Spain is one win away from a return trip to the Davis Cup World Group heading into doubles action on Saturday. Fernando Verdasco and Rafael Nadal roll to singles wins on Friday to put the home team in front.
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Verdasco improved to 3-0 lifetime against Dolgopolov by kicking off the Spain vs. Ukraine Davis Cup playoffs tie with a four-set win on Friday afternoon in Madrid. The Spaniard needed two hours and 33 minutes to complete his comeback from a one-set deficit. It was Dolgopolov who got off to an impressive start, breaking twice in the first set without facing a break point on his own serve. Little separated the two players in the second. Verdasco won two more points than his opponent, but he saved one break point and capitalized on one of his three chances before serving it out at 5-4.
Sets three and four, however, were more straightforward for Verdasco. The world No. 33 generally held in far more routine fashion than Dolgopolov in the third even though it was decided by just one break. Verdasco closed it out at 5-4 then dropped only four points in his last four service games. Dolgopolov committed 14 unforced errors in the fourth to end his hopes of ever getting back on track in the match.
Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-0, 6-0, 6-4
Playing just four days after winning his second U.S. Open title, Nadal clearly had no interest in staying on the court any longer than necessary. The world No. 2 lost just four games and needed only one hour and 42 minutes to put Spain ahead of the Ukraine 2-0. Stakhovsky, who famously upset Roger Federer at Wimbledon this summer, did not even win a single game in the first two sets. He won a mere total of nine points in the entire second frame of play–six on serve and three on return.
Stakhovsky finally got on the scoreboard in set three, and he did so on four straight service occasions. The world No. 92 fought off five break points along the way, but Nadal finally converted his sixth chance of the set at 4-4 with a perfect passing shot. Nadal held easily one game later to wrap up the proceedings in style. The 13-time Grand Slam champion will team up with Marc Lopez on Saturday in hopes of clinching the tie and sending Spain to the 2014 World Group.
I don’t know that I buy the idea that all Djoker has to do is win Davis Cup and he will be back on track. It happened a few years ago but this is a different point in his career. I think his problems have been building up over a period of time. It didn’t just happen overnight and like we saw with Rafa, it won’t be fixed overnight.
For one thing, Djoker hasn’t won much this year. What did he win, three titles including this year’s AO? I believe the last title he won was when he beat Rafa in the final at MC. So he is in a bit of a title drought. Winning breeds confidence. It doesn’t just apply to Rafa. When you are winning, then you have the mental toughness and belief and your game is clicking and everything is working.
That is not the case with Djoker. He is losing matches in ways that he was not in 2011 and 2012. He is losing when he is up a break, when he has the lead. He has double faulted away breaks of serve to even lose sets. He isn’t getting set properly to his his shots, That dtl backhand is not working, He is making a high number of UE’s.
I am not saying that Djoker is going anywhere. I think he can regroup and get it together. But I think it would make sense for him to stop talking about what history he can make. I think that puts additional pressure on him and then if he doesn’t achieve said goals, it’s a letdown. If you work on your game and play good tennis, then the history follows.
Oh and I must say that I am shocked, shocked to realize that Djoker cursed at Rafa when he broke back in the final! 🙂
This is what Fibak thinks about Rafa:
“During the match, the thought that kept coming to my mind was that I was watching a genius,” said Wojtek Fibak, the former Polish player hired by Djokovic as a coaching consultant. “It’s like Chopin who was born to compose music. Nadal was born to win tennis matches.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/sp…_20130910&_r=0
Come to think of it. Its 2011 in reverse. Rafa had three titles in 2011 and a truckload of finals.Same with Djo this year till now 🙂
I don’t think it’s quite the same in reverse. In 2011 Djoker won three slam finals – AO, Wimbledon and USO. Rafa has won two slams this year.
Well then we will count the year till we reach AO 2014 then 😀
Ricky when do you intend to do the facebook chat about Rafa winning the USO? I love these chats 🙂
tomorrow
@NNY.
Dont forget, Djokovic was pretty much under the radar for most of 2010 and had made it to only one Final (USO) of the majors and masters that year. That is what made the contrast with his 2011 winning streak, which came out of the blue, so impressive.
Assuming Serbia win the Davis Cup again, the hypothesis is:
A gluten-free diet + donkey’s milk cheese PLUS winning DC = a rejuvenated Noel.
@vmk
Rafa’s 2011 was marginally better than Djokovic’s 2013
Rafa: Jan-Sept 2011
Slams: 3 finals (1 win, 2 losses)
Masters: 5 finals (1 win, 4 losses)
Djokovic: Jan-Sept 2013
Slams: 3 finals (1 win, 2 losses)
Masters: 1 final (Win)
ed,
Well said! You make some excellent points. I agree that there was no indication from the 2010 Djoker that he would come out like the Bionic Man in 2011. If anything, I think Rafa beating him in the 2010 USO final reinforced that his best was just not good enough to beat Rafa at that time.
I love your formula for a rejuvenated Djoker! Brilliant!
I think there is something different about what Djoker is going through right now. For one thing, he has been at the top of the sport for most of the last two years. So he has had the kind of success that he did not have prior to 2011. At that time he was just so much unrealized potential. Now he has six slams and the #1 ranking for 2011 and 2012.
I think the mental fragility is the thing that is most concerning. That can affect the technical aspects of a player’s game. The way Djoker went walkabout in that third set in the quarterfinals against Youzhny at the USO, was a perfect example of what has been happening to him all year. The way that he lost the Wimbledon final. Murray was the mentally stronger player throughout that match.
I think Andy is going to come back strong and ready to get down to business in the fall hard court season. He will have had some time to recover from the stress and pressure to win Wimbledon. I wonder if we will get to see Rafa and Andy play before the tennis year is over.
I think success has gone to Djoker’s head. He got complacent and probably too many other commitments/distractions. So many errors usually mean he didn’t practice that hard. He probably thought he had nothing to improve upon so practices were unnecessary.
I hope he still thinks that way because I want Rafa take the AO 2014.
Oh dear, just the kind of article Djoker does NOT need to boost those flagging diet book sales:
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/205897/now-that-rafael-nadal-has-won-the-us-open-can-we-please-stop-talking-about-gluten/
“Last week, Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in 4 sets to win his second U.S. Open title. It was his second grand slam title of the year and Nadal is now poised to finally reclaim the number one ranking from Djokovic. Most importantly though, this win may finally get everyone to stop talking about Djokovic’s gluten-free diet, or at the very least, stop trying to tell the rest of us that we should stop eating gluten too.
Djokovic himself says that the dietary change is what allowed him to reach his potential. Fine. The part that everyone always seems to gloss over though is that – and the importance of the rest of this sentence simply cannot be overstated – Novak Djokovic is allergic to gluten. Legitimately allergic. Confirmed by doctors and everything. But this simple fact doesn’t seem to deter proponents of the gluten-free diet from hoisting Djokovic up as a shining example of how horrible gluten is and why everyone everywhere ever should just totally stop eating it altogether.
This is dumb.
Rafael Nadal holds 13 grand slam titles, including 8 from the French Open, an Olympic gold medal and the number one ranking for 102 weeks in his career, so far. All of this, despite constant nagging knee injuries and unabashed gluten consumption.
If that’s not enough to convince you, let’s switch to another sport really quickly. Michael Phelps, a swimmer you may or may not be familiar with, has the most gold medals of any Olympic athlete ever with 18. What does Phelps eat? Well, apparently lots of Subway now, but while he was training, his breakfast alone consisted of three fried egg sandwiches, an omelette, grits, pancakes and french toast. Somehow, despite eating all of that gluten he managed to be the greatest swimmer anyone has ever seen.
So let’s all just take a step back and realize that this whole crazy gluten-free thing has gotten completely out of hand.”
Thank you! Now I can have my breakfast egg roll guilt-free………………
How can anyone seriously launch a gluten free diet book in NY, McDonald Land and the epitome of excessive food consumption? I once ordered some chicken wings as a 1st course in NY and it was piled so high on my plate that I thought they’d brought me the entire stock of chicken wings for the restaurant by mistake. My daughters’ onion rings looked like the onion rings had been woven into a large basket.
The “big plate” disease is spreading around the world unfortunately @clayqueen. When I am served over-sized portions I now politely send them back and ask them to try again, this time with a decent helping. Don’t mind the ensuing commotion, better than the feeling of utter helplessness and disgust I feel looking at an over-size plate.
He has a true gluten allergy for goodness’ sake, and he cynically tried to capitalize on that by palaying a gluten free diet book based on his malady. What a tosser!
This is an excellent write-up of the entire US Open:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sbnation/SBNation_20130917_Call_it_a_comeback__One_year_ago__it_was_uncertain_if_Rafael_Nadal_would_ever_be_back_among_tennis__elite__Now_he_s_the_best_player_in_the_world__again_.html
The writer seems to know each player very very well. She gives a lot of in-sights of each player. Her portrait of Djoker is very unflattering. I didn’t know some of the incidents she wrote about. No wonder Rafa isn’t close to him.
