And they've done it! The elusive Davis Cup trophy is finally theirs after a masterclass performance by Roger Federer over substitute French player Richard Gasquet. But allow me to regress for a just a moment.
Oh, the emotions of the last week as a Federer fan. Last Sunday was one of deep disappointment as Roger had to withdraw from the final of the World Tour Finals after injuring his back against buddy Stan Wawrinka. Then there was the little tiff between the two that should have stayed like that, just between the two. Instead, thanks to many stupid media people, it became "huge" news. Then there was the wondering whether Roger would even be able to play Davis Cup at all, as doctors worked on his back and he rested. There was cautious optimism as he took to the practice court mid week, and again on Friday after a brilliant performance by Stan Wawrinka over Jo Wilfred Tsonga, but then disappointment again as Roger lost in straight sets to Gael Monfils. Though Roger definitely improved as the match went on, it was obvious that once he got over the tentativeness from the back scare, that he just really hadn't practiced much on clay. Then Saturday came with the news that Roger and Stan would be taking the doubles court. Wow, was that a great decision to have them play, as well as the earlier decision to seek the help of the Bryan Brothers' coach David Macpherson to increase their doubles strategy. Usually the doubles point is huge in winning Davis Cup ties, and it certainly was here.
When I woke up on Sunday and found that Gasquet was replacing Tsonga in the singles match against Federer I know the Swiss guys likely had it in the bag. Roger had found his game again on the doubles court Saturday, with his back obviously recovered and with enough clay practice to again feel comfortable. I wouldn't say that Gasquet played a bad match; he was simply over-classed by an in-the-zone Fed who wasn't playing for himself, but for his brothers and for his country. In fact, Federer never even faced a break point in his 6-4 6-2 6-2 win. As he eased a final drop shot over the net on match point, he fell to his knees, then full out on his stomach as emotions took over. The hugs from Captain Severin Luthi and then all the other members of the team were priceless to watch as I wiped my own tears.
To say this is a well deserved win for both Federer and Wawrinka is a huge understatement. So many of the teams who have won this trophy multiple times have come as a result of a great depth of players to rely on when some members want to take a break. Not so with the Swiss - it really has been up to these two, which makes the win even more meaningful. They both devoted themselves this year to making Davis Cup a priority and thankfully it paid off. It would have been a terrible shame if the back injury that occurred when the two of them played each other the week before had prevented this great victory. The fact that there was a little tension between the two really only shows the depth of their friendship; just as husbands and wives have little arguments and then quickly move forward, so did these two, who now get to share a wonderful celebration together on behalf of their team and their country. Congratulations Swiss guys, and I will always feel that I have some Swiss blood in me because of you.
I'm afraid I have been rather neglectful of my blog the last few weeks, which definitely isn't due to a lack of interest or lack of attention to everything related to Roger Federer or tennis in general. It actually has been an exciting few weeks for Federer fans. First we got the added bonus of seeing him play three matches in Switzerland for the Davis Cup quarterfinals, including an exciting live 5th rubber for the first time in his career. He came through, of course, in supreme fashion, taking the Swiss guys to the semifinals where they will play at home against Italy in September. Ok, old news, I know, but I didn't personally write about it so I can't just let it go unmentioned.
Thinking it would then be about a month before we would see Roger again, I had prepared myself for it mentally when the surprising and happy news came that he was taking a wildcard into Monte Carlo. I always have mixed feelings towards Monte Carlo. On the one hand, how can anyone be immune to the absolutely gorgeous view of the Mediterranean from Center Court? But aside from that, I'm not a big fan of the clay - probably, to be honest, because it seems to always be the same person winning the tournaments, which gets very boring to me, along with the fact that in some matches the rallies seem to go on forever on each point. That being said, when it's Roger Federer playing on clay that completely changes the picture for me. He is still able to play his beautiful tennis in spite of the dirty stuff, he is still able to shorten points and hit gorgeous winners, and he is still able to get through service games in less than a minute.
He has played two matches now, the first one being a breeze against Radek Stepanek, the second being a bit of a fight against Lukas Rosol. But given the fact that his quarterfinal will be against the big hitting Tsonga, having to fight hard is good preparation. Whatever happens in this tournament, though, whether he loses in the next round or goes on to win the whole thing, he has had a chance to find his feet on clay a bit.
Because it seems likely he will be missing at least one of the next couple big clay events in Madrid or Rome due to the fact that his wife Mirka is going to be having his third child sometime in the near future. He has been quite discreet as to exactly when this is going to be happening (and really, who ever knows for sure anyway), but anyone observing her over the last month can't help but notice it can't be too much longer. The media is taking advantage of making it into a big story that he is willing to miss some tennis events (even the French Open, they say) to be there when the baby is born, though he has already said this is unlikely, telling me it will surely be in the next few weeks. And they love to make it sound like it's so shocking that he would be willing to miss some tennis to make sure he's there. Well, of course he plans to be there! The birth of a child can never be replaced and I for one am very glad that he wouldn't consider missing such an event regardless of the timing. So we wait to see when it will happen, how it will affect his tennis life, but mostly with excitement knowing the joy it will bring to he and his family.
In the meantime, we will enjoy watching him play his beautiful tennis at this beautiful site, with no stress since he wasn't even going to play it anyway, but just savoring it as long as it lasts.
Wow, what an impressive performance from Radek Stepanek to win the 100th Davis Cup final in the fifth rubber, with all the pressure from his home crowd firmly on his shoulders. There was a lot of talk about his advanced age of almost 34, but once again the 30-somethings are proving themselves, and Stepanek showed himself to have the mental toughness and the physical stamina to go four hard sets and take the victory from younger player Nicholas Almagro. And the way he was throwing himself around the court sacrificing his body was really rather inspirational!
I have to say that while I have gotten to be quite a David Ferrer fan over the last couple years for so many reasons, and while I most definitely will probably never be a Tomas Berdych fan, I still was pulling for the Czech team. Spain has gotten to win this thing quite a lot of time in the last few years and it just felt like it would have been rather anticlimactic for them to win it again. It was more of a feel good kind of story to have the Czech Republic win it in the same year that the women won the Fed Cup, having only won one previously title, and that 32 years ago. I have also gotten so that I really rather enjoy Radek Stepanek. It took me a while to get used to his rather bizarre looks, but now that I have it's fun to watch his old school style of play. And to be honest I think I got a bit attached to him when he did the worm on the court when he won his last title. But all that aside, I couldn't help but be happy for him that he was able to stay strong and serve out that final game, knowing how much it would mean to everyone involved. I can imagine the immense relief to get that last point and know he had carried his country to victory!
Well, that truly means that competitive tennis is done for 2012. We will continue to see some fun exhibitions over the next month-and-a-half I'm sure, but that's not the same. I will watch some old matches from this year and also some DVDs of Federer grand slam wins while I wait. But I already know how excited I will be as January rolls around and the Australian Open looms close. I have actually been close to tears on the first day of the AO, hearing the introductory music - that's how much tennis has come to mean to me. So until then we will find other things to occupy our time, but for the hard core tennis fans we are always on the look-out for a good tennis story or tennis star sighting as we wait for one of our true joys of life to begin again.
