Mornin'. Before we leave Davis Cup until the championship round, let's monkey around with a few final thoughts. Some of you followed the World Group draw yesterday, and I'm sure you noticed the newest entrant: Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs hosted and swept Switzerland (where is Roger Federer when you really need him?) in the playoff round, and will now play their first-ever World Group tie, against the Czech Republic. It's the first meeting between the nations, which means choice of ground will be decided by the proverbial coin flip.
Until 1992, Kazakhs were obliged to play for the former Soviet Union, which explains why their history goes back only 18 years. I wonder if any Kazakhs ever played under the hammer and sickle flag. The record tells us nothing about that; it just lists the names and records of the players who represented the budding empire called the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1991. Who knows which satellite states those men came from, although someone who can distinguish ethicity by the peculiarities of name and spelling can probably work some of it out. In any event, Davis Cup history and record-keeping are vivid testaments to how quickly the geo-politics of the world can change—and how utterly and imperiously history wipes out nations, leaving hardly a trace. Who ever thinks of "Yugoslavia" anymore? But it wasn't so long ago that Yugoslavia was a Davis Cup nation, and there was neither a Serbia nor a Croatia. Now, we have Kazakhstan in the World Group.
And we have Mikhail Kukushkin, the Kazakh Davis Cup demon.
Last week, Kukushkin beat recent Top 10er Stan Wawrinka (Kukushkin's second match, against Marco Chiudinelli, was a best-of-three dead rubber, but he won it anyway). That brought Kukushkin's Davis Cup record to 9-1 (all in singles), and it threw Switzerland into the morass of zonal play for 2011. What are the chances that Federer will lace them up on behalf of Switzerland in a tie with, say, Andorra, or the Outer Hebrides? (And before you fire off those angry emails, I know the OH is not a nation nor even a television show set somewhere in California. Trust me on that.)
Sure, Kukushkin has beaten mostly obscure players from China, Taipei, and Korea. But you can only beat the guys you play, right?
The bad news for Kazakhstan? The Czech Republic is coming off a semifinal finish in 2010.
The good news? Tomas Berdych is the No. 1 Czech player, so who knows?
The two most compelling match-ups of the 2011 first round (March 4-6) are the U.S. at Chile, and Russia at Sweden. This is a pretty tough draw for the Americans. A lot will depend on whether or not Fernando Gonzalez is healthy and feeling it; if he is, he could make life very difficult for the relatively young U.S. squad, though it's likely that the veteran Mardy Fish will opt to build on his Davis Cup reputation.Although he's 29, Fish has become the epitome of dedication in the past year. He could make the squad his team, in the same way that it was Andy Roddick's team for most of the decade.
Speaking of Roddick, Pat McEnroe isn't at all sure that Andy is done with Davis Cup. But does he want to go to Chile in March, to play on red clay? This will be the fifth away tie for the U.S. in the last six matches, which is coincidental, but still painful for the nation's fans. The situation brings new meaning to the phrase, "luck of the draw."
In the other intriguing match-up, the Russians will have to find a way to work around Robin Soderling, who's capable of winning three matches (one as a partner in doubles) to secure the tie, much like Fish did in Colombia. I don't see very many other World Group matches that fire the imagination.
One last thing before we say good-bye to Davis Cup.
I don't understand why Hawkeye electronic line-calling isn't obligatory, at least at all World Group ties, even if the ITF has to foot the bill. Davis Cup cries out for Hawkeye. Although the officiating hanky-panky that threatened the integrity of many ties in the past is no longer an issue (thanks to the mandate that the chair umpire be from a neutral nation), the conditions for line judges are still awfully tough and invite error.
A Davis Cup home crowd can be intimidating (they were flinging seat cushions at Fish a few days ago, remember?), and when it comes to the "family of nations," even chair umpires probably harbor personal grudges or prejudices against certain nationalilties. That can keep a hand from flying out to overrule a bad call, or make an "out" ball appear to have landed inside the lines.
Furthermore, only one court is used in Davis Cup, and all the matches are played on it. It's hard to imagine that the cost of using Hawkeye would be onerous. And lastly, the broadcasters of Davis Cup ties all have instant replay. Does the ITF really want to risk having crucial, match or even tie-decided by a mistake—one that everyone but the fans, players and on-site officials can subsequently witness, while picking at his flesh and tearing at his hair, over and over?
So let's forget about re-structuring the Davis Cup for now. Why don't we just start by employing Hawkeye technology at all World Group ties?
We'll get back into the flow of the tournament calendar next week. I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day, so have a good one.
-- Pete