He’s going to Disneyland. . .or somewhere. Photo by: Angelo Tonelli
Though both semifinals were decided on Saturday, with Spain and the Czech Republic destined to meet in the finals, some Davis Cup drama still remained on Day 3.
After winning the doubles rubber against Team Suisse on Saturday, hope remained for the Italians at home. That hope ran out fast on Sunday, despite the two hour rain delay that interrupted Roger Federer’s straight set victory over Potito Starace (subbing for Seppi) in the fourth rubber.
Along with the dropshot, Roger seems to have added the between the legs shot into his regular bag of tricks, using it to good effect in his match against Starace on Sunday (sorry the quality is poor, but you get the idea):
The best news for hot doggin’ Roger Federer? He doesn’t have to play tennis for a while. He revealed after his match that he is suffering from a leg injury and general fatigue:
“I’m very happy to have won the point for Switzerland so that we can play in the World Group again. I’ m very happy with the quality of my game today, as I definitely didn’t feel the best and had a problem on my leg, which has troubled me a bit since the final of the US Open.” (via Daviscup.com)
A few more quotes from Roger Federer on the injury front:
“I took a chance with my fitness because I was not feeling great coming in. I’m happy I kind of survived, but I definitely need a rest right now because my leg is hurting quite a bit.” (via Daviscup.com)
“I have to go on holiday badly. I have a problem with my leg, I have a problem with my arm — everything is hurting. And I’ve got to do some baby-sitting. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the tennis court the last few weeks.” (via the AP)
Federer’s next tournament is the Japan Open, starting on October 5.
Tsonga gives his oh all all. Photo: Virginie Bouyer
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continues to be a Davis Cup stalwart, clinching the tie for France vs. the Netherlands in Sunday’s fourth rubber. Tsonga won all three of his live rubbers for his team this weekend, saying afterwards that the DC atmosphere inspires him:
“I think it (Davis Cup) raises my game because you give everything. It’s very different because everything is more. You have more sentiment. You have more crowd. You have more pressure. . .I enjoy this because it’s different when you win, you win more and more. It’s good.” (via Daviscup.com)
And we enjoy you, too, Jo-Dubs!
Murray mopes for the dopes. Photo: GETTY IMAGES via the Telegraph.
In Zonal Tie news, the controversy grows after Team Britain failed to save themselves despite having a Top 3 player, Andy Murray, a top flight coach, Paul Annacone, and a home crowd advantage against their Polish opponents.
Here’s the Telegraph’s withering summary:
The 3-2 defeat by Poland at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Sunday, sealed when Dan Evans, the world No 302, got blown off court by a player ranked 376 places below him on the computer, all felt so familiar, a Davis Cup Sunday roast replete with all the old trimmings of mediocrity, embarrassment and humiliation.
All credit goes to Andy Murray – playing for the third day despite an ongoing wrist injury – for winning Sunday’s fourth rubber and evening things at 2-2. Of course, that just made it more torturous for the home crowd, when Britain’s 19-year-old Dan Evans lost the deciding rubber in straight sets to Michal Przysiezny, a guy ranked #678 to Evans’s #302.
Andy Murray was blunt in his appraisal of Team Britain, now bumped down to the “Davis Cup wasteland” of third division play (via the Telegraph):
“I think now, at last, we are where we deserve to be. We clearly are not good enough to be playing against these teams. With or without me, we are struggling to win matches.”
“Everybody who’s involved – and I am one of them – needs to be honest about how we are doing and that we need to get better. This could be the best thing that happens.“
Poor Murray – he’s too young to sound like a disappointed Daddy, but I think he speaks the truth. And like Poppa Fed, he could use a nice, long vacation from tennis.
Click here for more Davis Cup news and results.
Tags: Davis Cup, Federer, Murray, Starace, tennis, Tsonga
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Sad to hear that he's hurting, but so glad he's going to take a much deserved rest!
Did you see this other tweener shot that he did today? I saw it on someone's comment on his website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHhKOr9AZDQ
Great minds think alike, MFF! I just posted it above. Guess it's part of Fed's regular arsenal now – love it!
