Wk.8- It's Bonjour, Hello, Ahoj, Сәлем, Hola, Здраво, Hello and Bonjour to the Davis Cup

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Roger Federer will not be competing in the Davis this year, calling it a burden. He said he won it for the boys and now he has "ticked it off" and he no longer feels the need. With Stan Wawrinka also not in attendance, the outlook for the Swiss is poor. They could do with the Swiss star who hit his 9000th ace this week.

Roddick (9074 aces), Karlovic (9322) and Ivanisevic (10183) lead the Swiss supermegastar. Federer will take Roddick but he won't catch either of the other two. Federer also becomes the only man to make at least nine finals in five different events. Nobody else is even close.



Rafa Nadal has won three events at least eight times, including being the only man to win a tournament nine times. It just happens to be a slam, too. But the key thing is that Rafa doesn't dominate on any other surface. Almost all his records are clay based. Federer has dominated in different continents on different surfaces, not just on European clay.

Nadal has had a busy week. He said this.

Federer is 2-13 against Nadal on clay, but off clay he is 8-10 and, really, some of those matches could have gone either way. The big thing he and Nadal have in common? They're champions at heart. Both had a bad loss to start the year and yet both have responded to that emphatically. These are the sportsmen and sportswomen you should look to: Federer, Nadal, Graf, Navratilova. They have sportsmanship and they have guts, but they also have dignity and composure. They know how to respond. They are the role models. One should not look up to those who beat their wives or murder people just because they can run the football or make a big sack in the fourth quarter. No, these true champions are the ones to look up to.

In Acupulco, David Ferrer held off the younger force coming through, beating Tomic, Harrison and Nishikori to win yet another title. Ferrer has forever been in the shadows of Nadal and it's quite unfortunate. Had he not played in this era, he would most definitely have sneaked a couple of slams. Sanchez Vicario was fairly fortunate in that regard, too -- she knew how to beat Graf. She could do it and if she did then she was the favorite, especially on clay. Todd wrote a post a while back on what would have happened had Seles not been stabbed. He considered the effect on Graf, but not on Hingis, Novotna and, most importantly, Sanchez Vicario.

Kei Nishikori is up to world number four, but expect him to keep on rising. He and Nadal are separated by less than 200 points and he does well at hard court Masters. Australia bring four top hundred players into the Davis Cup for the first time in a very long time. Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic are at 36 and 38, respectively. A seed for Tomic at a slam this year beckons. With injuries, withdrawals and the like, a seeding is a very likely occurrence if Bernard can hit the top 35 or so. Kyrgios needs only to rise four places to be guaranteed a seed. The future of Australian tennis is bright. Could it be a return to the old days of Court, Cawley, Laver, Newcombe and their compatriots?

Well, it is time to see what happened this week.



*WEEK 8 CHAMPIONS*
DUBAI, U.A.E.
S: Roger Federer d. Novak Djokovic 6-3/7-5
D: Bopanna/Nestor d. Qureshi/Zimonjic
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
S: Rafael Nadal d. Juan Monaco 6-4/6-1
D: Nieminen/Sa d. Andujar-Alba d. Marach
ACAPULCO, MEXICO
S: David Ferrer d. Kei Nishikori 6-3/7-5
D: Dodig/Melo d. Fyrstenburg/S.Gonzalez


