The first rounds of Fed Cup and Davis Cup have come to an end, with few, if any, surprising upsets in either field to report.
But it wasn’t the routine victories that were the hot topics, but rather the stories behind them.
Russian Dramas
Maria Sharapova, after much waxing and waning, finally made her Fed Cup debut for Russia, as it traveled to meet Israel in the first round. Fresh off of winning her third Grand Slam title, Sharapova, the consummate fighter, showed no signs of a letdown when she dismantled her opponents to give Russia two of its four points for the weekend, despite a hostile crowd that mimicked her grunt and cheered between serves.
After the drama and dust had settled, she was welcomed with open arms to Russian’s Fed Cup team, with which she once had icy relations. Speaking in her native tongue, she conducted interviews with Russian television and cheered her teammates in her red and white uniform from the sidelines. And with all that transpired, no one was really harping on her true motivation for playing, as some believed earlier that she was simply trying to meet the minimum requirements for eligibility for the Beijing Olympics in August.
The feisty Russian never blinked, refusing to depart from her pre-serve rituals, and punishing her opponents with her serve and penetrating groundstrokes. And at the end of her controversial match against Israeli No. 1 Shahar Peer, instead of blowing kisses to the crowd as she normally does, she looked up and shushed them, after having told Peer during their handshake at the net that she should have learned her lesson from the previous day, a reference to Peer’s highly criticized behavior of egging on the home crowd against the Russians.
Perhaps it was that inspiration that motivated Anna Chakvetadze, who faced even more difficult circumstances in her match, where she replaced a rattled Dinara Safina. Chakvetadze pumped her fists at the crowd and against her chest with a fiery intensity that incited the home crowd, causing it to get even more rowdy, despite the chair umpire’s attempts to diffuse the situation.
The incidents even prompted Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev to write a letter of complaint to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which oversees the Fed Cup.
Another new powerhouse, Serbia, whose Grand Slam results do not reflect its current status on the Fed Cup circuit, also advanced, with its two stars, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, rallying to play back-to-back round robin matches against the Netherlands, Romania, and Poland to earn a berth into the World Group Playoffs. That was not without its own drama, as insults and slurs were reportedly cast against the duo in Romania by legend Ilie Nastase.
Valiant Performance
The drama was not as high on the men’s side, although Novak Djokovic may argue otherwise. The newly crowned Australian Open champion was unable to play on the first day against defending champions Russia due to flu-like symptoms from which he was suffering. That coupled with the absence of Serbia’s second-best player, Janko Tipsarevic, who gave Roger Federer all he could handle in Australia, made a popcorn match-up between the Serbs and Russians more of a matinee than a featured show. But Djokovic’s latter performances were impressive nonetheless.
While partnering with doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic on day three of the tie, he was able to keep Serbia in the hunt for a berth in the quarterfinals after they trailed Russia 2-0, but the virus proved too much for Djokovic on the following day, when he was forced to retire after leading two sets to one against Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth rubber. Having lost the match and subsequently the tie, he did earn the respect of many fans, including the 15,000 supporters who had gathered in Belgrade days earlier to give him a hero’s welcome upon his return from Melbourne.
Missing Names
The dominance of the Russian team that lacked Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova, but still managed to boast four more of its high caliber players, is a testament to the country’s great depth of players.
France, who has won two Fed Cup trophies and made it to the finals twice in the last four years, was not as lucky, playing without its top three players, Amelie Mauresmo, Tatiana Golovin, and Marion Bartoli. The French team suffered an upset to up-and-comers China, and is now relegated to competing in the World Group Playoffs for a spot in next year’s event.
For the Williams-less American women, it was a bumpy road on Lindsay Davenport’s comeback trail, when the seasoned American lost her opening rubber to Sabine Lisicki. The 17-time Fed Cup champions—the most successful ever—rallied back to win the tie 4-1, in part thanks to Ashley Harkleroad’s heroics, to secure a place in the semifinals. Unfortunately, however, Harkleroad’s efforts, though valued, may go underappreciated in the next round if either Williams sister is available, as she could be dropped from the team.
The same can be said of Nicolas Kiefer. Once the No. 1-ranked player in Germany, recurrent injuries have plagued the 30-year-old, who still insists that he has a few years of play left in him. Too bad that Germany’s Davis Cup captain, Patrik Kuhnen, with whom Kiefer has not always seen eye-to-eye, felt otherwise, refusing to put him on the team, labeling the move as “too risky.” Germany still advanced over Korea, but will have its hands full when it meets a more skilled adversary, Spain, at home in April.
Although the Spanish Armada was a few soldiers short when it went up against Peru, lacking Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya, and David Ferrer, it was still good enough to sweep the home team 5-0, using its solid reserve of players. The same luxury could not be afforded to the Brits, who without Andy Murray were no match for the Argentines, who won every match but the last dead rubber.
Full Rosters
The full-strength U.S. Davis Cup team began its defense in style, winning the opening three matches over Austria, despite its angst for the red clay and the poorly constructed court, which began to fall apart during the first day of play.
The Czech Republic also had its top players on hand to advance over Belgium at home. Fans which came to watch Radek Stepanek do “the worm” were not disappointed. Meanwhile, his rumored ladylove, Nicole Vaidisova, carried the Czech team to victory over the Slovak Republic in Fed Cup action.
And lastly, after sweeping Romania, France’s youngsters, Richard Gasquet and Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, went shirtless, showing some love to scantily-clad go-go dancers, with whom they partied and danced into the night at a club in Sibiu.