Davis Cup

First topic message reminder :

I know it's not in vogue to discuss actual live tennis on this board, but I thought I'd put up a DC thread for the weekend matches.

A lot of teams are in action.



emancipator

Break up in the 5th and held serve. Tension!

There seems to be zero interest / live coverage from the BBC (?)

Dan Evans wins the Davis Cup Tie for Britain. Brilliant performance from him, totally outshone Britains No 2 James Ward.

Curreny British Ranking
4. Andy Murray
158. James Ward
245. Jamie Baker
255. Josh Goodall
276. Daniel Evans

removed due to double posting.

James Ward is an awful excuse for a number 2 he really is. Can't believe I bigged him up some time ago.

Evans very decent aggresive moves, but he goes to the slice too much from the first return. Against players like Klizan he can get away with it but nobody in the top 50 would feel in danger against him honestly.

They should really exchange James Ward for Oliver Golding if they want to move forward.

Well done Dan Evans. Great results this weekend.

What a gut check that was for Evans. Absolutely remarkable effort by the young man. I would imagine he will be chasing the heels of James Ward.

Despite Dan Evans outshining James Ward as well as his own ranking (defeating the much higher ranked Lacko and Klizan), James Ward has performed well in previous Davis Cup Ties. However, on the other hand, these previous performances were against lower ranked opposition compared to the Slovakians.

I think the Davis Cup is probably a good place to blood some of Britains promising juniors/ young seniors, such as Oliver Golding (as per Josiahs suggestion).

I just got nicely set up to watch Tsonga Raonic only to see that Frank Dancevic is playing instead of Raonic. Anyone know why?

apparently he has a knee injury NITB. They don't seem to know too much about it, but the team doctors have advised him against playing.

Well done Dan Evans, I really feared for him when Klizan got back to two sets all, but he came through in the end. To win both singles against players ranked well above him is very impressive indeed, and hopefully will kick-start his career. Next up for GB is a home tie vs Belgium early April. They'll be hoping Murray will be back for that one...

MfC interesting situation for Leon Smith next time round. Hutchins and Fleming need to play as does Evans (can't possibly leave him out after these heroics?).

Andy should hopefully be available so Ward should step aside and be told to go and get some results. Harsh? Maybe but it would be much worse to say "thanks Dan for their effort" and then leave him out.

wasn't it a couple of years when Murray basically said that Dan Evans should be the n°2 in the DC team? Admittedly that backfired quite spectacularly after he twice lost the deciding fifth match, but based on this week-end maybe Andy saw something we didn't...

There's about two months before the next tie, so Evans needs to go out there and show this week-end wasn't a fluke, and that he can play like that consistently. If he can, there's no reason he can't (eventually) break into the top 100, something I'm not sure I see Ward doing.

As for Huchins and Fleming, you don't think Andy should be on doubles duty as well then?

Mad for Chelsea wrote:apparently he has a knee injury NITB. They don't seem to know too much about it, but the team doctors have advised him against playing.

Well done Dan Evans, I really feared for him when Klizan got back to two sets all, but he came through in the end. To win both singles against players ranked well above him is very impressive indeed, and hopefully will kick-start his career. Next up for GB is a home tie vs Belgium early April. They'll be hoping Murray will be back for that one...

Thanks MFC, I found out Raonic was advised not to play. Shame. He's paying for his frame, not easy being that tall and running around with all that weight, Tennis is not the sport for people with disproportionatly long legs.

Yes, it will be interesing to see whether Murray plays in the next tie, same for Novak. I think the coach is expecting him to turn up against the Czechs, but I hope he skips it this year, he's got a historic opportunity to achieve grand slam, the other guys should try and sweat it a bit for a change.

I only watched GB in DC once, and that was two years ago against Austria. Lloyd was the captain and Murray brothers & Boggo played. The atmosphere was disgusting, there was zero love and mateship among the players, Murray and his bro (and Lloyd) showed no support for Boggo, and the guy completely clammed up it was painful to watch, GB tim will be better off without Murray to be honest, I know you're going to hate me for saying this, but when he's playing it looks as if he's doing some massive service to the team (which he is in a way), his heart is not in it, so I wouldn't push him into it, just how I observed it.

Nore Staat wrote:Despite Dan Evans outshining James Ward as well as his own ranking (defeating the much higher ranked Lacko and Klizan), James Ward has performed well in previous Davis Cup Ties. However, on the other hand, these previous performances were against lower ranked opposition compared to the Slovakians.

I think the Davis Cup is probably a good place to blood some of Britains promising juniors/ young seniors, such as Oliver Golding (as per Josiahs suggestion).

Perhaps, but we've got one match against Belgium.

