 Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Sergio Carmona
Date: 20 Sep 2009 |
|
| 20 Sep 2009 - Polaris World La Torre Golf Resort, Murcia - Chris Bowers | |
| A nice problem to have |
It’s either the hardest or the most envious job in the world. Albert Costa has been Davis Cup by BNP Paribas captain of Spain for just nine months, and already he faces a series of decisions that will make him unpopular with several players – and their supporters – in one go.
As the custodian of the most powerful squad of players currently in world tennis, Costa must decide which four men will carry Spain’s colours into December’s final against Czech Republic. The four players who beat Israel 4-1 this past weekend formed a coherent unit, but it’s highly likely that only two will survive into December’s final, for the crushing of Israel was achieved without the country’s two top-tenners, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco. Yet a sign of the team spirit that exists among the Spaniards was the fact that both injured men sat through all three live rubbers on Friday and Saturday, a gesture of solidarity with their team that went beyond the call of duty.
If fit, Nadal has to be a definite for the final, and Verdasco ought also to be among the four. Not only is Verdasco having his best-ever year – a run to the top ten that was launched when he won the winning point for Spain in last year’s final in Argentina – but he and Feliciano Lopez are the best doubles combination at Costa’s disposal. That suggests that Lopez will make the starting line-up but Tommy Robredo is likely to miss out.
Ferrer or Ferrero?
As for the fourth spot, that appears to lie between David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero, though with Spain boasting 12 players in the top 100, there is a backing group led by Nicolas Almagro at 30th ready to jump in if injury strikes down the more illustrious names - just as Marcel Granollers came in for a Davis Cup winner’s medal in last year’s final.
The way Ferrer and Ferrero are playing at present, Ferrero looks to have the better chance of making the final selection. Runs to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the fourth round at the US Open have signalled his return to the form that took him to world No. 1 in 2003, and his Davis Cup experience will also count for something. He has won two crucial rubbers this year, and he hit the winning backhand past Lleyton Hewitt that won Spain its first Davis Cup title in 2000, in a final in which Costa was Ferrero’s teammate.
The 2000 final took place in Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi, one of several venues that will be up for discussion now Spain’s home advantage has been confirmed. New rules that limit the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas final to capital (or major) cities with intercontinental airports don’t come into effect until next year, so some of the medium-sized regional venues which have figured in recent Spanish Davis Cup history have a last chance to bid for the final.
The one thing that’s certain is that the final will be on clay, yet the next two months of the ATP tour will be largely on indoor hard courts, and Davis Cup observers will be keeping a keen eye on the form of the Spanish players. They will also be keeping an eye on the health of the Czechs, for while the Spaniards have stupendous strength in depth, Czech Republic has been a two-man team for the past two years. Even Lukas Dlouhy, who has two Grand Slam men’s doubles titles to his name this year, hasn’t played a live rubber for two years, such has been the total reliance on Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek. The Czechs and the neutrals will be hoping both Berdych and Stepanek are fully fit for the final.
Israel reach new heights
While the history books will record Spain’s semifinal victory over Israel as just another notch in the golden era of Spanish tennis, it would be wrong to assume the tie has had no value for Israel or for tennis in general. Israel had broken new ground by reaching the semifinals, and even if the Israelis go the same way as Belarus, Netherlands and Brazil – who have all been crushed in semifinals in the past decade – and struggle to replicate this year’s achievement, they have still picked up something valuable for the future.
“I hope it’s the start of something,” said Israeli captain Eyal Ran. “Firstly, we’re looking forward to next year – we enjoyed this experience, we learned time and again how important Davis Cup is. You could tell how it affected the Spanish people, and when we played in Israel we felt it too. We want to hold on to this feeling for the next few years, and if we feel this way, every kid that watches us in Israel will want to be part of this team. I hope that will create a boom in tennis in Israel, hopefully we’ll have more players playing, out of them there will be more quality players, and that will lead to better and better players. The way I see it, this gives us a lot of hope.”
Related Links on other websites
> Información en español - RFET
> Information in Hebrew - ITA
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and statistics from the tie
> Audio interviews from the tie
> Mighty Spain denies Israel even the doubles
> Spain puts one foot in the final
> It's David vs Goliath - 'and we know who won that one!'
Related Audio
 Interview with Albert Costa (ESP)
 
If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
|
Español
