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USA vs. Ukraine Billie Jean King Cup Tie In Asheville To Help Benefit Crisis Relief

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The USTA and the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team will welcome Team Ukraine to Asheville, N.C., and the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville for a Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Qualifying tie April 15-16, 2022.

The USTA will donate 10 percent of the ticket revenue from the event to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund by Global Giving, where local sponsors Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos, Ingles Markets and New Belgium Brewing Company will also make donations. The USTA will organize a number of visible support activations on the ground in Asheville and will encourage fans to make their own donations. Click to learn more or to donate to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund by Global Giving.

The teams representing both nations were nominated today:

  • World No. 11 Danielle Collins, No. 19 Jessica Pegula, No. 38 Sloane Stephens, No. 49 Shelby Rogers and doubles No. 20 Desirae Krawczyk will represent the U.S. in Asheville for sixth-year Billie Jean King Cup captain Kathy Rinaldi.
  • World No. 18 Elina Svitolina, No. 54 Marta Kostyuk, No. 210 Katarina Zavatska and doubles No. 30 Lyudmyla Kichenok and No. 37 Nadiia Kichenok will represent Ukraine. 

“The USTA, along with all of tennis’ governing bodies, condemns the invasion of Ukraine and continues to advocate for peace,” said Stacey Allaster, Chief Executive, Professional Tennis, USTA. “We’re committed to welcoming the Ukrainian team and to making sure they have all the support they need leading up to and during the competition in Asheville. Together, we will use this event to continue advocating for peace, along with providing aid and support for the people of Ukraine.”

On March 1, the USTA joined the six governing bodies of tennis in a statement condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and taking a variety of steps, including: the suspension of ATP/WTA tour events; the indefinite suspension of all International Tennis Federation events in Russia and Belarus; the suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation from the ITF. The full statement can be read here.

The Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying matches in Asheville will be played Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16, on an indoor hardcourt inside Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, the third time the venue has hosted the competition – previously known as Fed Cup – since 2018.

The Qualifier is a best-of-five match series that begins Friday with two singles matches. Two reverse singles matches and the doubles match will follow on Saturday, with an amended Saturday schedule possible if one team clinches victory in the third or fourth match. The winner will advance to the 2022 Finals later this year at a location to be announced. 

Tickets can be purchased at http://usta.com/bjkc or at Ticketmaster.

Collins, 28, is currently the top-ranked American singles player at No. 11. The two-time NCAA singles champion made her first Grand Slam singles final earlier this year at the Australian Open. She’s 4-0 in singles for the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team, including a 3-0 mark in the 2021 Finals in Prague and a singles win in Asheville in 2019.

Pegula, 28, is currently ranked No. 19 and reached a career-high No. 14 in the world earlier this year. She reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the second straight year in 2022 and had seven wins over Top-10 opponents in 2021.

Stephens, 28, is currently ranked No. 38 and is a former world No. 3. The 2017 US Open singles champion was a part of the U.S. team that won the 2017 Billie Jean King Cup and has won seven career WTA singles titles, including this year in Guadalajara.

Rogers, 29, is currently ranked No. 49 and was ranked as high as No. 36 earlier this year. A part of the U.S. team that won the Billie Jean King Cup title in 2017, Rogers has reached the quarterfinals of the US Open and French Open in singles and the Australian Open and French Open in doubles. 

Krawczyk, 28, is currently ranked No. 20 in doubles and reached a career-high No. 15 in January. Krawczyk won three of four Grand Slam events in mixed doubles in 2021, a feat only achieved by seven players in the Open Era (since 1968).

Billie Jean King Cup is the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with approximately 100 nations taking part each year. Deloitte is the official sponsor and Wilson is the official ball of the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team.

# # #

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level — from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking nine summer WTA and ATP Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

ABOUT HARRAH’S CHEROKEE CENTER – ASHEVILLE (HCCA)

Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville (HCCA), which features the ExploreAsheville.com Arena and Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, annually hosts a diverse variety of events that reflect the creativity, uniqueness, and artistry that Asheville, N.C., and Western North Carolina is known for primarily. In recent years, the facility has hosted world-class sporting events such as NBA Preseason Games, two Billie Jean King Cups by BNP Paribas ties, the annual Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships, Asheville Championship, and the Camping World Maui Invitational as well as music and performances by Bob Dylan, The Lumineers, Dave Chappelle, John Prine, Old Dominion, Sturgill Simpson, Kacey Musgraves, Widespread Panic, Billy Strings, Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam, and more. For more information, visit HarrahsCherokeeCenterAsheville.com.

