united states tennis association Archives - Page 2 of 2

By Randy Walker

The United States Davis Cup team drew an away tie at Colombia in the 2010 Davis Cup Play-off Round draw held Tuesday in London. The United States will have to win this series, to be played September 17-19, to be eligible to win the Davis Cup in 2011 and stay in the elite 16-team Davis Cup World Group.

Expected to compete for the USA in this series are Sam Querrey and John Isner, who 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. Colombia is expected to choose a clay court for this series with the Americans. 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.

Colombia is led by Santiago Giraldo, currently ranked No. 59, 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. 69.

The United States famously was defeated in the first round of the 1974 competition by Colombia – losing 4-1 in the Colombian capital of Bogota after competing in the last six Davis Cup finals, winning five times. The 1974 series against Colombia was played at an elevation of 8,626 feet – the highest elevation ever for a U.S. Davis Cup match. The United States Tennis Association and Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe can hope that the Colombians chose to play this 2010 match at such an elevation as the swifter conditions would greatly benefit the big serves of both Querrey and Isner. Sea-level city Barranquilla, that has hosted professional events in the past, and Cartagena could be better options for the Colombians.

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 has long-waged drug war in Colombia, but the country has seen a recent bounce in tourism as drug hostilities have waned.

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

Serena Williams and Venus Williams will be joined by 2009 US Open champion Kim Cljisters and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup. The event will be played Monday night, March 1, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and will feature two, one-set semifinals followed by a best-of-three-set final for $1.2 million in prize money. To purchase tickets call 866-858-0008 or visit TICKETMASTER or THEGARDEN.com .

The event will feature a nationwide “Youth Registration Night” that the United States Tennis Association has dubbed “Tennis Night In America.” The evening will kickoff the tennis season in the United States with the USTA ushering in signups for tennis programs across the country.

The field and ticket announcement for the event came nine years to the day when the 22nd and final staging of the year-end WTA Tour Championships at Madison Square Garden took place when Martina Hingis beat Monica Seles 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in a 2-hour, 21-minute marathon final. After being held at Madison Square Garden since 1979, the year-end event moved to Munich, Germany starting in 2001. Madison Square Garden also was the long-time venue of the Masters Championship year-end men’s event.