Thank you @JCKNY. The following paragraph articulates well what makes Djokovic un-appealing to most Rafans:
“But that genuine warmth did not factor into his relationship with Djokovic, who had always seemed to resent and envy Nadal’s success, his charisma, his popularity. As for Nadal, as much as he had detested getting beaten seven times running, what he may have liked even less was Djokovic’s behavior in victory: the celebratory chest beating, banshee screams and strutting shirtless around the court while Nadal sat nearby slumped and disconsolate.”
Nole’s reaction when Rafa accidentally hit him with the ball in Montreal demonstrated his resentment of Rafa. His envy of Rafa’s achievements was also in evidence when he posted REC8RD on his Facebook for having won 8 out of the 9 M1000s when Rafa won his 8th RG title.
JCKNY: Congratulations on this. One of the best pieces of beautifully honed tennis writing I’ve read in a long time. Acutely perceptive and alternately acerbic and humorous. Boy, does she know her tennis! I’ve bookmarked it to enjoy again and again.
Thanks but I didn’t do anything. 😀
The writing was so good that I kept reading it in a theatre last night. I couldn’t finish it until I got home after the show. It’s not often to read a sports-related article that is so well-written.
JCKNY,
I finally took the time to read this piece. I think it’s an excellent read. I think she may have hit on what is at the core with Rafa and Djoker.
I thought the analysis of what Rafa did in that match was simply brilliant. Beautifully written.
The writer clearly likes Rafa a lot more than Djoker. SI posts the link to this article in its daily summary of tennis-related articles. The SI reporter praised Elizabeth Kay’s beautiful writing but she says Kay is a bit too harsh on Novak.
Yes, I can see why Rafa and Djoker are not close. Out of the Big 4, I get the feelings that Rafa respects Roger but Rafa seems to be good friend with Andy.
Here is an interview Rafa did with Elle magazine before the US Open.
http://www.elle.com/news/culture/rafael-nadal-interview?src=sem&mag=elm&dom=out
And this is the Chinese restaurant in Midtown Rafa dined in every night when he’s not playing during the US Open:
http://taorestaurant.com/
According to Page Six, he ordered Chilean Sea Bass every time along with fried rice and noodles. He brought 20 people back to here after the Final to celebrate. The owner kept the kitchen open till 12:30 for him. Darn, This is really close to me. If I had known, I might have gone to stalk him. 😀
vmk1 has not posted for a few days. Hope she didn’t expire from the excitement of being at the final.
There is also another Rafan who used to post on TT, @natashao. I hope she finds her way to Tenngrand soon……….
Sir, I am very much here and have been posting!! The excitement of being at the final is something that is going to stay for a long long time. Its a dream come true. Being at a Rafa Djoko final with the right result at the end 😀
My bad – I see I’d even replied to you yesterday!! Another CRAFT moment :-(.
The reason I thought you’d gone of the air was I’d been waiting for your Birdseye report on what it was like to actually be there. Did I miss it?
The way Elizabeth Kaye writes reminded me very much of Cheryl’s blogs and of how much I miss her take on all things tennis.
#NoDisrespectToRicky
Oh, I had not noticed the author of that beautiful article is Elizabeth Kaye! I posted an article of hers on Rafa one time on TT which was roundly criticised as a Rafanatic piece, she was also dismissed as a blind Rafanatic……..
I don’t care, she writes well…………
I thought the name was familiar but couldn’t place from where. Now I remember the furore you caused when you posted a piece by her on TT. So much gnashing of teeth!
The Davis Cup draw for 2014 was held today. Spain is seeded third in the World Group, after Davis Cup 2013 finalists Czech Republic and Serbia.
The first round:
Canada vs Japan
Spain vs Germany
France vs Australia
Great Britain vs USA
Italy vs Argentina
Belgium vs Kazakhstan
Serbia vs Switzerland
Fed and Djoko could meet in the first round!
http://www.daviscup.com/en/draws-results/world-group.aspx
Ooer, tricky for us Brits 🙁 The Bryans are a lock and, although Andy can beat Isner and Querry/Harrison, not sure Dan can?
Maybe not Isner but wouldn’t put it past him to win over either Querry or Harrison.