USA, Ukraine
USA, Ukraine

Five Nations To Watch In The Upcoming Davis Cup Finals In Madrid

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In just under two months time the newly formatted Davis Cup will get underway in the Spanish capital of Madrid. Still, with a host of nations fancying their chances of glory who should you keep an eye out for? Here we look at five who could go all the way.

5 –SERBIA

One-time winners Serbia might have had to overcome a banana skin in the form of a valiant Uzbekistan to reach this year’sfinals, but they’ll be aiming high come November.

They have been pooled with France, which is a tough encounter but the fact Novak Djokovic has been confirmed as a member of their side is a huge boost and even if they fail to overcome the French then the side completing group A is Japan and that will provide an opportunity to rank as one of the best runners up.

4 – USA

The States might be better known for their sporting prowess in other areas such as their famed American football odds and basketball, but they measure up well on a tennis court too. Last year, they made it to the semi-final but fell at the hands of eventual winners Croatia.

The Champions were made to fight all the way for their progress though with Sam Querrey winning his singles tie against Marin Cilic and doubles duo Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison also grabbed victory – butit wasn’t enough.

This time round, they US are strong favourites to finish aboveItaly and Canada in group F but they’ll need to bring their absolute best Tennis if they are to win their first Davis Cup since 2007.

3 – SPAIN

Host nation Spain currently head the bookies betting and they have the potential to put in an impressive display on home turf. Like the USA, Spain were beaten semi-finalists in 2018 and although holders Croatia will carry a threat in the group it’s impossible not to take a teamwith Rafael Nadalin it seriously, especially when they’ll have the home crowd cheering them on as well.

2 – CROATIA

Croatia didn’t face the rigmarole of qualification after their title win last time and they’ll be hoping to become the first team to successfully defend the Davis Cup since Jaroslav Navratil’s Czech Republic in 2013. The capacity crowd in Lille were treated to a Cilic masterclass in 2018s final as he won six sets on route to collecting two of the three wins required for his team – BornaCoric won the other – and he’ll again be the star name on Croatia’s sheet.

A group phase face off with Spain will whet the appetite somewhat but regardless of the outcome of that match both sides will expect to see off Russia, who are arguably the weakest side in the competition, in the other game and therefore it’s highly likely both will go marching on.

1 –FRANCE

The French team have great recent pedigree in the Davis Cup having reached back to back finals in the last two years; they lost to Croatia in 2018 but emerged victorious in 2017 with a final win over Belgium. They’re currently ranked number one in the world and have a phenomenal chance of going deep into the tournament again.

As with Serbia, group A’s winner will likely be decided by that match up,but it would take a brave man to bet against France reaching a hat-trick of finales.

There you have it, five countries who will be in the mix for World Cup honours come mid-November. Any of those mentioned could conquer but one thing is guaranteed – the new format and the big-name players will serve up a delightful and intriguing watch.

Davis Cup
Davis Cup

France, Croatia To Battle for Davis Cup Title – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Hsieh Su-Wei beat Amanda Anisimova 6-2 6-2 to win the Hana-cupid Japan Women’s Open in Hiroshima, Japan

Pauline Parmentier beat Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 to win the Coupe Banque Nationale présentée par IGA in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Guido Andreozzi beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 4-6 6-3 to win the Pekao Szczecin Open in Szczecin, Poland

 

DAVIS CUP

World Group Semifinals

France beats Spain 3-2 at Lille, France

Croatia beats United States 3-2 at Zadar, Croatia

 

World Group Playoffs

Argentina beats Columbia 4-0 at San Juan, Argentina

Great Britain beats Uzbekistan 3-1 at Glasgow, Great Britain

Austria beats Australia 3-1 at Graz, Austria

Sweden beats Switzerland 3-2 Sweden at Biel, Switzerland

Serbia beats India 4-0 at Kraljevo, Serbia

Canada beats Netherlands 3-1 at Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Czech Republic beats Hungary 3-2 at Budapest, Hungary

Japan beats Bosnia/Herzegovina 4-0 at Osaka, Japan

 

Group I Relegation – Second Round

Americas: Ecuador beats Barbados 4-0 at St. Michael, Barbados

Asia/Oceania: Korea beats New Zealand 3-2 at Gimcheon, Korea

 

Group I – Relegation – First Round

Europe/Africa: Ukraine beats Portugal 3-1 at Bucha, Ukraine; Russia beats Belarus 3-2, at Moscow, Russia

Group II – Third Round

Americas: Uruguay beats Mexico 3-1 at Montevideo, Uruguay

Asia/Oceania: Lebanon beats Thailand 3-2 at Nonthaburi, Thailand

Europe/Africa: Poland beats Romania 3-2 at Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Finland beats Egypt 3-2 at Cairo, Egypt

 

SAYINGS

“I gave my best today, so I’m a happy champion.: — Hsieh Su-Wei, after winning the Hana-cupid Japan Women’s Open, her third career title.

