His Kingness is resting after playing 6 matches in the new year and Henri Laaksonen is representing the Red Cross Country. Not Nice.

Marcos Chiudinelli aka Injury Trainwreck is not good enough to play singles. Ouch.

January 31st, 2013 at 11:09 pm

i’m sure roger is really looking forward to davis cup, seeing how much he loves being with the team and representing the swiss and supporting his best mate stan…and the tie being at home too, that must be exciting, playing in front of his home crowd, how he loves that, and convenient too, not having to travel too far from home, hardly playing any matches this year so far… and they’ll certainly need him of course, given czechs are pretty strong…he must really be looking forward to it.

just like berdych, and tsonga, and djoker – flying straight to davis cup from the oz win, cause it’s a tricky tie with troicki nolonger streaking and goffin in the mix…and hewitt who’s playing in the minor division! showing that same love of nation and team and leadership as the GOAT, perhaps it rubbed off from roger even …

yeah i’m sure roger, that amazing role model, that amazing sportsman, the guy who just loves playing davis cup and who always likes to be there when his team needs him, like a 1st round against last year’s champs, i’m sure he can’t wait to play this tie and be back in those press conferences with stan, blaming his best mate for poor performances and such.

roger federer, such an ambassador. never hanging wawrinka out to dry, never putting his own convenience about his beloved team mates. roger federer, the man who coined the phrase, there’s no F in team.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:35 am

Lets see, roger, who has a wife and 2 kids, not a selfish man in that regard, doesn’t play DC this rd. He is a Father. He decides maybe to spend time with his family, of which, most guys on tour don’t have one. I’d say he doesn’t have to answer to idiotic posts that question the mans intregrity towards the game.

February 1st, 2013 at 9:30 am

skeezer. To be honest Fed’s absence is going to cost them the tie. Wawa is there fighting on his own- the may as well give up. With Fed’s presence I think they would have pretty much clinched the win. No wily Stepanek this time. #JustSaying

February 1st, 2013 at 11:02 am

Too bad Roger isn’t playing. I’d love to see the Czechs go down in the first round.

February 1st, 2013 at 11:28 am

^ That’s really aimed at Berdych (can’t stand him). I have nothing against the rest of the Czechs.

February 1st, 2013 at 11:29 am

^^ Does anybody like him? I don’t! Lol

February 1st, 2013 at 11:47 am

“I’d say he doesn’t have to answer to idiotic posts that question the mans intregrity towards the game.”

well said!

February 1st, 2013 at 11:50 am

Skeezer – off topic for a mo. I was wondering – how did you get on with the old Song of Ice and Fire? Are you up to date now?

February 1st, 2013 at 12:07 pm

Fed has played more DC ties than any of the top 4. The British DC team has not had much participation by its top player. And, the Spain DC team top player, Nadal only plays home ties. Djokovic after getting the DC medal, was absent last year, and was not scheduled to play since winning the medal. He would not have played had Tisps not pulled out due to injury.

I think before throwing stones at Fed, The DC participation of the top 4 should be checked for attendance.

February 1st, 2013 at 6:11 pm

Fed has never played a tie and bailed out due to a cold. DC has been used by some only to appear t the last tie so that they could collect a medal. Others have refused to play, period. Ask GBR.

February 1st, 2013 at 6:15 pm

nole rips the court then he rips rochus.

February 1st, 2013 at 6:17 pm

Roy – I bet you tell the shaggy dog story – the one where one rambles forever on the same thing and that’s what makes it funny – but the difference between that and your rant on Fed is you are attempting sarcasm (why I don’t know) and sarcasm should be quick.

Or maybe like many in here you just like to see your name above boring rambles.

February 1st, 2013 at 6:44 pm

Wrong, how do you now Nole wasn’t scheduled to play? In his schedule for this year that was published in December Nole was scheduled to play in Belgium, check your facts before posting. We were hoping he wouldn’t have to play but he would be there with his mates in Belgium and considering Troicki cannot be trusted with his game Nole, most probably, would have to play at least one match even if Tipsy was there.

Why do you bring Nole in conversation when none of his fans was saying anything about your man? You just wanted to have a dig at him? The prove how keen he was to play for Serbia is that he cought plane out of Australia literary after he had shower after winning AO at 4am. He asked and he got permission from organisers to leave the country before traditional monday picture shooting for AO chapms. I don’t remember that happened before in Melbourne.