I'm a bit worried about this injury, but hopefully with a bit of R&R and time spent with his family , Roger will recover quickly. I'm sure he won't do anything silly like playing any tournaments with the injury. Davis Cup is different, so I guess he took the chance.
Freakyfrites, do you ever go to the cincy tournament? I'm thinking about going next year. Since it's the last master's before the US Open, there's a good chance that Roger and the other top players will be there.
I wish someone had asked him what the injury actually is. Is it tendenitis, a strain, just general soreness, diaper rash, what??? It's rare for Roger to complain and even rarer for him to say things are hurting "quite a bit."
Re: Cincy: I have never been, though I hear it is a lovely event! I usually go to Indian Wells, since it's just a 2 hour drive from L.A.
That's exactly why I'm a bit worried. You almost never hear Roger say anything about an injury. Even when he had the back injury, we didn't hear about it for quite a while after he had.
I'm not Freakyfrites
but I go to the tournament in Cincy every year. It's great. Almost every major player goes, the facilities are pretty good, and there's decent access to the players for people interested in getting autographs. I highly recommend going if you get the chance.
If I can, I will. Hopefully I can meet another Federer faithful there:-) If I'm going I'll post and it would be great if we could meet.
I went to the Cincy tournament in 2008, and highly recommend it. We got lots of autographs and pictures. The only downside was getting out of the parking lot when the matches ended for the day. We were going to go again this year, but it conflicted with the first day of school for our kids, so we went to The Open over Labor Day weekend. The Open was an experience I'll never forget, but if you want autographs, the smaller tournaments are the way to go. We're thinking of going to the Rogers Cup next year in Toronto.
Nice win for Switzerland today. Roger just sounds exhausted both mentally and physically. I hope he has a nice vacation and that the injuries are not too serious. Love the shot between the legs again!!
Has anybody else besides me had a hard time finding Davis Cup matches to watch on the Internet? I don't get Tennis Channel, so I have to resort to free streaming sites. There was a decent selection of matches at atdhe on Friday, and I did get to watch the Spain doubles match on Saturday (on 3 different video streams, since the first two went offline at some point.) But on Sunday for the last round of matches I could not find anything, anywhere. Somebody needs to invent an iTunes equivalent for sporting events. The live streaming from Davis Cup website is not available in the USA. Stupid broadcasting rules!
P.S. I've always thought it would be cool to attend the Cincy event. It would be a nice substitute for the US Open, if I never get the chance to go to that one!
well i think roger usually tells us like it is after the end of a tournament. i'm really happy he helped pull switzerland thru. he really must be tired. i bet spending time with mirka and those little babies will do him a world of good. i have a feeling he'll pull out of the japan open. just way too close, hardly any recovery time….but we'll see.
I never thought I'd say this, but… I'm suddenly feeling a lot of affection – and concern – for Murray. He won his two points, he did all he could for the team and they still came short. It was a dangerous thing he (and Federer, btw) did this weekend, the year is far from over and this is the time when injuries start to get more frequent. He should watch out, and maybe skip a smaller tournament if he can. Federer should watch out, too.
I'm thinking he might skip Tokyo.
Totally agree with you on the Murray front. Davis Cup is always so difficult for him with all the pressure and accusations that he doesn't care enough. And then it turns out he does care and the team still loses. Just sucks all around and I give him credit for the way he handled it – don't blame him for getting pissed off at all!
*frazzle* Geeeeeeeez Roger, more details than just a "legal problem" would be appreciated. I wonder if he tore/strained anything. Hopefully it's just muscle soreness.
I wonder if Roger will play Tokyo. He's got to play to satisfy his ATP 500 requirements, but really, it's only a week away, if he turns up, he'll probably burn out again by the end of Shanghai.
Yikes, a freudian slip! That should read "leg problem", not "legal problem".
ROTFL.
HA! I was wondering about that, doots!
I agree it's worrying. And I hope he doesn't play Tokyo. But I wonder if he has some sponsorship deals there that make it important for him to show. . .