Davis Cup Open Thread

SERBIA defeats USA 3-2
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia (clay – indoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Viktor Troicki (SRB) d John Isner (USA) 76(4) 67(5) 75 64
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d Sam Querrey (USA) 62 76(4) 26 63
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan/John Isner (USA) d Janko Tipsarevic/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 76(8) 57 76(8) 63
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. John Isner (USA) 75 36 63 67(6) 64
Sam Querrey (USA) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 75 62

SPAIN defeats SWITZERLAND 4-1
Venue: Plaza de Toros de la Ribera, Logrono, Spain (clay – indoors)

AP

Reuters

Reuters

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) d Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 36 64 36 75 63
David Ferrer (ESP) d Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 62 76(5) 61
Marcel Granollers/Tommy Robredo (ESP) d Yves Allegro/Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 76(8) 62 46 64
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 62 64 60
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) d. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 61 63

FRANCE defeats GERMANY 4-1
Venue: Palais des Sports, Toulon, France (hard - indoors)

Reuters

Reuters

Gael Monfils (FRA) d Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 61 64 76(5)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d Benjamin Becker (GER) 63 62 67(2) 63
Julien Benneteau/Michael Llodra (FRA) d Christopher Kas/Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 61 64 16 75
Simon Greul (GER) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 46 62 1-0 ret.
Julien Benneteau (FRA) d. Benjamin Becker (GER) 62 75

RUSSIA defeats INDIA 3-2
Venue: Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow, Russia (hard – indoors)

Reuters

Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) d Somdev Devvarman (IND) 67(6) 76(4) 63 64
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d Rohan Bopanna (IND) 64 62 63
Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes (IND) d Teimuraz Gabashvili/Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 63 62 62
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. Somdev Devvarman (IND) 62 61 63
Rohan Bopanna (IND) d. Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 76(5) 64

ARGENTINA defeats SWEDEN 3-2
Venue: Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden (hard – indoors)

Reuters


Reuters

Robin Soderling (SWE) d Eduardo Schwank (ARG) 61 76(0) 75
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d Joachim Johansson (SWE) 57 63 75 64
David Nalbandian/Horacio Zeballos (ARG) d Robert Lindstedt/Robin Soderling (SWE) 62 76(4) 76(5)
Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 75 76(5) 75
David Nalbandian (ARG) d. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 75 63 46 64


CROATIA defeats ECUADOR 5-0
Venue: Gradska Sportska Dvorana, Varazdin, Croatia (hard – indoors)


AP

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 62 57 67(2) 63 64
Marin Cilic (CRO) d Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 64 63 63
Marin Cilic/Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d Giovanni Lapentti/Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 76(3) 63 75
Antonio Veic (CRO) d. Julio-Cesar Campozano (ECU) 64 76(4)
Ivan Dodig (CRO) d. Ivan Endara (ECU) 61 63

CHILE defeats ISRAEL 4-1
Venue: Enjoy Tennis Center, Coquimbo, Chile (clay – outdoors)

Reuters

Reuters

Nicolas Massu (CHI) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 46 62 62 64
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) d Harel Levy (ISR) 26 63 64 64
Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) d. Jorge Aguilar/Paul Capdeville (CHI) 67(5) 76(9) 26 61 60
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 64 64 63
Nicolas Massu (CHI) d Harel Levy (ISR) 76(3) 61

CZECH REPUBLIC defeats BELGIUM 4-1
Venue: Expodroom, Bree, Belgium (clay – indoors)

Reuters

Reuters

Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Olivier Rochus (BEL) 63 60 64
Radek Stepanek (CZE) d Xavier Malisse (BEL) 62 64 76(3)
Radek Stepanek/Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Steve Darcis/Olivier Rochus (BEL) 76(0) 60 63
Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Jan Hajek (CZE) 76(6) 16 64
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) d. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 16 76(3) 75

Sampras Lists Multimillion-Dollar Home

LOS ANGELES -- Tennis great Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, have listed their newly built compound in Lake Sherwood for $25 million.

The gated contemporary north of Los Angeles sits on 20 hilltop acres with 360-degree views, a north-south tennis court and a swimming pool. The more than 13,000-square-foot main house has a combined theater and game room. Including the 1,200-square-foot guesthouse and the 2,000-square-foot detached gym, the property has seven bedrooms and 11 1/2 bathrooms.

(...)

The couple offered no reason for selling, but Sampras does have an impressive real estate record, having sold a Beverly Hills mansion in 2008 for $23 million as well as other homes in Los Angeles' Benedict Canyon and Beverly Hills since 2003, according to Los Angeles Times reports.

Nice work if you can get it.

Indian Wells Drying Out.

As Arid as a Desert.

Or very nearly so. We do still (supposedly in the case of Fed) have our top four male players – after which levels of precipitation really do begin to dry up.

Delpo’s wrist is still in rehab, ditto Davy (though he’s still apparently scheduled to play) and Gonzo, as expected, has signed up to the Chilean Relief effort, which btw you can donate to here and here.

He’s also looking to arrange a “Hit for Chile” held sometime around Miami.

Chilean tennis player Fernando González is making efforts to play against Spanish Rafael Nadal and Switzerland Roger Federer to raise funds in benefit of Chile earthquake victims.

Gonzalez made contact with both players, as published by the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. In addition, the athlete is heading a campaign to help those affected by Chile’s earthquake measuring a magnitude of 8.8 º in the Richter scale and the ensuing tsunami.

The Chilean did not participate in Indian Wells Master in order to help his country in the midst of this terrible tragedy and he hopes that both Federer and Nadal can join this crusade that would benefit many people in great need right now.

The games, according to Gonzalez’s plans, would be disputed in the vicinity of the Miami Masters.