February 1st, 2013 at 6:52 pm

should say “know” and not “now”

February 1st, 2013 at 6:56 pm

Hi, WB.

Didn’t see Novak play, but read the Belgium press. It seems he served quite well.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:07 pm

Hi mat4,

Haven’t seen it either, read the Serbian press (RTS) and they say he played clinical tennis on that “clay.” That was big efortt considering he arrived in Europe four days ago, transition from HC to clay etc. it usually takes three to five days to get back to normal sleep pattern after flying from Aussieland to Europe. For me it is at least five days. I keep waking up in the middle of the night, I mean fully awake, and the falling asleep for no reason aroun 10-11am. The only person that was happy with me waking up 2-3am was my mother. The moment I walk out of my room to make a coffee she would walk out of her to be with me and talk since she wouldn’t have a chance during a day, I was either out or it was to many people in the house and she hasn’t seen me for more than 10 years and it is a questio whether she is going to see me again, she old fragile lady. I feel bad now after realising why she was waking up so early just to be with me, I always get to understan thing when it is too late.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:36 pm

Too many typos, I hope you know what I meant.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:40 pm

@WB:

“I always get to understan thing when it is too late.”

Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. I feel that I am late about 15 years, at least. Not to mention the things I never understood.

I always feel that I am still a little boy playing on the beach… the body grows old, but the soul remains forever – not young, not really – but just immature.

But with the years that pass, the only things that remains is the “bitter taste of experience”, to quote one of your novelists.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:46 pm

@Gordo: Or maybe like many in here you just like to see your name above boring rambles.

February 1st, 2013 at 6:44 pm

Well said, the boring rambles just go on and on totally unrelated to tennis.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:51 pm

“bitter taste of experience” couldn’t say it better, I wander who said that?

February 1st, 2013 at 7:52 pm

Don’t read them … boring rambles.

February 1st, 2013 at 7:54 pm

@WB:

Let it be a little quiz. His second wife and translator was French (Pascale Delpeche, she works now in Belgrade), he died in Paris in 1989, and his real name is Daniel Cohn.

The quotation should be: “dreg, residue” instead of “taste”.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:01 pm

Delpech, sorry…

February 1st, 2013 at 8:02 pm

Is it Danilo Kiš?

February 1st, 2013 at 8:06 pm

In one of my short stories, I misquoted his most famous sentence:

… that the temporary suffering of existence [lasting?] is more valuable than the final void of nothingness.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:09 pm

Yes, WB, it is.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:12 pm

The reason why he was such a great thinker is because he grew up with few cultures from different civilisatons in himself IMO. Same as Andric, Selimovic, Crnjanski and others.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:21 pm

Hoho, slow down a bit. Read Andric and Crnjanski (Migrations a été traduit en français) mais je ne lis quand même des romans en serbe.

Mais il est bien vrai que les Balkans constituent un mosaïque authentique de différentes cultures et mentalités.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:29 pm

Sorry, don’t speak French. Did I say something stupid, wouldn’t be first time?

February 1st, 2013 at 8:34 pm

Ooops. I didn’t even notice. Sorry, WB. I am just very tired.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:36 pm

Looks like Canada has a good shot at leading Spain 2:0 after today.

February 1st, 2013 at 8:52 pm

What is it about playing for his country that inspired Frank Dancevic? By rights he shouldn’t be playing 2 singles matches, but Pospisil is recovering from mono and coach Laurendeau is looking like a genius at this moment.

Go Frankie!!!

February 1st, 2013 at 8:58 pm

^ I know right? Go Frankie go! Sad about Vasek; hope he is better soon. He is playing doubles with Nestor.

February 1st, 2013 at 9:00 pm

Finally found the score. It seems Dancevic will easily win.

February 1st, 2013 at 9:26 pm

I have called him a bum many times, but this weekend to me he is Mr. Dancevic. I doubt if Milos can beat Granollers 1,2 and 2.

Canada is in the driver’s seat now. The stars were aligned in more ways than 1.

February 1st, 2013 at 9:30 pm

While we are at DC… I watched a few months ago a little film on youtube about the DC match between the USA and Argentina in 1980.