O Rochus (50)
Malisse (75)
Darcis (82)

Not the best, but decent enough. Rochus lost an ATP250 final in Australia last month. If it's 3-1, yes, the Davis Cup could be used to blood in promising players, but that would appear dependant on Murray.

If we win that, it's into the Play-Off, and we could be playing Switzerland (Federer, Wawrinka). Some of teams knocked out the World Group certainly seem beatable with Murray there, and if we do get there, the chance to blood youngsters has passed unless there is a dead rubber, otherwise we'll be sending them out to be lambs to the slaughter. There's no more PE teachers and part-time players any longer.

Beligiums in the top 300
50 Rochus, Olivier (BEL)
75 Malisse, Xavier (BEL)
82 Darcis, Steve (BEL)
136 Bemelmans, Ruben (BEL)
165 Goffin, David (BEL)
217 Mertens, Yannick (BEL)
218 Authom, Maxime (BEL)

Britains in the top 300
4 Murray, Andy (GBR)
158 Ward, James (GBR)
245 Baker, Jamie (GBR)
255 Goodall, Josh (GBR)
276 Evans, Daniel (GBR)

One wonders where all that LTA money and where all those LTA promises have gone.

For comparison

Slovakians in the top 300
65 Lacko, Lukas (SVK)
105 Beck, Karol (SVK)
120 Klizan, Martin (SVK)
227 Cervenak, Pavol (SVK)

The tie with Belgium is going to have to be heavily reliant on Murray and Skupsi and Fleming in doubles. However will they go for youth or will they keep with James Ward?

legendkillar wrote:The tie with Belgium is going to have to be heavily reliant on Murray and Skupsi and Fleming in doubles. However will they go for youth or will they keep with James Ward?

Going purely on the Slovakia tie and if Andy Murray plays against Belgium then Dan Evans has to be put in the team before James Ward regardless of ranking.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

legendkillar wrote:The tie with Belgium is going to have to be heavily reliant on Murray and Skupsi and Fleming in doubles. However will they go for youth or will they keep with James Ward?

Going purely on the Slovakia tie and if Andy Murray plays against Belgium then Dan Evans has to be put in the team before James Ward regardless of ranking.

But then the tie is not until April, so Ward does have enough time to play himself into some form. Yes Evans played some great tennis and arguably the best of his career, but Ward was caught cold and it would be silly to dismiss him on his results alone.

Let's hope Evans goes on from here.

Couple of points.

Firstly I thought Malisse had an ongoing issue with the Belgian tennis association and doesn't play in the Davis Cup or has he settled it?

Secondly I know Ward qualified for the Australian Open but that apart has done little to suggest he's going to become a top 100 player since Queens last year. Caught cold at the weekend? Frankly he didn't look a no. 2 never mind a no.1. Evans may or may not have played the tennis of his life but the reality is there was so much more variety on show than previously offered by a very one dimensional Ward.

Finally a nice slip of the tongue (or not!) on BBC breakfast news. Apparently Andy wasn't playing because of "training commitments" in Florida. Forget the niggles then and maybe Andy's reluctance or (shall we say) "inavailability" has given Evans the chance he really needed at this stage in his career.

I'm a big believer in the idea that opportunities are there to be seized and you should then earn the right to be given the next opportunity that comes your way. Evans has earned his and Leon Smith's going to find it very difficult to leave him out next time round.

legendkillar wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

legendkillar wrote:The tie with Belgium is going to have to be heavily reliant on Murray and Skupsi and Fleming in doubles. However will they go for youth or will they keep with James Ward?

Going purely on the Slovakia tie and if Andy Murray plays against Belgium then Dan Evans has to be put in the team before James Ward regardless of ranking.

But then the tie is not until April, so Ward does have enough time to play himself into some form. Yes Evans played some great tennis and arguably the best of his career, but Ward was caught cold and it would be silly to dismiss him on his results alone.

Let's hope Evans goes on from here.

Well you are only as good as your last match and frankly Evans won two singles matches whilst Ward was comfortably beaten in both of his. Regardless of rank that puts Evans in the boxseat but obviously he now needs to work on climbing the rankings in order to develop further.

I will also like to mention the Dan Evans serve.

His first serve speed hoverred around the 113/114mph mark
His second serve speed hoverred around the 102/103mph mark

How much Murray and Nadal would kill for second serve speeds like that.

LK Evans is only 5ft 9 and doesn't have huge weapons inc. serve.

What he does have though is variety inc. slice and is prepared to chip and charge generally rushing his opponent. Good enough to beat many players in the top 50? Maybe not on a regular basis but good enough for quite a few others in the top 100.