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Roger Federer, SUI
...Federer is the greatest of all time. He is the greatest because Djokovic is about six years younger than him, the world number one, defending champion at two slam events and the most on form player right now. But yet Federer just beat him fairly handily. Federer has dominated on two surfaces for 12 years. Federer has been a force on two surfaces for that long. Nadal has dominated on one surface for ten years but has dominated only when he hasn't been injured. He does not possess the longevity of Federer. Federer swept aside not just Djokovic but the field, too. He opened by losing just four games to Youhzny. He was down against Verdasco but won twenty [yes, twenty] points on the bounce to recover before cruising through to a 6-4,6-3 victory. Beating an injured Gasquet is nothing to sound the trumpets for, but it put him through to semi number 169. He is third all time and should catch Lendl on 188. Coric was up next for the Swiss man and, like Agassi did to Federer in the 1990's, Federer gave him a lesson. Yet the talent of Coric shone through here. It was apparent that he had something. Federer beat the lucky loser [that is and always will be an awful term] 2 and 1. Novak did his best to halt the momentum of the world number two in the final but he was unable to. He gets some well deserved rest before doing the March Indian Wells/Miami double in America. In 2014, Federer made the final of one and the quarters of the other, while Rafa reached the final and a third round, but Djokovic won both. Federer could be the oldest ever world number one at age 33 and 207 days, ahead of Agassi who was aged 33 years and 131 days. Now wouldn't that be some story.
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RISER: Rafael Nadal, ESP
...Was there any doubt he would be back? He won his first title since last year's French Open. He last won a hard court title in Qatar in 2014. And his last grass title? 2010 at Wimbledon. Rafa has just reverted to playing only on clay courts and sparing his bruised body from further harm. It's clever and it's working. Nadal opened up against Arguello and the warning signs were there. He won 6-4,6-0 and sent a message the only way he knows how. He let Delbonis get two games, one in each set, before deciding it should be over. Berlocq proved more able to hold Rafa back. He delayed the Spaniard admirably before finally folding under the unrelenting pressure. He lost 7-6[7],6-2. Had he taken the breaker, things may well have gone differently. You need to see for yourself the head to head between Rafa and his opponent Monaco. Here it is:



Yep. At least Monaco took Rafa to 6-4 for the first time ever. Silver linings and all that. Nadal is back. He is usually a force from March to August before dramatically imploding in a cloud of obscure broken knee bones and injuries, the names of which make you wince like severe back dislocation. [That's not a real one, I just pulled one of of thin air.] No Davis Cup for Rafa, so I suspect he is in America at the moment, although a vacation would do him good. If you were looking for him, try California. While you're there drop into a hockey game and maybe some b-ball. I hear the L.A teams are doing well. Well most of them anyway. Yes I'm looking at you, Lakers. Perhaps Rafa secretly loves ice hockey? He has risen back up to world number three in more relevant matters.
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SURPRISE: Juan Monaco, ARG
...Well, look who's back in the top fifty. He reached the top ten in July of 2012, after impressive displays in the Masters, such as a semi-final at Miami. He was born in the exact same town as Delpo -- Tandil. In a very Latin feeling tournament, Monaco got through two of his compatriots, Gonzalez and Mayer, in straightforward two set affairs. He edged past third seed Cuevas 7-6[1],6-7[4],6-4 to make his first semi in what feels like a while. If he can stay injury free I like him to work back into the top thirty. He has been to the fourth round twice at the French and U.S.. In 2007 he lost to Canas in the French in round four 6-0,6-4,6-2. In the U.S. Open that same year he lost to Djokovic in a very tight four setter. At the 2011 U.S. Open he lost to Fed 6-1,6-2,6-0. At the 2012 French Open he lost to Rafa 6-2,6-0,6-0. These losses are somewhat excusable, but perhaps for him it will be fifth time lucky?
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FRESH FACE: Borna Coric, CRO
...Do you remember Basel last year? Well, Borna has made his second 500 level semi. I still think of him as a fresh face, but then again Pliskova is comfortably in the top 15 and I still think of her as fresh faced. How long before Coric and Pliskova could potentially be in a photo like this:



or this



It is funny how much the sport has changed in some ways and in others not all. Forty years between those two photos. What a set of backhands too, especially Chrissie's. But returning to topic [hey if it's tennis, it's at least partially relevant], Coric has proved time and time again he is ready for the big stage, to challenge the top guys day in and day out. He lost to Fabrice Martin 6-3,6-7,7-6 in the final round of qualifying, losing that last set 7-5 in the breaker. In the first round Martin lost in straights but Coric beat Jaziri 5-7,6-3,6-3. Bizarre circumstances abruptly ended his second round match. He dominated an absolutely abysmal Murray 6-1,6-3 to make his second 500 level semi-final. Murray was very poor but Coric turned up. He showed up to play and play he did. Sadly, he did not play his best against Federer. Coric plays Djokovic in the Davis Cup as the world number 61, after rising 23 spots. For the Croats to win he has to win that match. Even if he does, it's no guarantee they win. If he doesn't they definitely don't win.
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DOWN: Alexandr Dolgopolov, UKR
...Alexandr is now at 40. That should never have happened. Never. Worse still, he has points to defend at the coming Masters. He made the quarters but lost 4 and 4 to Nishikori. No fight. No determination. He just went away. He is not the player he was. He needs a solid year to get back to the top twenty again, but he may not even be able to produce that. Ukraine is not in the Davis Cup till July so Dolgopolov can take a week to get himself sorted out. He'll need more than a week though.
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UPSET: David Ferrer, ESP (def. Nishikori)
...Not just rankings based, but on the head to head, too, this was an upset. This guy is the fourth best player in the world and genuinely belongs there. Nishikori can beat anyone on his day and has. Aside from grass [that serve, like Dementieva's, is going to cause him serious trouble throughout his career] he can beat anyone on any surface. He isn't even afraid of Nadal on clay and that guy has lost 25 matches in 12 years on that surface. Ferrer was on form but still the underdog in his match against the Asian number one [the best tennis player out of 4.427 BILLION PEOPLE], but triumphed in a gritty error strewn break-fest. Ferru wins another title here, showing he can win on clay and hard. But then we already knew that. Ferrer rises to eight, but Spain is no longer in the Davis Cup World Group somehow so he has a free week as they have a bye in the playoffs.
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*Five things I liked this week...*
* - We need more Nadal's in this world. For those of you who agree, good news: http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/02/nadal-wants-have-kids-values-court-relationships/54198/#.VPMZrfmsXT9
* - Classy from Venus. She said to BZS, "do you have a problem with me?" after BZS' catty handshake. It wasn't aggressive and it defused the situation. Still, I think it's bad from Barbora, especially considering that it was Venus on the other side of the net. Not another fiery character like a Wickmayer or an intense person like a Serena or a Sharapova. Everyone likes Venus. I mean, how can you not?
* - Federer and Ferrer continuing to prove in this day and age of racket technology, sheer physical fitness and injuries, that age is no barrier to success. It should perhaps feel stale, but it just doesn't.
* - We've had our dips and our first glass of wine. It's time for our fish course. We've seen it before.
* - Safarova turned 28 this month and also rose to number 11 in the world after winning in Doha and making a quarter in Dubai. She also beat a former number one in the final. That's a pretty good month. All she needed to do was find five bucks in an old jacket pocket and that's got to be the best month ever.


1. DUBAI FINAL – Federer d. Djokovic 6-3,7-5.
...A match of incredible quality, the score line deceives. Federer was just awesome. Djokovic put up stern resistance. The problem for Djokovic was he couldn't live with Federer because his defense just could not handle Federer's sheer power and aggressiveness. Sometimes it does not matter how strong a defense is if the offense is too powerful.
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2. BUENOS AIRES SF - Monaco d. Almagro 6-3,6-7,6-4
...Just like old times. On clay, Almagro leads the head to head 6-3. These two have duked it out many times on dusty red courts the world over. Their latest duel did not disappoint, with both dirtballers pulling out all the stops. Bucking the trend, Monaco triumphed over his old foil but was always outmatched against the king, emperor, lord, god, baron, supreme commander, count, duke and anything else of clay.
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3. DUBAI SF - Djokovic d. Berdych 6-0,5-7,6-4
...Berdych showed real mettle here in his comeback, but failed to push the Serb over the brink. Djokovic proved why he is the world number one by mentally recovering, but the fact an old guy is still proving hard to beat is still an issue.
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*DAVIS CUP 1st Round*
FRA 4-1 GER
USA 3-2 GBR
AUS 3-2 CZE
ITA 3-2 KAZ [Although the Kazahks are really good in this competition]
ARG 3-2 BRA
SRB 4-1 CRO
CAN 3-2 JPN
BEL 5-0 SUI


Casey Dellacqua lost in the semi-final of the doubles with Chan to Hsieh/Mirza. As the third seed in the 2015 Malaysian Open, she opens against Hsieh. She lost in the second round of Doha to Venus in three tight sets, but as the third seed has a good chance to make the final. She hasn't entered the doubles, indicating her intent to win the singles.

Her rankings on the 2nd are once more inside the top forty for both disciplines. She is 36 and 35 for doubles and singles, respectively. If she does well in the doubles and singles in March she could join that elite club of players in the top thirty for both disciplines. She has one of the best topspin lobs in the business. Another plus -- she's a lot of fun to watch even if she doesn't always win.

Thanx all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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