JMac played 6 hours the first day, losing 14-12 in the fifth against Clerc, then he played the doubles, then another 5 hours long fivesetter against Vilas, which he lost 6-4.

So much about the new “power of recuperation”.

February 1st, 2013 at 9:52 pm

Yes mat4. Indeed the wiki pages shows that of the 5 men’s matches that lasted longer than 6 hours, 3 of them were played in the 1980s during DC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_tennis_match_records

Or just have a look at Edberg’s run to his 1992 (I think it was) USO title for some seriously good recuperation abilities; what a run that was.

February 1st, 2013 at 10:41 pm

Yes, I remember some of this, but I checked: he won against Krajicek in 5 in the 4th round, then against Lendl in the 1/4, against Chang in the semi, before winning in 4 the final.

And everybody who has played serve and volley, rushed often to the net knows how much focus and energy it requires.

Did he have a coach from East-Germany?

February 1st, 2013 at 11:00 pm

But, as we all know, we live in an era of boring baseline tennis with impenetrable defences and rallies that last forever..

Where is the good all time when you could watch and admire a set of Ivanisevic vs Krajicek with on return per game and three winning serves? Even better: I am persuaded that they must have played at least one set where the players didn’t made a return of serve at all..

February 1st, 2013 at 11:12 pm

Oh the davis cup thing again. Please check the matches/year for all top 4 players and let us see who has got the highest? I am quite positive the answer to that is Roger Federer.

Please tell me when last rafa left spain to play an away tie for spain? I don’t even remember when he last left europe?

And djokovic, didn’t he retire in like 2 DC matches? I am not sure of another player who has this achievement?

Also tell me, how many davis cup doubles matches djokovic/nadal play?

Federer has to play 3 matches in 3 days, if he commits to DC. He doesn’t have a doubles specialist like djokovic has or a host of top 50 players like spain has. At this point in his career, DC is a no-no for federer. It is not worth the efforts. He better conserve it for the slams. In the end, DC is for losers. people like stepanek, hrbaty, lubicic, etc. They are the real heroes. No one will see nadal/djokovic as a davis cup hero irrespective of the no. of titles they win.

In the 80s, davis cup was much popular. Right now, not really so much. I would say even the olympics gold is worth much more than a DC. I mean djokovic would trade his DC for murray’s gold in the blink of an eye!

Fed, like Sampras, never valued DC. Sampras never used to care for early rounds of DC. However, US still had courier, chang, marting and washington to get them to the finals. Sampras would then condescend to play the finals. Roger obviously doesn’t have that luxury. He has to win not 1 or 2 points but ALL 3 points for switzerland.

Again, please tell me the average DC matches/year for the top 4? Let us see who has the worst DC participation?

February 2nd, 2013 at 12:34 am

Ivanisevic Vs Krajicek is the defining match of the 90s? Are you that stupid or pretending to be stupid?

That’s like defining this era by using a ferrer Vs almagro match.

The defining match-ups of the 90s was sampras-becker, sampras-agassi, becker-agassi, rafter-sampras, rafter-agassi, ivanisevic-agassi.

If you have played tennis and know tennis well, I am sure those match-ups were better than the pong match-ups that these slow courts throw up. It’s like watching a football match between two defensive teams! think about italy playing germany! yuckkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

February 2nd, 2013 at 12:39 am

Very glad Canada will clear Spain form the World Group. The US and Serbia will be the strongest on the top half, their quarterfinal might decide the finalist. On the bottom I wonder if Delpo would return against France, they could have a good chance to make the final. I would also like to see if Rog would play the quarterfinal should Switzerland survive this round.

February 2nd, 2013 at 4:11 am

tennis in the mid- to late-90s was largely a turn off. it’s the only period I stopped watching for a while in over 30 years of following the game, (especially the sampras era at wimbledon). just as much as people complain about extended baseline rallies today, those serve-fests and 2-point games were a big yawn. agassi occasionally made it interesting because of his excellent return game and the contrast in style. btw, becker wasn’t really a force any longer by the mid-90s.

that’s not to say i don’t wish there were more players who would come to the net these days.

February 2nd, 2013 at 8:55 am

mat4 7.51pm
“I always feel that I am still a little boy playing on the beach”

This reminded me of Isaac Newton’s famous words:

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

mat4 11p.m.

