The Davis Cup - The British Perspective

First topic message reminder :

The team is announced and Andy Murray is in it. I find it to be quite a delicate subject. Having left Davis Cup duties back in 2008 to focus on his 'Singles' career. Since it become public knowledge that non-participation in the Davis Cup would result in a player not being eligible to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games, I am sure British tennis fans have wondered whether Andy Murray would return to represent his country. Questions I have are, was Leon Smith right to pick Murray? Is Murray playing for the right reasons?

Please no player bashing from the Murray haters!! I want to see constructive comments and what people think on the moral of the Davis Cup in Britain.

legendkillar wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Not rtue LK when you consider that Nadal had to focus more against Muller due to his very tough serving yet when he's playing against Murray he isn't worried as he knows that the distant 4th seed will freeze and hand him a bunch of easy points, it really was a crime that Murray made the semi's with his limited play..

JM if logic were the legal the language and I could punish those guilty of not using it, I would make you wear a bagpipes and don't ask where the pipes would go!

Why waste a good set of Pipes after all they are expensive.

What's with the whining at my post here? I said that Murray IS more talented than Ward....now if you don't mind i have an AGM meeting to attend

Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to Mr Josiah Maiestas logic, if Ward is only just below the talent level of Murray, then that must make Bogdonovic better than Murray !

Highest Ranking for Boggo 108
Highest Ranking for Ward 176

I may be wrong but I think JM is a little unstable in the mental dept.

Either that or a clear WuM of the 606 ilk.

Here are some thoughts for you.

If it had been Boggo and not Ward he'd have been crucified yet again for losing so badly to Muller. Why were our expectations so high for one player and not for another? I know Muller is half decent but that still qualifies as a pretty poor performance lacking in ambition and anything discernible as a half decent game plan..

Without Murray we would probably lose this tie 3-2 or even 4-1. Why are we still scratching around looking for at least one other player to make it into a team?

Also next time is it possible to find a proper tennis venue rather than some old car park? I know they wanted that Scottish atmosphere but surely there's a better venue out there.

Don't forget the truth be known Murray is only playing because he needs to for getting into the Olympics (and as a side it's his home Country!)

As for the other lot maybe a 'car park' is too good for them irrespective where it is.

s__ l___ to be fair to Andy though the last thing he probably needed was a Davis Cup tie a week after Wimbledon.

Mind you it did look more like a practice match in someone's garage. From 50,000 plus at Wimbledon to a match which, if it had been boxing, would have been stopped in less than a minute and reported to the authorities as a mis-match.

Well done Andy Murray - just what the doctor ordered!!!

6-0 6-0 6-0

newballs wrote:s__ l___ to be fair to Andy though the last thing he probably needed was a Davis Cup tie a week after Wimbledon.

Mind you it did look more like a practice match in someone's garage. From 50,000 plus at Wimbledon to a match which, if it had been boxing, would have been stopped in less than a minute and reported to the authorities as a mis-match.

Let's see how Ward gets on with him!

In theory he should also win comfortably.

And ....well done Andy and Jamie, just one more win guys!

I wouldnt be surprised if Andy elects to dodge playing Muller knowing how well he beat Ward

Well considering Andy doesn't get the final say.

At least show some tennis knowledge.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:I wouldnt be surprised if Andy elects to dodge playing Muller knowing how well he beat Ward

What a stupid remark JM !

Andy DOES NOT control who plays whom

Have you eaten enough egg off your face yet ?

well he can always feign injury if he gets picked so someone else takes his place

Josiah Maiestas wrote:well he can always feign injury if he gets picked so someone else takes his place

If you can't come up with a more intelligent remark than that JM I feel sorry for you

Josiah Maiestas wrote:well he can always feign injury if he gets picked so someone else takes his place

Nah, his name isn't Novak.

or you could just...ignore me....

don't get stressed over a game wee lass!

Or JM you could refrain from making ridiculous comments from time to time just to try and annoy people

legendkillar wrote:Or JM you could refrain from making ridiculous comments from time to time just to try and annoy people

i'm just bringing passion and solace to the masses, overall i don't dislike any player.

You are bringing annoyance at time. Like I said please make an effort not to annoy fans of players.

Oh well, it should end up 4,1 after Sundays rubbers.

I didnt see the game, how did the two bro's match up playing together ?

They played well Jubba. Jamie's serving needs working on. Murray played well from the baseline and Jamie was great at the net and made some great retrievals. I thought Jamie's BH was on the money. Some of his returns of serve were on the money. Don't think Luxembourg had much to hurt them in the doubles.

Its looks like its going to be Belarus next up, I wonder if Leon will keep the same pairing for that tie ?

