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

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    #51
    Herbert/Mahut comfortably beat Krajinovic/Zimonjic in Lille, which set up Jo-Wilfred Tsonga to put France through to the Final by beating Dusan Lajovic (though Jo-Willy did lose the opening set 6-2). The match finished 3-1 as Tsonga-Lajovic took long enough for the Sunday crowd to be thought sated. The other Semi in Brussels went the distance, as Peers/Thompson beat Bemelmans/De Greef very straightforwardly in the doubles, only for David Goffin to play exceptionally in beating a seemingly committed Nick Kyrgios in four in the top string rubber. Lleyton Hewitt then subbed in Jordan Thompson for John Millman in the deciding singles, but this didn't work as Steve Darcis beat Thompson comfortably 3-0 to take Belgium to another Final. Which reflects massively positively on David Goffin, as their only world class player.
    France will host the Final. Probably not in Lille.

    It was also the World Group play-offs last weekend, and the big news is that Argentina have gone from winning the Cup to being relegated from the World Group in less than 12 months, beaten 3-1 in Astana by Kazakhstan. Quite a number of leading Argentine players were missing (naming no names) prompting Diego Schwartzman to comment "We've got to let some time pass and think what each one of us could have done better... those of us who came here and those who didn't" Even so, with Schwartzman and Pella for singles and Gonzalez and Molteni for doubles the Argentine team were all higher ranked than their Kazakh counterparts. It should have been enough, even on a quickish hard court, but it wasn't.
    Other play-off results were wins for:-
    Croatia in Colombia with Marin Cilic playing a major parts as he won three rubbers;
    Switzerland coming from behind on the final day to beat Belarus in Biel despite no Federer or the injured Wawrinka;
    Netherlands fighting back from 0-2 down after day one to relegate a Berdych-less Czech Republic in Den Haag (despite Tomas' absence the Czech's were still comfortably the higher ranked team so this was a distinct shock);
    Germany with no Zverevs getting past Portugal 3-2 (really 3-1 but then losing a dead rubber) in Lisbon, coming back from 2-1 down in both the doubles and the top string singles;
    Nishikori-less Japan beating Brazil 3-1 in Osaka, the key match being a 3-2 win for Go Soeda over Thiago Monteiro in the second rubber;
    Hungary pulling off a significant surprise by beating a very young but very talented Russian team (Rublev, Khachanov, Medvedev) 3-1 in Budapest, which would have gone down well with the crowd. Marton Fucsovics was the hero, posting 3 points to the total (of 3!);
    and Canada beating India 3-2 (but really 3-1) in Edmonton, Denis Shapovalov recording two singles wins including grinding out a 3-2 over Yuki Bhambri on day one after he had blown a two set lead.

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      #52
      If interest in the Davis Cup 2018 is determined by GB progress then there's unlikely to be much interest. Drawn against Spain away.

      Comment


        #53
        Goffin beats Tsonga in straight sets to tie the series at 2, and so this year's Davis Cup will go down to the final singles between Lucas Pouille and Steve Darcis.

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          #54
          Gerard Pique's investment firm is "transforming" the Davis Cup.

          The ITF Board of Directors unanimously endorsed a proposal to create a major new annual season-ending World Cup of Tennis Finals that will crown the Davis Cup champions. Featuring 18 nations and played over one week in a world-class location in November, the event will be staged by Kosmos in partnership with the ITF.

          Gerard Piqué, the Spain and FC Barcelona football star, is the founder and President of Kosmos. The group is backed by Hiroshi Mikitani, the Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, the Tokyo-based e-commerce company.

          No, me either

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            #55
            Quite aside from the format-busting 18 teams idea, it's shit to drop the Davis Cup to three set matches. And, if we assume it means 6 groups of 3 then elimination from last eight on, that implies 75 matches on court (50 singles, 25 doubles) over 7 days? The first 54 of which (the group games) would have to be completed in the first 4 days? How are they going to find an indoor venue to accommodate that?

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              #56
              RIP Davis Cup. You'll be missed.

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                #57
                I was too drunk to get around to writing what I intended last night. It was along the lines of the biggest day for the British Women's team for years, as away to Japan was genuinely winnable. However not as winnable as when the draw was made, given the rise of Naomi Osaka, decline of Jo Konta and horrible form of Heather Watson. Turns out that was writing Konta off too much, as she beat Osaka. Which doesn't sound that much of a surprise given their respective rankings of #23 and #22, but is more so when one considers the YTD numbers are 40-odd for Konta and 6 for Osaka. That shows their respective trajectories currently.

                That put Britain one rubber away from the World Group, but unfortunately that was as good as it got as Watson then later st to Kurumi Nara, who was lower ranked on both rolling and YTD than Heather, and then Konta/Watson (subbed in for doubles specialist Anna Smith, who is also badly struggling for wins, and Gabi Taylor) won the opening set against a Japanese team Kate/Ninomiya but then lost the next two. So near, and yet so far.