Wonder if he-who-shall-not-be-named will turn up to face Novak? Novak will be there for sure, schedule and health permitting!
France vs Australia in France will be spicy, wonder if Bernie Tomic will turn up. Are Spain on the road or at home?
Germany (c) means that Germany will choose the ground.
(See Key in the right bottom corner of the Draw).
Thanks @augusta08. This is a difficult tie for Spain. Like Spain, Germany has depth with Khols, Mayer and Brands and Tommy Haas even! Sure they will lay on a super fast court and seek to blast the Armada off the court. I hope all the big boys play DC next year, should be fun.
tough matchup
That’s great news! They might even play in Halle (if the premises are heatable), which is not too far from where I live! I will have an eye on ticket sales. On an indoor hard court the German squad might even have a decent chance against Spain, even with Rafa, who hopefully might go deep in Australia and could be a little tired. If Rafa plays, I might even root against him the first time in my life,lol!
I doubt he will relish facing Djokovic on his home turf 3 days after the Australian Open.
OTH It would be a serious dereliction of duty not show up.
A tricky conundrum if ever there was one!
^^^^^your predictions welcomed 😉
Rafa is not playing Acapulco 2014. Good, the security situation over there is not good and it will be HC next year anyway. His results this year have proved he does not need to play a HC lead up event before IW.
only hard court he should play before IW is the AO. And that includes exhos.
Why is Acapulco on a HARD court in 2014?
^^Makes sense, no, Ricky? They probably figured it made more sense for it to be a HC since it leads up to IW & Miami.
Having said that, I hope Miami converts to clay. Would make for good prep for the European clay season and would provide balance in the HC:Clay Masters ratio. And the US NEEDS clay courts if it is to challenge the current European hegemony.
oh god no
rafaisthebest@September 18, 2013 at 3:32 pm
There is a chaos in Acapulco due to the flooding,
Chaos as floods submerge Mexico’s Acapulco, death toll rises
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/17/us-storm-ingrid-idUSBRE98D0AH20130917
Flooding has caused damage also to the Acapulco tournament venue.
—The organizers of the ATP 500 that is played in the state of Guerrero hope now assessing the damage caused by floods in the Fairmont Acapulco Princess, tournament venue, to define when construction will begin with the 6 new fast courts that will be used during the contest. The work will require 6 to 8 weeks.—
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/blogs/index?entryID=1904542&name=juan_ignacio_ceballos&cc=7586
Rafa has tweeted his support to Acapulco:
https://twitter.com/RafaelNadal
Thanks @augusta08, I saw Rafa’s tweet.
rafaisthebest@September 18, 2013 at 3:58 pm
—They probably figured it made more sense for it to be a HC since it leads up to IW & Miami—
Correct!
Wikipedia:
— Starting in 2014, the Mexican Open’s surface will change from clay to hard courts, serving as a lead-up to the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season in Indian Wells, United States.—
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Open_(tennis)
Ricky,
Are you saying that Rafa should not play at Doha and Abu Dhabi? No warmup tournament before the 2014 AO?
correct
the Rio tournament is what Memphis used to be, right? but it is clay? and Acapulco is moving to hard, basically to replace that?
and Memphis is now what San Jose used to be…a 250 hard…..
The Memphis ATP-500 on hard court should be still alive.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Tournaments/Memphis.aspx
ATP calendar 2013:
San Jose – ATP-250, IH (Indoor Hard)
Memphis – ATP-500, IH
Rio – no
Acapulco – ATP-500, Clay
ATP calendar 2014 (preliminary):
San Jose – no
Memphis – ATP-500, IH
Rio – ATP-500, Clay
Acapulco – ATP-500, Hard
pretty sure Memphis is 250 in 2014
wc0206@September 18, 2013 at 6:33 pm
Wikipedia says the same thing:
“…the event was renamed Memphis International. … The ATP and WTA event will move to Rio in 2014, and Memphis will continue as an ATP 250 event in the 2014 season.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._National_Indoor_Tennis_Championships
well that’s wrong also. it won’t CONTINUE as a 250 event. it will BECOME a 250 event INSTEAD of 500.
sorry to digress but I’ve read that article from E. Kaye, thx JCKNY, and I can’t believe what they say about Novak using this pressure chamber thingie and those pimple whatever they are… I mean if they weren’t approved why do they let him use them?
I don’t understand…
Shirling: If you are interested in the Pod Saga, here is the original story from the WSJ which blue the whistle on Djokovic’s new secret weapon:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3d6ayu4