“And everybody who has played serve and volley, rushed often to the net knows how much focus and energy it requires.”

This sounds convincing. At the same time, people talk about a player saving emergy over the long haul (and thereby extending his career)by
going to the net more often. This sounds like a contradiction, but I suppose the key is the difference between short term expenditure of energy (net play) and long term – patrolling the back of the court. Agree?

February 2nd, 2013 at 10:50 am

@Volley:I can not agree more with you!!In those days , if you had a good serve -you could win tournament (Ivanisevic-Wimbledon, thou I liked the guy ).And yes, I miss coming to the net.Djokovic is start doing it more-which I like it.Federe is good in that.I don’t mind baseline playing as long players change directions, spin-mix it up.Top 4 are doing that most of the time.Lower ranking players less, so you can have match as Monfils v Simon this AO…

February 2nd, 2013 at 10:53 am

Wow, speaking on long DC matches, the Swiss (Stan and Chud) and Czech (Berd and Rosol) teams have been playing for over 5.5 hours now. It’s 14-15 in the 5th, deuce.

February 2nd, 2013 at 1:23 pm

17 all in the fifth, time on court 6:09. These guys are very close to breaking the longest men’s doubles match record, set in 2002 by Nalby/Arnold vs. Safin/Kafelnikov; that went six hours and 20 minutes.

February 2nd, 2013 at 1:52 pm

It’s one of those matches where you want to switch channels but can’t turn away. Ridiculous. This could have consequences for Wawa and Berdy in the upcoming season.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:06 pm

Okay, that’s it – the record for longest men’s doubles match is broken. They’ve hit 6:22 and it’s 19 all in the fifth, 15-30 to the Swiss at I type.

Looks like Rosol will have another claim to fame. ;) Whether they win or lose he’ll be in the record books now.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:06 pm

The DA – this is proof that a good return is underrated. ;) These guys are 2/14 and 3/14 on break point opportunities.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:08 pm

jane – don’t we know it! ;) Crazy match points, what is it now, 7?

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:17 pm

Rosol and Berd must have had 4 match points by now?? At least.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:18 pm

That was the 8th according to the commies.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:20 pm

^DA – even more match points that I thought. And another one bites the dust. Wow. 3/19 on break point chances now for the Czechs.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:20 pm

Stan holds after 10 mins! Who would’ve thought Wawa would be the stalwart in this tie? The match against Nole must have done wonders for him. The match between him & Berdy tomorrow will be interesting- probably not in a good way.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:25 pm

20-21 in the 5th now. 6:39 time on court. My stream is not in English DA so trying to figure out MP in my head. :) The people on the chat are hilarious… ha ha.

Going by the wiki link I posted earlier, there’s only one match men’s (doubles or singles) longer than 7 hours – the dreaded Isner vs. Mahut.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:26 pm

The Czechs have had 8 MPs. Stan saved 5 of them in the last game. It’s becoming car crash tennis. Both sides want this point desperately.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:28 pm

Rosol could’ve had that last volley. But he’s not too good up there.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:29 pm

Watching Berdych play doubles, one wonders why he doesn’t venture to net more in singles. He’s a good volleyer and he has a great serve to follow in as well. Holy crap they must be getting tired. The audience looks like “just END it already…” LOL.

Czechs are holding easily; you’d think they’d have an easier time of breaking.

Everyone on chat thinks “new balls” mean a break here lol.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:34 pm

3 more MPs. Don’t think Stan will survive this time.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:36 pm

Triple MP! Looks like they might not crack the 7 hour mark after all?? Then again…

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:36 pm

10 MPs save – 1 more here…

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:37 pm

Unbelievable…

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:38 pm

Rename him WoWow. He saves another 3 MPs – that makes 12 in total!

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:39 pm

They HOLD! 7 hours. Second longest pro match ever. Win it, Suiss!!!

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:39 pm

@Grendel:

“This reminded me of Isaac Newton’s famous words”

Yes, I was tired and a bit in a particular mood, and it was indeed a reminiscence of that sentence. I like it a lot. And I like misquotations…

About tennis: I really don’t know. I am certain that a good serve helps a lot, not certain that net rushing does. Some good statistics could help: how long did serve and volley players remain at the top in general?