                Watson must be feeling pretty desolate at the moment. She was zero from three across the weekend.


                Meanwhile in less parochial news, the two Semis are really well set at the moment.
                Czechia were 2-0 up after the opening day in Stuttgart (Kvitova bt Goerges 2-0, Ka.Pliskova bt Kerber by the same score), but Germany have struck back this morning as Goerges bt Pliskova 2-0. Kerber vs Kvitova is soon to get underway.
                France-USA is locked at 1-1 after the first day. Sloane Stephens bt Pauline Parmentier in two tight sets, and the US were flying when CoCo Vandeweghe won the opening set against Kiki Mladenovic 6-1 only for Mladenovic to turn things around. That tie gets underway today at 2pm local time with the top strings, Mladenovic vs Stephens (baring subs).
                Last edited by Janik; 22-04-2018, 10:36.

                Comment


                  #58
                  Well, looking on the bright side, let's hope Konta can keep up that singles form. Hey, she might even win her first Roland Garros main draw match this year.

                  Comment


                    #59
                    This was on a hard court. And Osaka is exactly the right type of player for Konta, i.e. another straight up and down power baseliner, just like Venus Williams who Jo has pulled off some of her best ever performances against.

                    The Final will pit the two most successful nations in Fed Cup history, the USA and Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia, against each other. The US are the defending champs, having ended the Czechs three year reign in the Semis last year. That was in Tampa, so presumably this year's final will be in Prague. It will be the third Czech-USA final if one counts the two Czechoslovakia-USA meetings in the 80s, and the second in Prague. The first, in 1986, was Martina Navratilova's first return home after defecting, and IIRC she has said there was an intimidating atmosphere against her. But the US won. Then again their team was a little hot - Martina, Chris Evert, Pam Shiver (who formed one of the most successful Women's doubles pairings in history with Martina) and Zina Garrison. The Czechoslovak team were pretty handy themselves, with Hana Mandlikova and Helena Sukova the mainstays. If this year's final matches that one for star power, we are in for a good one.
                    The Czechs won the other Final meeting in '85. I just had to get that in. No Navratilova or Evert that year, though. Oh and '86 is the only time the Czech's have lost a final. Their record is 10-1.

                    Comment


                      #60
                      Bit of a fuss here because during the Romania Switzerland match in Cluj, some of the crowd cheered on Tímea Bacsinszky in Hungarian. She actually spent a significant part of her childhood growing up not far from Cluj, her mum is Hungarian and her estranged dad (ethnically Polish) Romanian. She was quite emotional about the reception but of course the Romanian media is unhappy about unpatriotic behaviour in sections of the crowd.

                      This year is also one ongoing celebration /repetition as it is 100 years since the creation of modern Romania and there was lots of reference to this all over the arena. But of course as with all such things what counts as celebration to some is cause for less joy in others. I suspect this kind of thing will only get worse as we get closer to December 1st (at which date the full celebration comes)

                      Comment


                        #61
                        I wonder if Jo Konta would have got some local support if last year's tie had been played in Cluj rather than Constana? Or would have connection have been too oblique?

                        A bit more detail on the main event Semis - the Czech win came courtesy of a comprehensive win for Kvitova against Kerber in the fourth rubber. And the US victory was sealed by Stephens whupping Mladenovic and Madison Keys (subbing in for Vandeweghe) beating Parmentier.

                        Other results:

                        World Group I Play-Offs
                        Belarus 3-2 Slovakia
                        Romania 3-1 Switzerland
                        Australia 4-1 Netherlands
                        Italy 0-4 Belgium

                        Belarus had a very young team out, but one with some rising talents. No Azarenka for obvious and unfortunate child-related reasons, so it was Sasnovich, Sabalenka, Lapko and Marozava. Slovakia were missing Rybarikova but also have their own hot young player in Kuzmova. She won both her singles rubbers in fact, but got no back up from her more experienced colleagues (Cepalova and Schmiedlova) as the hosts won on the deciding doubles.
                        The controversy didn't stop Romania being 2-0 up after day 1, Halep dropping a set to Golubic (who regularly vastly out-performs her ranking in Fed Cup), Begu beating Bacsinszky in two. Bacsinszky was then left out of the top string rubber against Halep (a political or emotional call?), and was replaced by... Patty Schnyder! No, really. Many might not realise that Patty has been playing again, but she has for the past two years or so. She very clearly isn't what she once was, as her ranking has yet got back into the top 100, though she is now 150-odd which is the highest watermark the comeback has achieved. Even so, she was never likely to topple Halep. Not even a clay court (comfortably Patty's best surface) could help, given that it is also Simona's. 2&1 and tie over. Schnyder is 39, btw. the Swiss then won a dead rubber doubles to round off the tie.
                        The Dutch were missing Kiki Bertens, which gave them little hope on paper. Despite that, their no.1 for the tie, Lesley Kerkhove, beat Sam Stosur in the opening singles rubber. False dawn - Australia won the next 8 sets (none closer than 6-4) to come through 4-1 thanks to Ash Barty, Dasha Gavrilova and Destanee Aiava (Aiava played the dead rubber doubles only). Stosur didn't play again.
                        Belgium recorded the only away win of the play-offs as they beat Italy. The Italians are definitely not the same force they once were, now that Pennetta has retired and Schiavone and Vinci are in their mid- to late-30s and drifting towards the same. Even Sara Errani, only 30 now Italy's no.2 player, is nothing like what she once was. Still it was away to Italy on clay, and that ain't easy (just ask the British Davis Cup team), so big ups to Elise Mertens in particular for two comfortable singles wins and Alison van Uytvanck for a tougher win over Errani on Saturday.