Well it seems a good mix. Jamie looks as if he has worked on his game and ironed out the glitches that seemed to dragged his game down. I think it maybe something that Andy considers in Grand Slams. I think some success there could stand him good stead in his pursuit of a singles one.

So it could bode well for both of them. Jamie's had a rubbish year in doubles so far, didn't know whether it was his partners or him, but this might give him more confidence with his groundstrokes.

Same with Murray, another match against Belarus might enhance his confidence a bit and may give him the edge he needs, a bit like Djoko's new found game after Serbia's DC cup win.

Indeed. Jamie's year has been pants and I know he has had several partners this year, I think Xavier Malisse wasn't the partner he needed. He is far too aggressive from the baseline and was hit and miss.

It would be good if Andy could find somewhere in his schedule to play doubles with Jamie. Think it would work wonders for both of them. As I say, Jamies BH looked good. His serving needs more work. Not sure that his ball toss should be that high.

The higher it goes, the better you have be with the timing, I presume ?

When I played/practiced more like, in Bournemouth, the pro there said he played in a tournie where this guy had little or no toss up and played a virtually flat racquet, horizontally on the ball at impact and gave it the most ridiculous topspin he'd ever faced on a serve.

But that is a good example of having no timing to think about. Hit it just as the ball left the hand, of course the topspin allowed him to get it over the net, as the reduction in height would have made a normal serve almost impossible !

I'm just guessing here from playing experience.

If Andy wins his tie tomorrow, does Ward have to play his???

Yeah, but he might win it without any pressure, although I suppose that's a bit unfair, he did do well at Queens and SW19, but yes he will play the rubber as I'm sure Lux would want to give their player the experience.

Some players for example Soderling who has a toss and jump to match is able to hit a flat serve. He is never able to hit much topspin. If you take Andy Roddick for example who has a very 'straight' toss because his whole action is vertical and straight, quite rigid and has a slightly higher toss.

When I serve I tend to have a lower toss as I try to generate as much spin as possible.

Jamie has a high toss, but not so much a high jump. Thats why it seems slightly strange to me.

Andy Murray stuffed Gilles Muller 6-4 6-3 6-1. Ward won his dead rubber too 6-1 6-3 over Mike Vermeer. Didn't expect anything less in all honesty.

Wasn't it beautiful to behold ?

That's the 1st time I have EVER been proud of the GB team !

It was a brilliant display. The doubles impressed me more than anything else.

Hungary up next in September in Britain. Can't wait.

Jamie and Andy should play doubles together more often !

If they kept practicing they Might end up challenging the
Bryan Bros (And Lord knows someone needs to)

I HATE *Chest Bumps*

They was some chest bumping last night yummy.

I think they ought to play doubles more often. At Grand Slams. Could be some success for them

Andy will mysteriously not be available for that match then!

Ward and Broady sounds like a good combo

JM stop talking rubbish.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Andy will mysteriously not be available for that match then!

Ward and Broady sounds like a good combo

anyone know why Skupski wasn't used in doubles? he's easily more qualified than the others.

I thought he was injured ??????????

Well either way it was the right decision because the doubles won. Skupski hasn't been in form late and Jamie Murray has. A mixed doubles Grand Slam semi-final appearance for Jamie.

Djokovic lost in his doubles

OOOOhHHHHHHHHHHHHhhOoooooooooooo

That's a turn up for the books !!!!

For you chappies with SKY it's on EurosportUK tonight at 7-30pm

Well done GB- and especially well done AM - quite obvious the strain he has been under with those tears. I think leading the team to victory is just what he needed.

Andy's obviously feeling the strain but good to see a routine victory for hime here.

Whilst we're on the subject of "the British Perspective" nice to see the BBC seems only interested in our home nation's result. Would love to know what happened in the QFs going on elsewhere but guess I'll have to look for a more "international" source for that. For what it's worth we're told time and again that the Davis Cup is the tennis equivalent of a World Cup in soccer, how important it is. ..etc.

Pity therefore that the BBC isn't interested at all having decided it's done its bit with Wimbledon.

Watched the third set of USA (Fish) v Spain(Ferrer) on Eurosport last night. It was staged in a huge college basketball stadium in Austin, Texas. The atmosphere was great. I'm sure that if G.B. was playing at World Group level the t.v. companies would be falling over over each other to cover it. Please let us find another British male player who can play at the top level.

Thats the funny thing about success. The BBC covered the Davis Cup when GB were in the World Group play offs. After that they didn't want to know. With Ward's steady improvement and the emergence on Liam Broady and Oliver Golding GB could have a team that could compete at the World Group level in years to come.