Hoping the Davis Cup runneth over
Posted Courtesy of The Post and Courier (http://www.charleston.net)
Published on 12/03/04
BY Gene Sapakoff
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Ten reasons to think a United States victory over Spain in the Davis Cup final would be cool:
1. Davis Cup road lore. Hopefully, the matches that begin today in Seville, Spain, won't get as ugly as the U.S.-Romania final in 1972. The fans in Bucharest were unruly. The line judges, veteran tennis analyst Bud Collins recalled, "were very patriotic." But record tennis crowds of 27,000-plus at converted Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla will be like nothing this young U.S. Davis Cup team has ever seen (or heard) and the red clay might be as slow as pluff mud.
2. Andy Roddick. The 22-year-old U.S. star has rallied Davis Cup enthusiasm with his unselfish, American flag-waving support. Example: Roddick didn't have to play teen Alexander Skrpko in a "dead rubber" match after the U.S. already had clinched a Davis Cup semifinal win over Belarus on Daniel Island in September. "I felt I owed it to the fans to go out there and give it a whirl," Roddick explained after his victory.
THE DAVIS CUP DAVIS
3. The sorry state of U.S. men's tennis. Aside from Roddick and the nearly retired Andre Agassi, the only other American ranked in the top 30 is someone named Vincent Spadea.
4. Tennis itself. Here's betting most of the public courts you drive by are empty most of the time.
5. Charleston's John Davis. If a U.S. win means one more open door for the grandson of Davis Cup founder Dwight Davis, great. The personable man is a champion of several charitable causes, including From Darkness to Light, an organization dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse.
6. Charleston itself. Our reputation as a world-class tennis town is secure with the success of the Family Circle Cup and Davis Cup. A fresh reminder that the path to Davis Cup success runs across the marshes of Daniel Island makes for nice icing on the cake.
STREAK BUSTER?
7. P-Mac. The ideal Davis Cup captain is Patrick McEnroe, a "players' coach" skilled in the delicate art of inspiring pampered millionaires.
8. The Davis Cup format. It's a wonderful event older than the World Series. But the concept is too unwieldy and needs to be changed. More attention means more scrutiny.
9. The Bryan brothers. The U.S. doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan began watching Davis Cup matches as California pipsqueaks. Now they double as the best doubles team in the world and expert Davis Cup historians. No wonder they were so nervous before their Charleston win over Belarus. "We woke up, got our morning puke in before Davis Cup and then went out and played," Bob Bryan said.
10. The Streak. The U.S. hasn't won a Davis Cup title since 1995, which makes this the longest championship drought for the Americans since a 1927-1936 skid. Even with Juan Carlos Ferrero a last-minute scratch, Spain remains the favorite. All the more reason to hope U.S. Davis Cup fortune runneth over.
Gene Sapakoff may be reached by phone at 937-5593, by e-mail at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com and by mail at 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C., 29403.
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