plaza de toros Archives - World Tennis Magazine

The two men who brought viewers a four-hour-and-ten- minute US Open final earlier this week are still on track for a potential Davis Cup rematch down the road. On Monday Novak Djokovic defeated 2010 US Open champion Rafael in the US Open’s final. If Djokovic’s Serbia claims victory over Argentina this weekend and Nadal’s Spain beats France, the two men will revisit their rivalry during the 2011 Davis Cup finals in December. Tennis Channel will provide exclusive coverage of both semifinals this weekend, with live telecasts of each match and same-day, “Instant Encore” replays. The network will cover Spain and France’s competition in Cordoba, Spain, each day beginning at 6 a.m. ET, followed by Serbia and Argentina’s matches in Belgrade, Serbia at 8 p.m. ET.

Serbians celebrate in the center of Belg — Serbia tennis

Coverage from Cordoba’s Plaza de Toros in Spain and Belgrade Arena in Serbia (all times ET):

Friday, Sept. 16:

6 a.m. – Live Singles #1 Spain vs. France

9 a.m. – Live Singles #2 Spain vs. France

{12 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #1 Spain vs. France}

{3 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2 Spain vs. France}

8 p.m. – Live Singles #1 Serbia vs. Argentina

11 p.m. – Live Singles #2 Serbia vs. Argentina

Saturday, Sept. 17:

{6 a.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2 Spain vs. France}

9 a.m. – Live Doubles Spain vs. France

{12 p.m. – Instant Encore Doubles Spain vs. France}

{5 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2 Serbia vs. Argentina}

8 p.m. – Live Doubles Serbia vs. Argentina

{11 p.m. – Instant Encore Doubles Serbia vs. Argentina}

Sunday, Sept. 18:

6 a.m. – Live Singles #1 Spain vs. France

9 a.m. – Live Singles #2 Spain vs. France

{12 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2 Spain vs. France}

{5 p.m. – Instant Encore Doubles Serbia vs. Argentina}

8 p.m. – Live Singles #1 Serbia vs. Argentina

11 p.m. – Live Singles #2 Serbia vs. Argentina

Serbia and Argentina’s only previous Davis Cup meeting was in 1964 when the Serbian team won while competing as Yugoslavia. In 2007 Serbia made its Davis Cup debut as an independent nation and remains undefeated on home soil. The Serbian team enters this weekend’s matchup after defeating Sweden 4-1. Serbia has not lost a match since its 2009 first- round defeat against Spain. Defending champions, Serbia clinched its first Davis Cup title last year, overpowering France 3-2 in the final at Belgrade Arena.

Spain and France have faced each other seven times in Davis Cup play, with Spain holding a 5-2 advantage. However, France won the two nations’ most recent meeting in the 2010 quarterfinal when it defeated the Spaniards 5-0 in Clermont-Ferrand, France. France advanced to the finals before losing to Serbia. Spain has not lost a Davis Cup match on home soil since 1999. The Spaniards enter this weekend’s match after a 3-1 victory over the United States in Austin, Tex., this past July. Spain has dominated the past decade with Davis Cup championships coming in 2000, 2004, 2008 and, most recently, 2009 when it defeated the Czech Republic 5-0 in Barcelona, Spain.

The Serbian team is captained by Bogdan Obradovic and features World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and Nenand Zimonjic.

Spain is captained by former tennis star Albert Costa and features the same members who won the 2009 Davis Cup title: World No. 2, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez.

By Randy Walker

The Tennis Federation of Colombia has selected the Plaza de Toros La Santamaria in Bogota, located at an elevation of over 8,000 feet above sea level, as the site for its Davis Cup Play-Off Round series against the United States September 17-19. A clay court will be placed inside the 10,000-seat bull ring in the Colombian capital city. The United States must win this series with Colombia in order to qualify for the elite 16-team Davis Cup World Group in 2011 and be eligible to win the Davis Cup next year.

The selection by the Colombian Tennis Federation of Bogota comes as a bit of a surprise as the elevation of 8,626 feet, which creates swifter conditions, will aid the expected U.S. singles players Sam Querrey and John Isner and their booming serves. However, the unusual conditions – and the U.S. players lack of match experience at such elevation – may also provide for a difficult adjustment, especially with the series being played only five days following the conclusion of the U.S. Open.

Querrey and Isner represented the U.S. admirably in its 3-2 loss to Serbia in the first round earlier this year on clay and in Serbia. Querrey and Isner recently played the clay-court final in Belgrade, marking the first time since the 1991 French Open final between Jim Courier and Andre Agassi that two American men have competed in a clay-court final in Europe. Davis Cup stalwart Andy Roddick has indicated that he will not compete for the U.S. Davis Cup team in 2010 after skipping the first-round series against Serbia. The U.S. doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan are also expected to compete for U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe.

Colombia is led by Santiago Giraldo, currently ranked No. 57, who had a great run to the round of 16 of the Italian Championship last month, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-0, 6-3 en route. The Colombian No. 2 is Alejandro Falla, who is ranked No. 65.

The United States famously was defeated in the first round of the 1974 competition by Colombia – losing 4-1 also in Bogota after competing in the last six Davis Cup finals, winning five times. The last time the two nations played was in 1979 as the U.S. blanked Colombia 5-0 in Cleveland in the first round. That series marked the debut of John McEnroe and Peter Fleming as a U.S. Davis Cup doubles team. The United States has not played in South America since a 1997 first round series at Brazil.

The United States played in a bullring during its 2008 Davis Cup semifinal against Spain in Madrid. Spain won that series 4-1 at the famed Las Ventas bull ring.

For the full Davis Cup Play-off draw, go to www.DavisCup.com.

Randy Walker is a communications and marketing specialist, writer, tennis historian and the managing partner of New Chapter Media – www.NewChapterMedia.com. He was a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s marketing and communications division where he was worked as the press officer for 22 U.S. Davis Cup ties, three Olympic tennis teams and was an integral part of USTA media services team for 14 US Opens. He is the author of the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY.