Country Cups (Davis Cup, Fed/BJK Cup)

[dmforever]

I don't mind Russian commentary. I can assure you it will be less painful than what I have to put up with in L. America.
(Inside joke about my enjoyment of listening to J.L. Clerc, if you have missed my rantings )

I know that you hate his commentary, but I'm not sure why. Is he inaccurate? Banal? Full of himself? Boring?

I kind of want to hear a set of his commentary now. I know. I'm weird.

Kevin

[ponchi101]

He is extremely arrogant about when HE played. It takes him 5 minutes to start talking about Vilas.
He makes unbelievable claims. For example, he once said he played against an opponent at Wimbledon who played barefoot. I can't find any reference of that anywhere. He talks about how, for example, Lendl would always try to hit McEnroe when he was at the net, which is a lie, and then about the multiple times Lendl hit McEnroe, which is another lie.
Plus, he always corrects every player that missed one single stroke. EVERYTHING, everything, is a technical mistake. The idea that players can miss a shot is impossible for him to grasp.
At the USO, he made the claim that the men were using balls that were heavier than the women's. In reality, they had EXTRA DUTY felt and REGULAR DUTY felt, but the weights were the same. I tell you, you really don't want to hear him.

[ponchi101]

Djokovic isn't good enough at doubles to beat a good team..Nadal or Murray might have managed it..as I said, doubles is also tennis, and should be considered in the GOAT debate..!

Ok, see you at the GOAT topic...

[mick1303]

So its Russia vs Croatia. The Russians better win both singles again, because lately Mectic-Pavic look very strong.

[ashkor87]

So its Russia vs Croatia. The Russians better win both singles again, because lately Mectic-Pavic look very strong.

yes, very true.. I am a little unsure about Rublev, he hasnt been playing that great - he could lose.. but Mektic-Pavic are looking good. Rublev is said to be a very good doubles player (quoting John McEnroe, who knows a thing or two about doubles) but I havent seen much sign of it lately..

[mick1303]

2nd Croatian is Borna Gojo. He is on a bit of a hot streak - moving in the direction opposite to Rublev lately. But basically before this Davis Cup nobody heard of him. But being Davis Cup it brings a unique intangible. In Medvedev-Cilic it is also far from clear. Cilic is no stranger to pressure situations. And brings his record of 30 wins in Davis Cup.

[mick1303]

Also Tarpischev is known for bold and paradoxical selections which frequently turn out surprisingly good. Can't remember the most surprising ones right now. Maybe playing Tursunov against Roddick? He could gamble and play Khachanov as a second singles player.

[mick1303]

Or maybe given a magnitude of the occasion, playing Youzhny in a deciding 5th rubber in the finals in 2002. Remember he had two grand slam champions on the team and chose Youzhny over Kafelnikov

[ashkor87]

I am actually surprised Tarpischev is still around- thought he had been blacklisted or something for his racist comments about Serena and Venus...

[ti-amie]

[mick1303]

There were 25 ties under the new format: 2 singles and a double.
The tie was split after singles 13 times. Which means that doubles decided the outcome on more than half occasions.

[mick1303]

Regarding the finals: it is nice to have a doubles team that almost guarantees a point. But having two top 5 singles players is even better ))

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

Russia will be holding a few more of these in the next few years.