The Daily Dish: Davis Cup Day 1

by GVGirl

The lines to get into Memorial Coliseum were lllllloooooonnnnnggg, but very respectful. After getting into the venue, my husband gets into the line to buy Davis Cup merchandise. He’s on line for a full 35 minutes. FYI-short sleeve t-shirts were selling for $25, long sleeves for $30. They are selling fast!

The opening ceremony always reminds me of the Olympics with its “pomp and circumstance.” There is a parade of the flags of all the Davis Cup nations in the World Group. The national anthems of the two nations are sung. The two teams exchange small gifts. It’s now Showtime.

Roddick d. Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Not the highest quality match. How many break points can one squander? It seemed as though Roddick had 100 break point chances against Dmi. Andy failed to capitalize on Dmi’s second serve. Not many rallies in this match. Andy did not come to net at all, content to rally from the baseline. But why should I quibble? Andy did what he had to. He won! You could see the relief on his face at the end.


James Blake d. Youhzny 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7(3), 7-6 (3)

Match of the day with great shot making. Entertainingly competitive with some drama at the end when Blake failed to end the match while serving for it at 5-4 in the fourth. JB got it done in the tie-break and told the world that he isn’t a choker. This was such a key match for the US, with the 2-0 lead going into Saturday with Bryans playing- “the fork is hovering.”

Sidebars

*A shout out to the Russian fans for showing up and cheering loudly. I have attended so many US Davis Cup ties in the US where the opposing team hardly had any fans attend.

*The players are staying at the Downtown Marriott where they were spotted all having breakfast together.

*Thomas Blake sighting. Some TATeurs on the way to a TAT dinner gathering spot Thomas Blake walking by himself away from the Memorial Coliseum. The TATeurs’ car stopped and the driver non other than TAT poster and tennis blogger Craig Hickman congratulated Thomas on his brother’s victory and offered him a ride. Of course Blake declined.

*There are already rumors about multiple celebration parties for Saturday night should the US clinch. (Let’s see if I can sneak into any of them)

*There was an “official” TAT dinner gathering which included yours truly Craig Hickman, MMMM8, Evil juju, Junior juju, Munchin and assorted significant others and friends.