“It was amazing. I won two titles this year, it’s just incredible.” – Pauline Parmentier, who won in Quebec City, Canada.

“This is the most special day of my life, by far, playing here with this crowd. … They were into the match. They were loud. They won the match with me. I was playing, but if they were not there I would have lost in four sets for sure because my head was deep in the water.” – Borna Coric, who clinched the Davis Cup semifinal victory for Croatia over the United States.

“It’s quite possible it could be the last match of my career on tour. And what a way to finish.” – Julien Benneteau, who teamed with Nicolas Mahut to win the doubles and clinch France’s Davis Cup semifinal win over Spain.

“It feels amazing. It’s another feeling than I have ever had before. I don’t think it’s sunk in quite yet, but it is for sure the best tennis moment in my life.” – Jonathan Mridha, who rallied from a two-set deficit to beat Sandro Ehrat and give Sweden a World Group playoff victory over Switzerland.

“I prepared pretty well for it and I was playing well in practice, but my level’s just not good enough anymore.” – Daniel Nestor, who ended his 25-year career with a loss in doubles for Canada’s Davis Cup team.

“I’m extremely proud. … I was pretty nervous coming into this match. The team got me ready for this next one and I wanted to prove something to myself and everyone that I could turn it round.” – Cameron Norrie, whose victory gave Great Britain a Davis Cup win over Uzbekistan after he had suffered a major upset in his first singles match.

“I had a couple of dips, in the second and the fourth. That can happen, but it is what it is. I’m young and I’m going to learn from that. In the fifth, it could have gone either way. He raised his level. I raised my level. Hats off.” – Frances Tiafoe, who lost a five-set battle to Borna Coric as Croatia won its Davis Cup tie against the United States 3-2 to advance to the final.

“It’s always good to play against a young girl, because they all play different than the time I was playing. They try to be more aggressive, try to volley more, try to open court, they try to improve better and better. It’s always good to play against them to learn something. You learn what to improve, what to do better. I’m happy that I’m still hanging there and playing my best tennis.” – Hsieh Su-Wei.

 

SET FOR CUP FINAL

France will be seeking its second straight Davis Cup title in November when it takes on Croatia, which is playing in its second final in three years. France has reached consecutive finals for only the second time since the Challenge Round was abolished in 1972. Croatia won its only title in 2005. The final will be held November 23-25 in France.

Americans Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison won the doubles in a fifth-set tiebreak. Then substitute Sam Querrey upset Marin Cilic in four sets in the first reverse singles to deadlock the tie at 2-2. That set the stage for Coric to stop Tiafoe, making his Davis Cup debut, 6-7 (0) 6-1 67 (11) 6-1 6-3. “To have a rookie perform the way that Frances did in the fifth match is very impressive,” USA captain Jim Courier said. “What Sam did, turning his match around, was kind of mind-boggling. … I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. They laid it all out there, fought hard, played as well as they could. We had one great win and one great fight.” Cilic and Coric won their two singles matches in straight sets on the first day of the tie.

Julien Benneteau came out of retirement and joined Nicolas Mahut to win the doubles and clinch France’s Davis Cup semifinal victory over Spain. Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Marcel Granollers won the two reverse singles to narrow the score to 3-2. “This is the best tennis I’ve seen from my team in three years,” a delighted Yannick Noah, the French captain, said. “I didn’t have a beer for a week. I deserve my beer.” The doubles victory came after Benoit Paire and Lucas Pouille won their Friday singles.

 

SIX-YEAR SPAN

It took six years, but Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei is finally a winner again. She converted five of six break points to crush 17-year-old American qualifier Amanda Anisimova in straight sets. It was Hsieh’s third career title, but her first trip to a final in six years. She won two tournaments in 2012, in Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou, China. This year the unorthodox Hsieh has posted upsets over Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open and top-ranked Simona Halep at Wimbledon. She has overcome an ankle injury that bothered her for more than a year, but says a mental change has also helped. “Maybe because I did not put too much pressure this year,” she said. “I was more enjoying it – trying to run (down) every ball, trying to do this and that and lob, trying to run and hit a big one and sometimes I made it. I was enjoying doing all the shots and playing without pressure.”