The question is where does he go from here. On the basis of this weekend's performance there is lots more natural talent there than in Ward's game and if he takes the new found confidence forward from here a quick rise in the rankings to challenge Ward's position as no. 2 is on the cards.

His play reminded me a lot of Rafter/Henman. His backhand slice is beautiful. Plays at it such a good length and plays the angles well for when he comes in at the net. The BH is very robotic and the FH could use some sharpening. The key like Ward is consistency. The surface was very slow and Evans wasn't rushed off his feet unlike Ward.

I think Evans needs to really add some beef to the groundstrokes if he really is to push on and break through the top 200.

LK interesting verdict on Evans from Slovakian captain Mecir: " He has a big chance to get into the top 100."

Praise indeed from a former slam finalist.

High praise indeed NB.

At 21, he isn't ancient. Henman was 23 when he broke the top 100. Judging by the style of play this weekend you would think Evans was ranked higher than Ward.

Terrific effort from Evans. Fraid I was very scathing bout him a couple of years ago when the LTA guys said he was the next great thing of British tennis.
Not sure if anyone can come up with a finer performance from a GB DC player, in that he beat guys ranked far, far above him, including a straight sets victory against a bloke in the top 70.
Reckon Murray will play against Belgium, now. But good to see the team winning without him.
Not sure - as a Federer fan - I would like to hear any repeat of his reported somewhat underwhelming views of Stan Wawrinka's efforts for Switzerland this week. Rog was not too complimentary, apparently, claiming that he, Rog, had played OK in the doubles, but Stan didn't. Wasn't that charming about Stan's singles effort either which, on paper, looked a lot better than Fed's against Isner. There's honesty and there's diplomacy. May be the latter was the better course to follow.

sirfred if that's true that's an outrageous thing to say.

Stan might not have played great in the doubles but then again neither did Roger. Worse still I'd agree that on paper Federer's loss to Isner looks much worse than Warwinka's to Fish.

I used to be be a Federer fan but if his previous comments about "carrying" Stan in their Olympic gold doubles efforts are also true then if I were Warwinka I'd tell him where to stick his racket should he suggest that they play Olympic doubles together again.

A poor weekend for his tennis and litlle better with his excuses quite frankly.

Least Wawrinka took Fish all the way. Same couldn't be said for Federer. Hopefully it was just frustration with the performance and manner of the defeat.

LK it seems reading between the lines that when Federer plays Davis Cup he seems to regard it as his team and that he can sound off about the other players' performances as he sees fit

Who'd want to be team captain in that scenario?

More good news for British tennis is that Anne Keothavong has just beaten Paszek 7-6, 7-6 in first round of Qatar Open

With the caveate that I haven't seen Federer's comment, and going on what has been mentioned here, it would not be unusual for Federer to come up with such comments - it seems to be in his nature, but it's probably not good for team spirit. What was the team spirit like in the Swiss camp (for those that watched this tie?). Aren't Federer and Wawrinka planning to defend their Olympic title?

I seem to remember Djokovic saying that a 60% fit Djokovic was still better than a 100 % fit Tipsarevic ...

sirfredperry wrote:More good news for British tennis is that Anne Keothavong has just beaten Paszek 7-6, 7-6 in first round of Qatar Open

Anne Keathovong seems to be our top performing ladies player at the moment. She thrashed Laura Robson 6-1 6-1 in the first round of qualifying and comfortably beat Heather Watson 6-4 6-4 to qualify for this tournament.

but Ward was caught cold and it would be silly to dismiss him on his results alone.

The same is not said of the Federer loss to Isner in Davis Cup. James Ward is just not that good off of grass courts.

Another thing I'd throw into the mix about Evans is that he seems a very good returner, in that he really got a read on his opponent's serve. In contrast Ward really struggled to get into his opponent's service games.

Long time to go until the next tie, but assuming Murray plays, Evans has put himself into the box seat for the n°2 spot with this week-end's performances. Interesting to see if he can kick on from here.

Mecir's comments I found very illuminating, it seems (his surprise at Evans's performance suggests this) that he and his players expected Evans to "go away" ie not keep up his level of play for so long and start throwing in lots of errors. They just didn't seem to have a plan B, poor captaincy IMO. Leon Smith though continues to impress me, he was spot on throughout.

Switzerland lost 0-5 at home and that doesn't warrant an article from Simple Analyst?? Has he left?

Henman Bill wrote:Switzerland lost 0-5 at home and that doesn't warrant an article from Simple Analyst?? Has he left?

Henman Bill wrote:Switzerland lost 0-5 at home and that doesn't warrant an article from Simple Analyst?? Has he left?

He probably grinned so hard it gave him a stroke.