Momento24

Tennis seems to me to be in a wonderful place right now – but it also seems appropriate to ask why we’ve not seen something of this magnitude in the past.

Ever since ‘Hit for Haiti’, the tennis ether has been infused with something altogether more agreeable - fashioning a climate in which one rather expects to find such spiritually attuned efforts to reach out, to be more commonplace.

Plate-tectonics has undoubtedly had something to do with that.

But suddenly it becomes a whole lot easier to organise a second ‘Hit for Haiti’, featuring the most intimidating line up of illustrious personages outside of Madame Tussauds.

Both Gonzo and Fed, must be applauded for proactively raising the profile of the recent devastation, that might have otherwise only received the most meagre of coverage within tennis circles.

You’d think the powers that be, might have readily seized upon the opportunity to stage such events themselves, without having to be prevailed upon by it’s most influential players.

Haas, in the meantime, has been sidelined for as long as six months having had to undergo a hip operation – bad news whichever way you look at it but particularly injurious to the remaining career of a 31 year old.

Did I mention that rules him out of IW too?

Perhaps even more jarring to the German ear, would be the news that he’s recently picked up American citizenship, which a) makes him the current American #2, b) makes him eligible for the US Davis Cup team as soon as September of this year – which by his own account is not a prospect he’s displeased with.

Having lived in Bradenton, Florida for two decades, one might understand why he feels such an itch – I can’t help feeling however that the news may be less well received “back home” (wherever that is these days).

It doesn’t get much better in the women’s draw – with Safina still struggling with that back of hers and the Williamses ensuring their regular quota of unpaid leave falls squarely within the next two weeks.

Faces Of The Day

Agustin Calleri, center, who announced his retirement from tennis after elimination from the first round of Wimbledon last June, is honored in a career celebration at the Copa Telmex in Argentina yesterday. The other tennis players in attendance are, from left to right, Juan Mónaco, José Acasuso, Mariano Zabaleta, and Juan Ignacio Chela. I'm not sure who the first two men are, but I would imagine the man on the far left is tournament director and former Top-10 player Martin Jaite.

Face Of The Day

Rafael Vélez

Agnes Szavay of Hungary strikes a backhand against Germany's Julia Goerges in the first found of the Monterrey Open, Tuesday, March 2, 2010 in Monterrey, México.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Singles - Second Round
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Polona Hercog (SLO) 62 63
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. (7) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 62 63
Vania King (USA) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 63 63
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) d. Patricia Mayr (AUT) 64 63

Singles - First Round
(2/WC) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Lourdes Domínguez Lino (ESP) 63 76(6)

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(2) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Medina Garrigues/Shaughnessy (ESP/USA) 62 76(3)
Coin/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) d. Domínguez Lino/Parra Santonja (ESP/ESP) 76(0) 75

Doubles - First Round
Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (4) Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) 64 62

Tuesday, March, 3, 2010

Singles - First Round
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) d. (1/WC) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 57 64 64
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (Q) Anna Tatishvili (GEO) 61 62
(4/WC) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 63
(5) Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 36 63
Sara Errani (ITA) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 62 63
Iveta Benesova (CZE) d. Jill Craybas (USA) 36 62 61
Polona Hercog (SLO) d. (Q) Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 62 64
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 62 64
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 63 61
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 76(5) 64
Patricia Mayr (AUT) d. (Q) Olga Savchuk (UKR) 76(5) 60

Doubles - First Round
(1) Groenefeld/King (GER/USA) d. Gullickson/Krajicek (USA/NED) 61 62
Coin/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) d. (WC) Védy/Washington (FRA/USA) 64 64
Pavlyuchenkova/Zakopalova (RUS/CZE) d. Kondratieva/Lefèvre (RUS/FRA) 61 63
Medina Garrigues/Shaughnessy (ESP/USA) d. Bratchikova/Woerle (RUS/GER) 63 67(2) 12-10

Quote For The Day

"So the Tennis Hall of Fame, with its selections today, is trying to reorient our thinking on the matter. The days of the top singles players also regularly playing doubles are over, probably forever. But that doesn't mean doubles is without merit. It's not a coincidence or from lack of effort that the best singles players, when they do play doubles, almost never walk away with the trophy (Williams sisters excepted). You don't need the athleticism that the singles game requires, but your technical and strategic skills must be well-honed."--Douglas Perry

Gulbis Wins First Title

AP

Ivo Karlovic observed his 31st birthday yesterday, but he didn't have much to celebrate. Ernests Gulbis, all potential and inconsistency, brought out his best tennis and slayed the giant 6-2, 6-3 to win his first ATP title on his first try at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

It wasn't as close as the score.

All week, Gulbis' talent was on full display. In the final, he frustrated the Croat with return winners off first serves, unreturnable bombs of his own, cannonball passing shots, and drop shots out of nowhere. Dr. Ivo faced such of barrage, he was found slicing his backhand into the court right in front of his feet more times than he cared to count.

Ever since he tore Tommy Robredo a new one at the 2007 US Open in a performance that earned him a Gonad and a whole lot of expectant fans, the inconsistent and temperamental Latvian has been on a mission of mediocrity. He had trouble winning two matches in a row for much of last year, but he comes out this week and takes his first title without dropping a set. The first man from Latvia to win an ATP title.

“Everything what I do now is first time for my country,” he said after the match. “Of course it’s great. I hope it’s positive. I hope much more players will start to practise in Latvia. It’s good for tennis in Latvia. They see that a guy from Latvia also can make it and win an ATP World Tour event.”

Maybe it's the new Afro, but Gulbis looks as though he may be ready for his close up.

Let's see what he brings to Indian Wells.