 

SECOND TITLE

Once Pauline Parmentier makes it to a final, she’s unbeatable. The Frenchwoman won her second title of the year, beating American qualifier Jessica Pegula. Parmentier also won in Istanbul in April, and has won all four times she has reached a tournament final. This is the first time in her career that the 32-year-old has won more than one tournament in a year. Seeking her first title, Pegula jumped out to a 3-1 lead before Parmentier eventually led 6-5. Serving for the set, she fell behind 0-30 before winning four straight points. The Frenchwoman won the first four games in the second set and served out the match four games later.

 

SERENA’S MOUTH REDUX

Serena Williams wasn’t the only one to make a mistake last week. An item about her in last week’s Monday with Bob Greene had several unforced errors. Thanks to Robbie Mendelson, here’s the correct version.

It wasn’t the first time Serena Williams has been penalized in a women’s match at the US Open, or the second time. In 2009, Belgium’s Kim Clijsters won their semifinal 6-4 7-5 when Williams was assessed a point penalty for arguing with a linesperson. The penalty came on match point and Clijsters went on to win the title. In the 2011 final against Australia’s Samantha Stosur, Williams was assessed a penalty for verbal obstruction early in the second set for yelling while the ball was still in play. Stosur won 6-2 6-3.

 

STRAIGHT TO THE BANK

With her US Open victory, Naomi Osaka collected a check for USD $3.8 million. That was just the first of her many trips to the bank. Since her win, Osaka has signed a new endorsement clothing deal with Adidas that will pay the 20-year-old USD $8.5 million a year, according to The Times of London and believed to be the richest deal in women’s tennis. The first player from Japan to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title, Osaka is also expected to sign a big deal with Nissan.

 

SAYONARA

Daniel Nestor wanted to finish his career with, hopefully, a Davis Cup tie-winning doubles victory. Canada won the tie against the Netherlands, but Nestor and partner Vasek Pospisil suffered a four-set doubles loss to Matwe Middelkoop and Jean-Julien Rojer. “I wanted to play one more season and this match was one of the most important of the year for me and, obviously, I wanted to play better,” the 46-year-old Nestor said. Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov won their opening round matches, and when Raonic won the first reverse singles match, it gave Canada an unbeatable 3-1 lead. Nestor has played in 53 Davis Cup ties, more than double that of any other Canadian. “When it was announced that we were playing in September in Toronto I was really looking forward to it,” Nestor said. “I wanted to win this match. The other tournaments I sent to, playing these events one last time was fun, having my family with me, but this match was important for me. But I’m just not good enough anymore.”

 

SAY IT AIN’T SO

Alexis Ohanian has joined in condemning a cartoon of his wife, Serena Williams, that appeared in an Australian newspaper. “I am truly perplexed to learn this editor of the Australian newspaper behind the blatantly racist & misogynistic cartoon of my wife is a ‘Male Champion of Change.’ Is this supposed to be satire, too?” Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, tweeted. The drawing by cartoonist Mark Knight showed Williams stomping on her tennis racket with a pacifier near her feet during a US Open match. Many have compared to cartoon to those from America’s Jim Crow era. The newspaper editor, Damon Johnston, and Knight have defended the drawing. “A champion tennis player had a mega tantrum on the world stage, and Mark’s cartoon depicted that,” Johnston said. “It had nothing to do with gender or race. This was about a bad sport being mocked.” The racquet abuse came during the US Open final against Japan’s Naomi Osaka. The cartoon shows Serena’s opponent to be a blonde with a ponytail. Osaka is black whose mother is Japanese and father is Haitian.

 

SENIOR SUB

After Australia lost its opening two singles matches, Lleyton Hewitt took off his captain’s hat and helped his country to a Davis Cup doubles win against Austria. Hewitt teamed with John Peers to beat Austria’s Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer 6-1 6-4 3-6 7-5. It was Hewitt’s first Davis Cup appearance since 2016. “It’s a lot of fun,” the 37-year-old former world number one said. “There was a lot of pressure, but it’s a great honor any time to play for Australia.” The win proved to be not enough, however, as Dominic Thiem beat Alex de Minaur 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-4 to give Austria an unbeatable 3-1 lead and its first Davis Cup win over Australia since 1989. The final rubber was not played.

