Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

    Does the Fed Cup trophy have a nickname? It looks like an easier to pick up version of the Davis Cup, anyway.

    Davis Cup action starts on Friday, and sadly I haven't been called on to cover the opening tie of Argentina's defence of their new title against Italy. The other World Group ties are Belgium v Germany (ooh!), Czech Republic v Australia, Switzerland v the USA, Japan v France, Canada v Great Britain, Russia v Serbia and Spain v Croatia. All ties are on either hard or indoor hard surfaces, except Argentina v Italy which is on grass. Obviously that's not true. You know which surface it's on, you're not stupid.

    The Fed Cup gets underway the following week. Argentina are still in the Americas Zone this year, and that's being played in Mexico so I won't be covering that either.

    Other national tennis teams are available.

    #2
    The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

    No A.Murray or Raonic in the Canada vs GB tie, which denudes the thing, rather. However those teams are not as decimated as the Croatian side (runners-up last year, lets not forget), who will be missing: Cilic, Coric, Karlovic and Dodig for their tie with Spain. It leaves their team as Skugor, Mektic, Pavic, and Draganja. That is a highest singles rank of 223, and just one Doubles ranking (Mektic at #65) inside the top 100.
    By contrast Conchita Martínez originally announced her side as Nadal, Bautista Agut, Carreno Busta and M.Lopez. Nadal has since withdrawn and been replaced by F.Lopez (#33 singles, #12 doubles). It shouldn't really make any difference to the result.

    The ITF doesn't even have a picture of Ante Pavic to use on the Davis Cup website. All he gets is a grey rectangle:- http://www.daviscup.com/en/draws-results/tie.aspx?id=M-DC-2017-WG-M-ESP-CRO-01

    Comment


      #3
      The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

      So Croatia's best squad member ranks below Conchita's worst!

      (I'm here all day.)

      Comment


        #4
        The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

        Sam wrote: Does the Fed Cup trophy have a nickname? It looks like an easier to pick up version of the Davis Cup, anyway.

        Davis Cup action starts on Friday, and sadly I haven't been called on to cover the opening tie of Argentina's defence of their new title against Italy. The other World Group ties are Belgium v Germany (ooh!), Czech Republic v Australia, Switzerland v the USA, Japan v France, Canada v Great Britain, Russia v Serbia and Spain v Croatia.
        Should note that the Davis Cup website lists the seeded side first in the top half of the draw and second in the bottom half, rather than listing the home team first (or indeed the away side, if they were feeling American).

        Re-arranging the matches to a more typical format has them as:
        Argentina vs Italy
        Germany vs Belgium (less enticing that way around)
        Australia vs Czech Rep
        USA vs Switzerland (no Stan or Roger)
        Japan vs France (no Nishikori, no party)
        Canada vs GB
        Serbia vs Russia (Djokovic is playing)
        Croatia vs Spain

        Comment


          #5
          The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

          Day 1 of Canada vs GB will be Evans vs Shapovalov followed by Edmund vs Pospisil.

          Denis Shapovalov is a hugely talented young player transitioning from a stellar junior career (though his even younger compatriot Felix Auger Aliassime may turn out to be even better). Pospisil may be best known to British tennis fans for knocking out James Ward from Wimbledon 2 years ago. He's made more waves in doubles than singles since.

          Comment


            #6
            The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

            Evans has just taken the first set 6-3.

            Somewhat more surprisingly Djokovic lost his first set to Medvedev by the same score.

            Comment


              #7
              The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

              Evans won in straight sets, but Edmund is about to go 2-0 down.

              Djokovic was 3-6 *3-4 down, but only lost one more game before Medvedev retired in the 4th set. Be interesting to know when Medvedev got injured, but Djokovic perfectly capable of doing that to a fit opponent.

              Comment


                #8
                The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                Yowza

                The holders are already 0-2 down against Italy

                Comment


                  #9
                  The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                  Back to 1-2 down after winning a deciding set tie-breaker 9-7. Must have been dramatic.

                  Less fuss in Inglot/Murray beating Nestor/Pospisil in four. Inglot was catching flies at the net. Canada will need Vasek Pospisil to have a miraculous recovery from his knee injury if he is going to beat Dan Evans in the first reverse singles rubber.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                    Oh and having written off Croatia's chances against Spain, they are 2-1 up after two days. Skugor beat Carreno Busta in another fifth set breaker (new in the Davis Cup this year, no more 10-8 final sets) and Draganja/Mektic beat F.Lopez/M.Lopez also in five. Still have to favour Bautista Agut and Carreno Busta to beat Skugor and Pavic in the reverse singles.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                      Popspil beats Evans in 4 tight sets. Edmund vs Shapavalov will be the decider. The courts are very fast, which is an issue for Edmund, or he'd be a comfortable favourite.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                        Edmund seems to be using the faster court rather better today. He leads 6-3 6-4, and won 13 straight service points at one stage of the second set. Which, frankly, is the bulk of the second set.

                        Ordinarily one would say a 17 year-old is not going to have the fitness to fight back from two sets down and win in five. However those opening two sets only took 62 minutes. Kids don't ever play best-of-five, so Shapovalov won't have trained for it. He will have trained to go for three tie-break sets, which could last for going on three hours, though.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                          Elsewhere, Belgium are rolling again, having beaten Germany away from home. And they didn't even have Goffin in their team, whilst the hosts had both Zverevs and Kohlschreiber. Steve Darcis was the man of that tie, beating Kohlschreiber on day 1 in five and Sascha Zverev in four today. He even won match point twice, at least in his mind (see video here:- http://www.daviscup.com/en/news/252916.aspx).

