Davis Cup Semifinals Recap

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

France and Switzerland are nations with a proud history. France especially have a proud sporting history, having hosted the Olympics, both summer and winter, won the soccer World Cup and also been finalists in the rugby World Cup. America’s sports are usually only played in America. It has always confused me why the MLB calls its finals the World Series. Anyway. France have also had relative success in the world of tennis with recent Davis and Fed Cup victories and finals. They have also had some of the greats of our sports from Lenglen to Mauresmo [world number one and two slams alone is enough to be a Hall of Fame career for me] to Noah to Pierce. Yes, they have all been so talented and so fickle but they have been entertaining. I cannot remember the last time I watched a Frenchie play a tennis match and gone away not entertained. Confused, yes. Mystified, yes. Disappointed, yes. But not entertained? Never.

Switzerland has distinguished itself in winter sports. It has held two Winter Olympics and has a proud history in football, too. It is eighth on the all-time list of Winter Olympic medals just behind Sweden. They both have fifty gold and forty silvers. The Swiss are nineteenth overall with ninety-seven medals across both. France are sixth with 233 but fourth in the summer games with 202. Switzerland also has a good tennis history with strong performances in the Fed and Davis Cup. Rosset signaled the beginning of a period of Swiss dominance.

Wawrinka and this French team have both come of age at last. Federer was always waiting on a second man to help him win the Davis Cup and it looks like he has have found it. Wawrinka needs to just win one of his rubbers and Switzerland will win. Federer is usually going to win two and if Wawrinka is on form there are few who can stop them. It has long been baffling how this French side hasn’t dominated this competition of late. I think it is clear now they are starting to live up their potential. It is good to see Gasquet and Tsonga leading the way and showing the nation how to do it. The Davis Cup is great for inspiring younger generations to join in the tennis movement.

Right. Let’s get on with the two ties.

*DAVIS CUP SF*
S: France d. Czech Republic 4-1
D: Switzerland d. Italy 3-2


FIRST SEMIFINAL TIE : FRANCE 4-1 CZECH REPUBLIC
...Roland Garros is a fine venue. And it played host to a fine win. The French crowd are a factor like no other slam crowd is. You can win with the crowds against you in all the other slams, even in New York, but go against the French crowd at your peril. Hingis found out to her cost what happens if they don’t like you. Djokovic, too. They are fickle in their tastes. They respect Nadal but do not love the nine time champion. They prefer Federer and his class. They also cheer raucously for their own no matter what.

That crowd and the surface was the combination needed to see off the Czech challenge. Gasquet opened by dismissing Berdych in a display of brutal power and soft finesse we have not seen him play in many a month. The French now had the ‘break’ but they had to hold serve. Tsonga eased past Rosol in a similar scoreline to Gasquet’s 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 decision to leave the Czechs hanging on by a thread. Stepanek and Berdych have proved themselves to be a dangerous doubles duo in the past. Tsonga and Ritchie usually take a while to warm up before really clicking. They were slow starters in their win against Australia last time out before coming through fairly easily in the end. And this time would be no different. They lost the opening set in a breaker but took the second before coming to a second breaker in the third set. And from there they cruised, winning the breaker before dropping just one game in the fourth.

They face the Swiss next. Both teams are equally good on each surface, but I think the Swiss will choose either fast hard or fast hard indoors. I’m still surprised grass is so rarely chosen.
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SECOND SEMIFINAL TIE: SWITZERLAND 3-2 ITALY
...Sounds close, doesn’t it? Well, it wasn’t. Federer and Wawrinka looked world class against a determined Italian side. It happens, sometimes, in Davis Cup matches where there is such a gulf in ability, even on a basic level, that it only looks like one team is ever going to win. Italy had upset Great Britain in the previous round with great tactics and crafty play, but against two of the world’s best four players they never had a chance. Federer and Wawrinka won their three singles rubbers and that was enough to progress. Stan pushing the Italians to five in the doubles was a bonus. Federer was initially pushed in his match against Bolelli with the Italian using his forehand to push the Fed around, but the Swiss soon started to take control. After a close first set, Federer smoothly slipped into first gear and was never troubled after that. Wawrinka dropped less than ten games against Fognini and was never in any danger of losing. Despite the Italians eventually running away with the doubles, Federer was less dismissive but equally untroubled in dealing with Fognini. The Italian almost threatened to look like he might take the third set but Federer snuffed out whatever threat there was.

If I was the Swiss I would put this tie on very quick grass. Yes, the French are strong there but it would throw them off, and Federer and Wawrinka are so strong on that surface. Indoor clay with the home support would be too much for France to handle. Gasquet and Tsonga were both disappointing at Wimbledon this year.
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1. Davis Cup Rubber 1 - GASQUET d. BERDYCH
...6-3/6-2/6-3. That score line doesn’t happen in Davis Cup at this stage when the top player of one country plays the second ranked in another. Gasquet looked a complete player, he looked like the player he was for most of last year. Berdych was not able to match that level and Gasquet cruised through. The one handed backhand and volleying skill was all there in a vintage Gasquet display.
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2. Davis Cup Rubber 3 – BOLELLI/FOGNINI d. WAWRINKA/CHUIDINELLI
...5-7/6-3/5-7/6-3/6-2. The Italians pulled out a win from their hat to keep the tie alive. The problem the Italians had was that they did not have enough quality to upset the Swiss. They won the doubles tie and pushed it to one more but had to come back from two sets to one down to do so.
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3. Davis Cup Rubber 3 - FEDERER d. FOGNINI
...6-2/6-3/7-6. The surface proved to be the right call. It was unlikely that the Swiss would lose on any surface except, perhaps, extremely slow clay or ice. But the quick surface complemented the power of the Swiss stars and it helped them to get through to the next round.
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*METZ, FRANCE*
=SF=
Tsonga [1] d. [3] Kohlschreiber
Monfils [2] d. Seppi
=FINAL=
Monfils [2] d. [1] Tsonga
Going on form I can only pick one winner here


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