 

SUPER SWING

After suffering one of the biggest chokes in Davis Cup history, it probably was only right that Cameron Norrie won the clinching match for Great Britain. Dan Evans began the three-day, five-match competition against Uzbekistan by beating Denis Istomin. Then Norrie reached match point against Jurabek Karimov in the third set before the 434th-ranked Karimov rallied for a 0-6 5-7 7-6 (6) 6-2 6-2 victory. The 20-year-old Karimov has never played a single ATP Tour-level match, instead spending his short career on the third-tier Futures circuit. “I’ll try to forget that as soon as possible but it hurts a lot because I am not playing for myself, I’m playing for the team,” Norrie said. “I competed as hard as I could and I have another chance to get the ‘w’ on Sunday.” Norrie did just that. His 6-2 6-2 6-0 win over 516th-ranked Sanjar Fayziev gave Great Britain an unbeatable 3-1 lead.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Hiroshima: Zhang Shuai and Eri Hozumi beat Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya 6-2 6-4

Quebec City: Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez beat Darija Jurak and Xenia Knoll 6-4 6-3

Szczecin: Karol Drzewiecki and Filip Polasek beat Guido Andreozzi and Guillermo Duran 6-3 6-4

 

SURFING

St. Petersburg: www.spbopen.ru/

Metz: www.moselle-open.com/

Kaohsiung: www.oecopen.com/

Guangzhou: www.guangzhouopen.org/

Tokyo: www.toray-ppo.com/

Chengdu: www.chengduopentennis.com/

Shenzhen: www.shenzhenopen.cn/

Orleans: www.opendorleans.com/

Tiburon: http://tiburonchallenger.com/

Wuhan: www.wuhanopen.org/

Tashkent: www.tashkentopen.uz/en/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN

$1,241,850 St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia, hard

$648,466 Moselle Open, Metz, France, hard

$150,000 Kaohsiung OEC Open, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, hard

 

WOMEN

$799,000 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan, hard

$250,000 Guangzhou Open, Guangzhou, China, hard

$250,000 Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$1,183,360 Chengdu Open, Chengdu, China, hard

$800,320 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China, hard

$148,200 Open d’Orleans, Orleans, France, hard

$100,000 Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger, Tiburon, California, USA, hard

 

WOMEN

$2,746,000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, Wuhan, China, hard

$250,000 Tashkent Open, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, hard

 

French Davis Cup team
French Davis Cup team

A Look Ahead To The Davis Cup Quarterfinals

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With the quarterfinals of the 2018 Davis Cup around the corner (starting on April 6th) now is as good a time as any to evaluate the rest of the tournament. Using the Elo rankings of the likely players gives a rough estimate of expected wins in the four singles matches that make up the bulk of a Davis Cup tie, although they obviously can’t tell the whole story.

Italy vs France

France meets Italy with the Italians getting choice of surface. The Italians are opting for clay courts, and the tie will be played in Genova. Frenchman Richard Gasquet is likely the best clay-court player in the tie, and is leading in clay court Elo, although he’s followed closely by Fabio Fognini. Adrian Mannarino hasn’t been playing up to his ranking recently, so it’s likely that he’ll be substituted for Lucas Pouille, who played in the opening round against the Netherlands. Making that switch on the Italian side improves France’s expected wins (calculated by difference in Elo) in the four singles matches from 1.89 to 2.43 and gives France a decent chance of entering the third rubber at 2-0.

The lineup will mean everything in this tie, as both Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini can and will beat up on Adrian Mannarino, but Lucas Pouille (or even Jeremy Chardy) presents a much more even challenge. According to the majority of betting sites, France are the favorite to win the 2018 Davis Cup outright – currently 11/4 versus 12/1 for Italy — but keep an eye on their squad announcement. MyTopSportsbooks.com will let you know which sites get their lines up the earliest.

Spain vs Germany

Spain meets Germany at the Plaza de Toros in Valenica, and predictably chooses clay courts, as well. Roberto Bautista-Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta are both among the best clay-courters in the world, ranked in the top 30 in clay court Elo. The Germans could call on Philipp Kohlschreiber, who is very good on clay, and Alex Zverev, who is obviously extremely capable but struggling recently. Those lineups would not yield great results for Spain, with 1.49 expected wins from those four matches. Adding Rafael Nadal, who is currently injured but hoping to be back in time for the clay court season, would change things dramatically, pushing Spain to near-certain victory. But Nadal’s priority in the coming weeks is undoubtedly recovering for and winning the French Open.