                        World Group II Play-Offs
                        Russia 2-3 Latvia
                        Spain 3-1 Paraguay
                        Canada 2-2 Ukraine
                        Japan 3-2 Britain

                        How the mighty have fallen! Russia will be in the Euro-Africa Zone I next year. It's been a rapid slide since finishing as runners-up to the Czech Rep in 2015, Italy in 2013 and the Czech's again in 2011. The third straight relegation since that final in Prague which the Czechs won 3-2 (Sharapova provided the two for Russia; coincidentally Meldonium was banned from 1/1/2016) came despite the Russians wheeling out a very decent side in Pavlyuchenkova (Russian no.2, WR 27), Makarova (4, 32), Vesnina (6, 43) and Vikhlyantseva (7, 82). However they needed that sort of side as the two leading Latvians, Ostapenko (5) and Sevastova (15) were playing, and these are two very significant players. Despite Russia holding the tie in a one-pony town I've never heard of somewhere in the middle of the country with presumably a suitably difficult for any Latvian fans hoping to make it (Khanty-Mansiysk, anyone heard of it before?), it was those two strong Latvians who held sway, Ostapenko beating both Makarova and Pavlyuchenkova and Sevastova sealing the deal with a win against Makarova in the fourth rubber. Pavlyuchenkova did beat Sevastova on day 1, to no avail. Russia won the dead doubles.
                        Both Spain and Paraguay had their best two singles players available. However Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro > Veronica Cepede Royg and ≫ Montserrat Gonzalez. Gonzalez actually did remarkably well by taking a set off Muguruza (that is the World No. 334 taking a set from the World No. 3 to put it in context). However that was the only set Paraguay won prior to the dead doubles.
                        Canada vs Ukraine is still in progress, with the deciding doubles underway. Ukraine were missing two of their best three singles players, with the absence of Svitolina particularly hurtful (Kozlova being their no.3). In fact they only traveled with three players in total, Lesia Tsurenko, Kateryna Kondarenko and Olga Savchuk. Canada, by contrast, had the side they would have likely chosen. However, given how things have progressed in recent years, it counts as rather a surprise that Genie Bouchard (now down to 117 in the world) stepped up under pressure and won both her singles rubbers, the win over Tsurenko in particular on a final set tie-break overturning someone much higher ranked these days (Tsurenko is #41). Canada's no.2 singles player Francoise Abanda was selected in the team but didn't play on day 1, nor on day 2 after the player in her steed, Biance Andreescu, had to retire hurt deep into the third set against Tsurenko. Whatever was ailing Andreescu and Abanda was bad enough that doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski played the fourth singles rubber. And lost in three to Bondarenko. Let's hope that hasn't taken too much out of her, and that Andreescu's injury isn't too terrible as this pair have literally just been taken to a deciding set in the doubles by Bondarenko/Savchuk (Bondarenko won the three-setter with Dabrowski, but would be more used to the extra intensity and physicality of singles).
                        And Japan vs Britain we already know about.


                        2019 teams

                        World Group I
                        Czech Rep
                        France
                        Germany
                        USA
                        Australia
                        Belarus
                        Belgium
                        Romania

                        World Group II
                        Italy
                        Netherlands
                        Slovakia
                        Switzerland
                        Japan
                        Lativa
                        Spain
                        Canada or Ukraine
                        Last edited by Janik; 22-04-2018, 22:56.

                        Comment


                          #62
                          Khanty-Mansiysk is well known if you are in chess. Plenty of tournaments there including several times men's World cup and also one chess Olympiad.

                          Comment


                            #63
                            Completely off topic (but then this is OTF, so I'm not sure why I'm bothering to apologise), but if you play chess, gintsr, do pop in to the chess tournament thread down on Games. We've just started a tournament so it'll be a month or two before the next one, but new players are always welcome.

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