3. Serbia
4. France
5. Czech Republic
6. USA
7. Croatia
8. Russia
Remaining nations
- Austria
- Canada
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
For Canada to win that tie, Raonic would have to become the top ten player he has the potential to be, which would likely far overshadow a first round Davis Cup win for fans of Canadian tennis.
Raonic will face a Japanese WC player in the first round, Sugita (#177 in the world). Good draw for the first round but has Nadal lined up in the second round just like last year in Japan.
Murray easily beat Young in the Bangkok final 6-2, 6-0. It was an impressive tournament for Young all the same, including a victory over Monfils in the semifinals, and continuing a string of good results for him over the past couple of months. His backhand seems to have improved quite a bit, and he's much less prone to stupid tactics on the court. I guess it helps that he finally dumped his parents as coaches. Murray is probably one of the best players on tour at hitting to a left-handed player's backhand, though, and a much better player overall. Young needs to work on hitting bigger serves consistently, but he does seem poised finally to start fulfilling his potential.
Tipsarevic beat Baghdatis in a much closer and better match 6-4, 7-5 to win his first ATP title in Malaysia. Not a big fan of either player but it was a high quality match.
Raonic will face a Japanese WC player in the first round, Sugita (#177 in the world). Good draw for the first round but has Nadal lined up in the second round just like last year in Japan.
Not an ideal draw for Raonic obviously. Nadal has never defended any hard court title before, something I'm sure he wants to reverse. The draws look much better for the 500 events next week than the 250s this week.
And people say Federer says arrogant things more routinely in press conferences these days... Anyway, I hate the ridiculous demands made on the personalities of tennis players off the court, and it's hardly ever worse than when they're asked about the imminence of their own retirement and are supposed to acknowledge the validity of the reporters' questions. I would have done exactly what Roddick did in this situation. If a player says stupid things like Roddick did when he said he'd retire if he ever fell outside of the top 15, or when he said the gap between him and Federer was closing, the reporters should note it in their stories and not try to get the player to confess to it. Of course an athlete is going to say things to himself and consequently to the press to allow him to keep competing, even if decline or a vastly superior opponent seem insurmountable to a neutral observer.