Right now, Spain has better odds to win the tournament (3/1 versus 6/1 for Germany). But unless Nadal has a streak of patriotism and good health, they are liable to be ousted in the quarters.

Croatia vs Kazakhstan

Croatia and Kazakhstan are also playing on clay. Croatia’s Marin Cilic is the highest-ranked player left in the Davis Cup and a top 20 player on clay. Between him and Borna Coric, it’s very difficult to figure where Kazakhstan’s wins are going to come from. Croatia is the overwhelming favorite in this tie (and 7/2 to win the tournament, as a whole), but then again so was Switzerland when they faced the Kazakhs in the previous round.

Coric and Cilic both have win probabilities against Kazakhstan’s best player (Mikhail Kukushkin) of over 80%, and none of the other Kazakh players have completed enough tour-level matches in the last year to have a calculable Elo.

USA vs Belgium

The USA/Belgium tie is the only one not being played on clay courts, as the US has elected to stick with hard courts. The US team announced has John Isner, Jack Sock, and Sam Querrey as headliners, but it’s not clear which of those three will play singles.

This tie looks precarious for Belgium, despite having the highest-ranked player in David Goffin, as their expected wins in the four singles matches is well below 2.00. They’ll be hoping that Jack Sock’s struggles with form in 2018 continue and that he underperforms in singles, or Jim Courier elects to put Sam Querrey in the lineup. Whichever the case, the US should be the favorite for this tie, and they are well ahead of Belgium in the Davis Cup outrights (6/1 vs 10/1). Their squad is much deeper than Belgium, whose second-best player (Ruben Bemelmans) is well below the standard of the three Americans.

 

Luca Pouille
Luca Pouille

CoCo Vandeweghe Leads United States to Fed Cup Victory Over Belarus – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Hyeon Chung beat Andrey Rublev 3-4 (5) 4-3 (2) 4-2 4-2 to win the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Italy

Belinda Bencic beat Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3 6-4 to win the WTA EA Hua Hin Championship in Hua Hin, Thailand

Monica Niculescu beat Antonia Lettner 6-4 6-2 to win the Engie Open de Limoges in Limoges, France

Lukas Lacko beat Marius Copil 6-4 7-7 (4) to win the Peugeot Slovak Open in Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Carol Zhao beat Liu Fangzhou 7-5 6-2 to win the Shenzhen Open in Shenzhen, China

Zhang Shuai beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-4 6-0 to win the Ando Securities Open in Tokyo, Japan

Elias Ymer beat Yannick Madon 7-5 6-4 to win the Internationaux de Tennis de Vendée in Mouilleron-le-Captif, France

 

FED CUP

Final

United States beat Belarus 3-2 in Minsk, Belarus

 

SAYING

“It’s been an incredible ride thanks to these ladies. We’re family and we’ve had each other’s backs. This was a very tough match.” – Kathy Rinaldi, coach of the Fed Cup-winning United States team.

“She’s such a leader for this team, she’s been here all year long for us, and to have this moment here is so special.” – Shelby Rogers, who teamed with CoCo Vandeweghe to win the doubles and lead the United States to the Fed Cup title over Belarus.

“That’s exactly what Fed Cup’s about: you have your teammates supporting you all weekend, and when they’re called upon, they come through. (Shelby) definitely carried me through most of that match when it mattered.” – CoCo Vandeweghe.

“CoCo (Vandeweghe) came out and just played unbelievable. Shelby (Rogers) stepped up, and Sloane (Stephens) – my heart was broken for her, but she battled this whole weekend, she battled all the way to the end. I’m so proud of all four of them.” – Kathy Rinaldi.

“No matter if something goes wrong, he was still fighting. And me, from a little thing, I just lose my control and that’s it. I just lost because of my head.” – Andrey Rublev, after losing the Next Gen ATP Finals to Hyeon Chung.