                          Comment


                            #14
                            The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                            Oh shit. Shapovalov has just smashed a ball away in frustration at being broken, and absolutely walloped the umpire in the face. He has to be, and is expecting to be defaulted.

                            The umpire will have a huge black eye, and the medics have been called.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                              It was right in the eye socket at at least 100mph, probably rather more. Shapovalov was trying to hit it right to the back of the stadium, and connected at the same power as a first serve. Fuck.
                              Really hope the umpire is not seriously injured. He could very easily be. His eyes are his profession.

                              Weird atmosphere now. Edmund had the match won, but that now won't be the story. Unfortunate for him, he deserves plaudits for performing when required.

                              I wonder what the ITF will do about Shapovalov? They have to do something. Ban him from the next tie, maybe? The ATP remove prize money and all ranking points from that tournament, and impose a fine, as a punishment for a default, but those are not options here. Maybe a fine is, though that seems an unduly harsh punishment for a teenager who hasn't earned significantly yet from sport.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                Not sure everyone will want to watch this (and I feel queasy posting it), given we don't yet know if the umpire is badly hurt, but for those who do want to peer between their fingers a video is here:- https://mobile.twitter.com/MRisingStar18/status/828368872592044032

                                Or not. I'm trying to link to a tweet. Just stick https:// on the front of this mobile.twitter.com/MRisingStar18/status/828368872592044032

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                  The last default at the top level for accidentally but entirely negligently injuring an official may have been David Nalbandian. That, at least, is the one people keep referencing. I was watching that match live as well. Pure coincidence. I don't watch every Tennis match, I assure you!

                                  Jelena Ostapenko should have been defaulted last year against Naomi Broady of course. But the officials bottled that one. There was no injury that time, mind. And, thinking about it, whilst a Nalbandian drew blood and having a board kicked into your leg would definitely smart something rotten, there was little chance of that being any more serious than a barked shin and brusing. If today's umpire isn't currently heading to hospital to have an eye specialist examine him and likely take him in for observation, I would be amazed. It will be a number of days before it's known if he has escaped without damage to his retina.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                    There is a tweet (in French) from someone who is probably the umps wife (female first name, same surname) saying his cornea was untouched. Or at least that is my possibly shonky translation, not exactly being fluent in French.
                                    Even with necessary caveats, it's a hopeful sign.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                      Having gone to a fourth day due to high winds and heavy rain on Sunday morning leading to long delay in the start of the fourth rubber (which Berlocq eventually won), Argentina are out after Fognini beats Pella in five sets in the deciding rubber to take Italy through.

                                      In a little while (if not already), the Americas Zone of the Fed Cup kicks off in Mexico.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                        Americas Group I is underway already in fact, with Argentina 1-0 up against Chile.

                                        Argentina's Davis Cup first round record in the last sixteen editions is now 14 wins, 2 defeats. Both defeats came at home against Italy.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                          Chile came back to win that one 2-1, taking the deciding doubles 8-6 in a third set tie-break. However Chile then lost to Colombia (2-1), who themselves lost to Argentina (3-0). Colombia beat Brazil, though. There is a fifth team in this group, the hosts Mexico. They are the only side to have lost their first two games.
                                          Matches today are Argentina vs Brazil and Chile vs Mexico, with the final round of pool fixtures tomorrow being Colombia vs Mexico and Brazil vs Chile. At the moment pretty well any of the five teams could go into the promotion play-off on Saturday. Which isn't the case from Pool A; that has become a straight semi-final between (Bouchard-less) Canada and Paraguay, after both beat Venezuela and Bolivia.

                                          As for things in Europe, Britain have started well in Pool C, with a 3-0 win over Portugal yesterday. They are currently playing likely their hardest match of the round robin, against Latvia. However it has started well, as Heather Watson rather duffed up Diana Marcinkevica top put Britain one ahead. If Jo Konta can beat Jelena Ostapenko, then Britain will have won before the Doubles again. Konta is obviously the favourite, and is showing it as she currently leads 6-2 5-3...

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                            Konta broke again to win 2&3. Despite that making Rae/Robson's Doubles a dead rubber in terms of victory for the second consecutive day, it still has a strong bearing; if they can win today, it would leave Britain with a 6-0 strings record and Latvia at 2-4. That would eliminate Latvia, and leave Britain with a worst case scenario tomorrow against Turkey of only needing to win one string to get to the play-off.

                                            Looking at the stats of Konta-Ostapenko, Johanna's 1st serve was in very good order; she made 47 out of 56 attempted (83%). That is an Errani-like number, and Jo's serve is rather different beast to Sara's.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                              Rae/Robson served for the match in set 2, failed to close it out, but that only allowed things to drag on for another 8 games before they got the W.
                                              Elsewhere at the venue Turkey-Portugal is one rubber each. If Portugal win the Doubles, then Britain's spot as pool winners will be confirmed already.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                                Turkey beat Portugal in their Doubles. It leaves the Pool C table in Tallinn thus:-

                                                Britain 2 0 6-0
                                                Turkey 1 1 3-3
                                                Latvia 1 1 2-4
                                                Portugal 0 2 1-5

                                                Britain are definitely through if they win one rubber against Turkey, as that would make their record 2 1 7-2 at worst, which neither Turkey nor Latvia can match. However if sets won by ratio is used after rubbers won (as the Tour Finals use), then Britain are already through; they stand at 12-1 tonight, whereas Turkey's record is 8-9. Even if Turkey win all six sets tomorrow, 14-9 (61%) is less than 12-7 (63%).

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  The Salad Bowl and the... Women's Salad Bowl?

                                                  I think that is right is Latvia beat Portugal. But if Portugal beat Latvia, and Turkey beat GB 2-1 then it'd just be on head to head between the top 2 countries. And Turkey would win.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X