by Pete Bodo
ust as I was settling in at my desk, I got the news flash that the Swiss have gone up, 2-0, on the Italians on the first day of Davis Cup play. For non-American readers, the headline on this post is a play on the well-known refrain, "Break up the Yankees!," voiced over many years by disgruntled baseball fans who feared that no other team could ever compete with the dynastic Yankees because of the deep pockets and hard-charging Yankees' management. Do you European and Asian readers ever heard cries of "Break of Manchester United!", or "Break up the Mumbai Mastadons!"?
The Mighty Swiss, heretofore to be identified as TMS, as opposed to PMS, or TMF (The Mighty Fed), lost a grand total of 15 games in the first two rubbers. Does anyone else think that having Roger Federer screaming his lungs out on the sidelines and high-fiving you in the locker room might be an excellent motivating tool for a somewhat distractable young man like Stan Wawrinka?
Seriously, I was really glad to see TMF join TMS for this relegation tie, and as a Davis Cup lover and off-again/on-again tennis purist; a Davis Cup triumph in the rapidly shrinking window of opportunity for Federer is one of the very few meaningful additions he could make to his already over-stuffed resume. I hope this guy never applies for a job as a tennis pro. He'd never even get to the interview stage because he's insanely over-qualified.
We all saw the joy Federer took from his doubles triumph at the last Olympic Games. I'd like to see him drink from the even deeper well of Davis Cup satisfaction. One thing that almost every single great tennis player has told me, at one time or another, is that the feeling of being on a winning team, particularly one that competes on the formal, international level, is a rare, precious thrill. And TMF, while not exactly thrill-deprived these past few months, deserves to feel that - as much as anyone who competes for a living can be said to "deserve" anything.
And let's face it, the fraternity of Davis Cup champs is an exclusive club, and most of the best players - at least those produced by nations capable of fielding a decent no. 2 singles player - are part of it. Given TMF's reputation as a spokesman and representative of all that is fine about tennis, success in an event that's rich in tradition and laden with pageantry would further burnish his image. He's a United Nations kind of dude, and Davis Cup is nothing if not the shadow UN of tennis - even the competition is plagued by controversy and political manipulations (see below).
Speaking of Federer, y'all saw that he was fined for his use of inappropriate language during the men's final. To my mind, this gives Serena Williams a great opportunity to reclaim a little of her lost cache as a good sport. All she has to do is pick up the phone, call Federer, and say, Look, stud-muffin, I know danged well that you got fined only because my own outburst suddenly had everyone scrambling to make sure that there would be no appearance of a double-standard when it comes to disciplinary actions imposed by the Lords of Tennis. So here's what I'm gonna do - pay your $1500 out of my own pocket!
Anyway. . . I'm pulling for Israel to win the Davis Cup, because of the way the squad stepped up and won in Sweden despite the horrible political machinations in play, as well as the way Israel won (every singles match went five sets and the tie was decided in the fifth and last rubber, with Harel Levy nosing out Andreas Vinceguerra 8-6 in the fifth). The tie is already has taken a place in the pantheon of great Davis Cup ties.
Although Israel followed up with a massive win over Russia under considerably less controversial circumstances, this present tie againt Spain, on red clay in Murcia, is a big ask. The only hope for Israel would have been Spain chosing to play Tommy Robredo in the singles, but wiser heads prevailed and Juan Carlos Ferrero got the call as David Ferrer's wingman (hat tip to our AmyLu for waxing poetic at the US Open about Robredo's manifest shortcomings in Davis Cup play).
But I'm still pulling for Israel, because it's not about backing the perpetual front-runners and favorites. Here at home, I'm a Jets and Mets man (although I don't even follow baseball), so I hope I get a chance to pull for the Swiss next year, or at least until the cry "Break Up the Swiss!" resounds around the world.
Feel free to use this post for match-calling, or the usual Your Call style of chit-chat. I'll be around this weekend; have a good one!