 

SUPERSTAR

After winning both of her singles matches, CoCo Vandeweghe teamed with Shelby Rogers to capture the doubles and lead the United States to its 18th Fed Cup title and first since 2000. With the Americans and Belarus tied a 2-2, Vandeweghe and Rogers beat Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3 7-6 (3) to wrap up the international team competition in Minsk, Belarus. “It’s unbelievable,” first-year American coach Kathy Rinaldi said of the victory. “It’s been incredible, the atmosphere is something special. It’s a day we’ll never forget.” Vandeweghe, who began the two-day competition with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Sasnovich, rallied from 4-1 down in the tiebreak to beat Sabalenka 7-6 (5) 6-1 on Day Two, giving the USA a 2-1 lead. But Sasnovich upset US Open champion Sloane Stephens 4-6 6-1 8-6 to level the final and set up the doubles for the winning point. “They stepped it up, they played more aggressive at the end, they really took it,” Rinaldi said. “And that was the plan, to go out there and take it.” It was the 18th Fed Cup title for the United States, the most in the women’s team competition. Belarus played without its star, Victoria Azarenka, who has been unable to leave California because of a court dispute over her baby with the child’s father. The country was making its first appearance in a Fed Cup final.

Stephens, who lost her first match 6-3 3-6 6-4 to Sabalenka, has not won a singles match since capturing the US Open on Sept. 9.

 

SUCCESSFUL RUN

Not showing any emotion paid off for Hyeon Chung. The South Korean rallied from behind to knock off top-seeded Andrey Rublev and win his first title at the Next Gen ATP Finals. “After losing the first set and down one break in the second, I was really nervous, really angry, but I tried to have a poker face,” Chung said. “I’m trying to create an image of being really strong mentally and I started playing better and better.” It was Chung’s third win over the Russian. He beat Rublev in the round-robin portion of the Milan, Italy, event and at Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, in August. In winning all three round-robin matches in group play and defeating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, Chung became the first South Korean to win an ATP World Tour singles title since Lee Hyung-Taik captured Sydney in 2003. Medvedev took third place when Croatia’s Borna Coric withdrew with an injury.

The ATP used the inaugural tournament to test a number of innovation, including the first player to four games in each set winning with a tiebreak being used when the score reached 3-3. Other changes included no line judges with all calls made using Hawk-Eye Live, no lets, sudden-death points at deuce and a shot clock to ensure a 25-second rule between points. Sideline coaching was also allowed.

 

SOME QUESTIONS

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal say that while they welcome innovation, they don’t want the sport tampered too much. The ATP World Tour instituted several rule changes for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Italy, hoping to create a TV-friendly product and attract new and younger fans. “We need to think, take seriously all these rule changes if ever you’re going to do it, because once you do it, you don’t want to bounce back and forth with changing something and then you don’t like it later on,” said Roger Federer. “I don’t see that much wrong with our Tour right now that it needs that much fixing, especially the shorter sets. I know it can be somewhat intriguing, but at the same time the longer sets allow you to stretch a lead, it’s more comfortable at times. … There are positives and negatives to it, but I don’t want to see anything change on the Tour that much, to be honest.” Top-ranked Rafael Nadal had a similar view. “There are a couple of things that I like and a couple of things I don’t like, but nothing is perfect,” the Spaniard said. “We are in a sport where we have a big tradition – not many changes have been made in all of its history. If you ask me, ‘Do you want changes?’ I will say no. I am number one in the world. … I’m happy with how it is, but maybe in the future you need to do something.”

 

SPORT HEROES

Argentina’s Gabriela Sabatini and David Nalbandian will represent tennis as Athlete Role Models at the third Youth Olympic Games to be held in Buenos Aires in October 2018. The tennis competition, for players aged 18 and under, will be played on clay at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club. The 64 players, with a maximum of two boys and two girls per country, will compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Around 3,800 athletes and officials from 206 countries are expected to attend. The athletes, between the ages of 14 and 18, will contest 32 sports. Thirty-seven countries participated in the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic tennis competition.

 

SASNOVIC RECIPIENT

Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus is the recipient of the Fed Cup Heart Award. She finished atop a public poll for the honor earlier this year, beating out teammate Aryna Sabalenka and Americans CoCo Vandeweghe and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. With the honor, Sasnovich also received USD $10,000, which she donated to Otklik, a charitable foundation in Belarus. “Otklik will use the money to help Natalia Zhuk,” Sasnovich said. “I have known her for a long time and she is an incredible, kind and loving person. She was a doctor for many years but now has a serious illness. Unfortunately, the only people she has to take care of are her and her retired parents. She needs help like no one else, so I am happy to be able to help someone who really needs it.” The Fed Cup Heart Award is presented to players who have represented their country with distinction, shown exceptional courage on court and demonstrated outstanding commitment to their team.”