Then, there was the continual change in technology – there was a shift in the middle eighties, another one at the end of the nineties. It distorts the results.

Finally, how many players do play like Nadal, Murray and Djokovic? Ferrer? Who else? Let’s look at the top ten: Berdych, Tsonga, Federer, Gasquet… no. They do play from the baseline, but it is a different kind of players. Perhaps only Tipsarevic.

So, I really don’t know.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:41 pm

Sorry 11 in total. Berdy trying anything to get a point now, claiming Stan touched the net before the ball went out. tsk tsk

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:42 pm

It’s official; they’ve passed the 7:00 hour mark. 2 more MPs.

If the Swiss lose today, they’ll be in a 1-2 hole. Spain are down 0-2 already. Imagine if both Switzerland and Spain were ousted from the top DC group? I wonder when the last time that would’ve happened was?

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:44 pm

OMG, Czechs win – 24-22 in the 5th, 7:02 on court.

Well, that was kind of anti-climactic in the end – a double fault.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:46 pm

Double fault by Chudinelli on the 13th MP. What a disappointing way to end the match. Just over 7 hours. All the pressure on Stan tomorrow.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:47 pm

Djokovic-Nadal 2012 Australian Open final lasted 5hrs 53minutes;

2013 Davis cup dubs match Switzerland-Czech Rep. 7hrs and counting.

Wonder which rule the ATP will tighten to stop this from ever happening again…..

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:47 pm

What can Wawrinka do when Chiudinelli is such a weak link?

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:47 pm

France, Serbia and Argentina are through – and I am sure the USA will be as well (Bryans up 5-2 in set one).

Italy are 2-1 over Croatia.
Kazakhstan are 2-1 over Austria
Czech are 2-1 over Swiss

Canada are 2-0 over Spain. Nestor/Pospisil are slated to play Granollers/Lopez. I wonder if Pospisil is a good choice given he’s been recovering from mono. Anyhow, we’ll see.

February 2nd, 2013 at 2:53 pm

That was the longest DC match in history – singles or doubles:

http://tinyurl.com/b5tkdtx

February 2nd, 2013 at 3:01 pm

“Watching Berdych play doubles, one wonders why he doesn’t venture to net more in singles”

This type of comment is frequently made of various players. One has to think that doubles really is radically different to singles. Whatever the technical side of it – lets ask MMT or Ben – I think there is a clear mental factor involved. In doubles, Berdych can venture to the net confident that he has a partner to cover him. In singles, he is obviously on his own. There is the fear of being passed, the lack of a ready instinct as to just when to approach (that problem doesn’t arise nearly so much in doubles), so the tendency is to rely on the old and trusted. Even though experience has shown that just isn’t good enough against Djokovic or Nadal. His occasional success against Federer and his good record against Murray has, oddly, probably been bad for him, by inducing a certain complacency, or at any rate stymying iniative.

b.t.w.jane, you correctly pulled me up the other for forgetting that Wawrinka, before getting to Ferrer and Murray in the AO, had to get past Berdych. How (you wondered) would WaWa find Berdych?

Find out tomorrow, eh?

February 2nd, 2013 at 3:39 pm

grendel, I actually checked the H2H and it turns out that Stan has a solid record versus Berdych – he’s won 5 of their 9 matches, but most pertinently, perhaps, he’s won the last 3 in a row, played in 2010 and 2011. They did not meet last year.

Strong points about doubles vs singles net approaches. Makes perfectly good sense.

February 2nd, 2013 at 3:44 pm

Ahh, if only the Goat played!!

February 2nd, 2013 at 3:44 pm

Dammit Roger, why didn’t you play!!! Stan needs a 2nd singles player for the Swiss to have any chance.

February 2nd, 2013 at 6:40 pm

The Canadian team is one set away from winning 3:0 against Spain and reaching the DC quarterfinals for the first time in history. This would be really special for tennis recognition in Canada. But it won’t be easy. Fitness could be an issue for Vasek the longer they go, and of course both Lopez and Granollers are highly ranked in doubles (I think 3 and 5 respectively).

February 2nd, 2013 at 7:04 pm

Doesn’t look good for Canada anymore, now that it’s a 5th set.

February 2nd, 2013 at 7:44 pm