Country Cups (Davis Cup, Fed/BJK Cup)

[Deuce]

I think this deserves its own separate topic - even if the formats are being modified far too much of late.

Canada playing Serbia in Serbia is one of the confrontations happening now...
Leylah is locked in a very tough battle with Danilovic at the moment... Leylah won the 1st set 7-5, and lost the 2nd, 4-6. Playing the deciding set now. Very close match in which Leylah has been trying to match Danilovic's power rather than play her usual eclectic game of much variety. This is a match she should win.
Leylah's toss is much better in this match than it's been otherwise this year. She's caught a few tosses today - maybe 5 or 6 overall, but that's nothing compared to some other matches this year.
She's up 4-1 in the 3rd now.

Rebecca Marino is the other singles player for Canada, as Andreescu is, of course, injured again, and Bouchard declined to play. Fichman and Zhao will play doubles, as Gaby Dabrowski is resting a foot injury.
So Leylah is the top ranked player for Canada at #72. That's a lot of pressure for the kid to lead this team. I think Marino will end up being the de facto leader of the team, with her age and experience. And she's got a steady head on her shoulders. She's a great mentor for Leylah.

Feel free to post on this or any other current or future Fed/BJK Cup matchup... or Davis Cup when that occurs...

[ponchi101]

Are we including the Laver Cup here, or are we in agreement that is an exo? And the ATP CUP, earlier in the year?

[Deuce]

Are we including the Laver Cup here, or are we in agreement that is an exo? And the ATP CUP, earlier in the year?

I'd like to keep this thread exclusively for Davis Cup and Fed/BJK Cup, as those are the ones with tradition, and which have a long history and which can be compared to each other.

To me, the Laver Cup is definitely an exhibition, and the ATP Cup is a gimmick.

[Deuce]

Leylah pulled it out in the end - but not easily.
She was up 4-1 and 5-2 in the 3rd... but that narrowed down to 5-4. And Danilovic had points to tie it at 5. But Leylah gutted it out and won.
Not a very pretty match - but these gutsy matches build more character than the pretty ones do.

[Deuce]

And Marino won her match in straight sets over Nina Stojanovic after Leylah had set the pace with her win.
Canada is now in the driver's seat, which is somewhat of a surprise, given Leylah's lack of experience and having to be Canada's top player, and the stop/start nature of Rebecca's return to tennis after being away from it for 6 years.
Just need to win one more tomorrow, and it's done - which looks like a distinct possibility, based on today.

It's interesting to hear people (commentators, Canada's captain, former player Heidi El-Tabakh, etc.) now saying what I've been saying for almost 3 years - that Leylah's greatest strength is her drive, ambition, focus, and determination. The first time I saw her play at 15 years old, I saw that that set her apart from all others, and that it was, and would be, her greatest asset.

[Deuce]

Leylah clinched it for Canada - 3-0.

Leylah didn't play a good 1st set, and lost 3-6. She began the 2nd set the same way, being broken, and was down 3-1. But then she began playing better - she broke back, then held serve, and then broke again. As she began playing better, Stojanovic's level dropped at the same time.
It would still be a difficult match for Leylah to win, though.

Leylah ended up winning 5 straight games to win the 2nd set 6-3.
But Stojanovic played a really good last game in the 2nd set. If she kept that level up, and Leylah kept her level up, it would be a very interesting 3rd set.

And it was a very interesting 3rd set - high quality tennis from both players.
Leylah was serving for the match at 5-3, but the nerves got to her, and a double fault allowed Stojanovic to break her rather easily. Then, in the 10th game, on Leylah’s 5th match point, some of the lights in the arena went out. And so there was a delay of about 10 - 15 minutes. When play resumed, Stojanovic saved that 5th match point. But Leylah then got a 6th match point right away... And the lights went out for Serbia as Leylah finally put it away.

She doesn't cease to impress.

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

On the opposite side of success, Podoroska's RG semi-final appears to be truly in the rearview mirror. She dropped both her singles and Kazakhstan moved through.
She is struggling. And that was basically her home court (she is from Rosario, a 3 hour drive)

[Deuce]

In other Fed/BJK Cup Ties...

• Katie Boulter led Great Britain over Mexico 3-1, as Heather Watson lost her reverse singles vs. Giuliana Olmos...

• Poland beat Brazil 3-2, with the veteran Urszula Radwanska losing her only singles match...

• No surprise in Latvia - with Sevastova and Ostapenko - beating India...

• Svitolina (2) and Kostyuk (1) won their singles matches in a Ukraine victory over Japan...

• Italy beat Romania 3-1 (Monica Niculescu is the playing Captain of the Romanian team, making me feel old, as I remember her from Juniors)...

• The Kiki Bertens led Netherlands had to go the distance to beat China...

• And, as ponchi mentioned, Kazakhstan beat Argentina. They had to play all 5 matches, as Nadia Podoroska lost her 2 singles matches for Argentina, but, surprisingly, the 430th ranked Maria Lourdes Carle beat BOTH Rybakina and Putinseva to push it to the deciding doubles match. The Tie included three 6-0 sets in 5 matches - two of which were in 3rd sets.

[ti-amie]

In other Fed/BJK Cup Ties...

• Katie Boulter led Great Britain over Mexico 3-1, as Heather Watson lost her reverse singles vs. Giuliana Olmos...

• Poland beat Brazil 3-2, with the veteran Urszula Rdwanska losing her only singles match...

• No surprise in Latvia - with Sevastova and Ostapenko - beating India...

• Svitolina (2) and Kostyuk (1) won their singles matches in a Ukraine victory over Japan...

• Italy beat Romania 3-1 (Monica Niculescu is the playing Captain of the Romanian team, making me feel old, as I remember her from Juniors)...

• The Kiki Bertens led Netherlands had to go the distance to beat China...

• And, as ponchi mentioned, Kazakhstan beat Argentina. They had to play all 5 matches, as Nadia Podoroska lost her 2 singles matches for Argentina, but, surprisingly, the 430th ranked Maria Lourdes Carle beat BOTH Rybakina and Putinseva to push it to the deciding doubles match. The Tie included three 6-0 sets in 5 matches - two of which were in 3rd sets.

Thanks Deuce!

[ti-amie]

I just saw this...

[Deuce]

I just saw this...

That's nice... but I see it as a type of attempted bribery.

They're trying desperately to ruin Davis Cup by implementing a completely new system, and creating the 'ATP Cup'... and they expect us to forgive them for doing that just because they're going back to a historic site?

No.

.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]