Country Cups (Davis Cup, Fed/BJK Cup)

[patrick]

After Martina, Chrissie, McEnroe days and to an extent Roddick, USA does not commit well to team events,

[dave g]

Having the BJK cup after the YEC is part of the problem. The Americans in the YEC were not the only YEC participants unwilling to play in the BJK. I blame the guy who is the head of the WTA.

[ashkor87]

Awesome performance by Leylah!! Dabrowski is a great doubles player too..which made the difference..I never thought the Czechs could be beaten

[ashkor87]

Having the BJK cup after the YEC is part of the problem. The Americans in the YEC were not the only YEC participants unwilling to play in the BJK. I blame the guy who is the head of the WTA.

True, but Voundrousova, Krejcikova, Siniakova did make the trip..even Keys would have made a difference..

[ashkor87]

After Martina, Chrissie, McEnroe days and to an extent Roddick, USA does not commit well to team events,

Interesting to speculate why that is so..my own theory is- the US has been dominant at tennis for so long that the fans don't think winning these country tournaments matters much..my father also had this theory : the US bench is so deep the top players don't feel responsible..anyone behind me will also do...
Neither assumption is true these days but the mindset takes years to change..?

[ponchi101]

When Pete won the 1995 DC almost single handedly, in a truly heroic performance AGAINST RUSSIA, and that was relegated to page 32 of Sports Illustrated (at the time truly the last page), he said it all: "If people in the USA do not care about the Davis Cup, why should I?"
Starting with Connors, playing team events in tennis in the USA stopped having any meaning.
Which has nothing to do with the BJK/FED cup as the US women remain a powerhouse in tennis. So why can't players commit to this event is indeed odd.

[ashkor87]

Stakusic! Who is she?! Never heard of her..beat Trevisan in the BJK finals ..Canada sure to win now...

[ti-amie]

This time the US defeat is only partly Rinaldi's fault .probably could not have persuaded Coco and Pegula to play..though that is her job. #1 is to get the best players to play, #2 is to field the best team on the given day. Giving media interviews comes a distant #3..I guess nobody cares much about BJK

[ti-amie]

[ptmcmahon]

I can honestly say I don’t know who Stakusic is either

[skatingfan]

I've seen the name in draws, but didn't know what she looked like until this week. She's making her breakthrough late this year.

[ashkor87]

I've seen the name in draws, but didn't know what she looked like until this week. She's making her breakthrough late this year.

Captain is very brave,!

[ashkor87]

Rankings never matter in country cups! Both winners today were ranked lower than the players they beat (one by about 200 ranks!)

[ashkor87]

Stakusic merely applied steady pressure, Trevisan made errors after error under pressure - which is what it takes to win in the BJK cup.. Leylah played really well - that was a high quakity match too.. what I culd make out from Youtube highlights.. court was the usual regulation slow to medium court, Leylah came ward a lot, which is one way to win on a slow court..a real masterclass in tennis strategy. I hope the slow courts around the world will encourage players to emulate Leylah..! paradoxical but true.. volleyers can do well on a slow court, provided they approach on the right shot and dont mind getting passed and looking foolish a few times!

[martini4me]

I'd never heard of her either, until she was the guest on a Canadian tennis podcast about a month ago.

She was unable to play for about seven months early this year due to a patellar tendon injury. She was named ITF player of the month after winning two tournaments in September, then went on to win another Challenger tournament in Toronto a couple of weeks ago. She turns 19 at the end of the month. That's about all I know.

If you didn't see any of her matches this week (I watched them all), she's extremely even-keeled. No outward shows of emotion, either positive or negative (the announcers were quite surprised when she displayed a bit of frustration while Trevisan was getting the better of her in the middle part of the match today). The backhand is her biggest weapon, although about halfway through the match against Frech, she started hitting drop shots, some of them quite extraordinary.