 

SCOT RETURNS

Andy Murray, who hadn’t played since losing in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July, played an exhibition against Roger Federer. Murray hopes to return to the ATP World Tour at the Brisbane International, which starts New Year’s Eve. Federer won a 10-6 tiebreak after the first two sets were split. The Swiss great thrilled the crowd when he wore a traditional tartan kilt for a service game in the second set, while Murray donned a Scottish bonnet with ginger hair out the back. “I’ve been training for a few weeks now,” Murray said. “Some days I’ve felt great and some days not so good. But I will come back when I’m ready and when I’m 100 percent fit.”

 

STANDING TALL

Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus is the winner of the 2017 Fed Cup Award for Excellence. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) presented the award to Poutchek prior to the second-day of the Fed Cup final between Belarus and the United States. Poutchek competed in 45 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas ties for Belarus, leading the country every year between 1997 and 2011, compiling a record of 28-7 in doubles and 9-8 in singles. She has competed in more ties representing Belarus than any other player and holds the record for most total wins for Belarus and most doubles wins. She also was a member of the Belarusian Olympic team in 2008. The award was presented by ITF President David Haggerty and 2010 ITFH inductee Mark Woodforde of Australia.

 

STUPID MOVE

Trying to put its best foot forward, the ATP World Tour did just the opposite at the Next Gen tournament in Milan, Italy. Organizers of the inaugural tournament were criticized for staging what many felt was a sexist display during the tournament draw. With the players in attendance, a row of female models had to lift their dresses or remove clothing to reveal whether the player was in group “A” or “B.” “The ATP and Red Bull apologize for the offense caused by the draw ceremony for the Next Gen ATP Finals,” the tour and sponsor said in a statemen. “The intention was to integrate Milan’s rich heritage as one of the fashion capitals of the world. However, our execution of the proceedings was in poor taste and unacceptable. We deeply regret this and will ensure that there is no repeat of anything like it in the future.”

 

STAN’S BACK

Stan Wawrinka has begun practicing for the first time since undergoing surgery following a recurring knee injury. “First practice since July. Soooo happy and excited,” Wawrinka said on his Twitter account. The 32-year-old three-time Grand Slam tournament winner plans to play in an exhibition event, the Mubadala World Tennis Championships, in December. He has not played since Wimbledon.

 

SHE REVEALS ALL

Jelena Dokic is telling all in her new autobiography. Now 34 years old, the former star writes about the years of physical and emotional abuse she allegedly endured at the hands of her domineering father. In her autobiography, “Unbreakable,” Dokic says the violence began when she was just six years old and alleges she was whipped with a leather belt if she had a bad training session and had her shins kicked with heavy dress shoes. Dokic claims her worst beating came when she lost early at the du Maurier Open in Canada in 2000. “It was a really nasty memory that will stay with me forever  .. I ended up fainting. He beat me really badly,” she wrote. Dokic was ranked as high as fourth in the world. Her father, Damir, was barred from three of the four Grand Slam tournaments for his antics. In 2009, he was jailed for 15 months for threatening the Australian ambassador in Serbia with a hand grenade. She retired in 2014.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bratislava: Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski beat Sander Arends and Antonio Sancic 5-7 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Hua Hin: Duan Ying-Ying and Wang Yafan beat Dalia Jakupovic and Irina Khromacheva 6-3 6-3

Limoges: Valeria Savinykh and Maryna Zanevska beat Chloe Paquet and Pauline Parmentier 6-0 6-2

Mouilleron-le-Captif: Andre Begemann and Jonathan Eysseric beat Tomasz Bednarek and David Pel 6-3 6-4

Shenzhen: Jacqueline Cako and Nina Stojanovic beat Shuko Aoyama and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-4 6-2

Tokyo: Rika Fujiwara and Yuki Naito beat Eri Hozumi and Junri Namigata 6-1 6-3

 

SURFING

London: www.nittoatpfinals.com/

Taipei: www.oectennis.com/bin/home.php

Honolulu: https://hawaiitennisopen.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN

$6,500,000 Nitto ATP Finals, London, Great Brittan, hard

 

WOMEN

$115,000 OEC Taipei WTA, Taipei, Taiwan, carpet

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$150,000 Ea Hua Hin Open Challenger, Hua Hin, Thailand, hard

$100,000 Bengaluru Open, Bengalore, India, hard

 

WOMEN

$115,000 Hawaii Open, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, hard

$115,000 Mumbai Open, Mumbai, India, hard

 

DAVIS CUP

Final

France vs. Belgium at Lille, France, hard

 

USA, 2017 Fed Cup Champs
USA, 2017 Fed Cup Champs