Top Spin Blog

When Will the Davis Cup be in the U.S. Again? Not This Year

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:50:58 +0000

An e-mail from the USTA earlier today set this scenario for a Davis Cup match in the U.S. this year:

“After a hard fought first round victory over Roger Federer and Team Switzerland, February 10-12 in Fribourg, Switzerland, the United States will play France in the quarterfinals at an away tie in Monte Carlo April 6-8. Should we beat France and Austria prevails over Spain, the United States would host a home semifinal tie against Austria September 14-16.”

First off, beating France on red clay at the Monte Carlo Country Club (how cool is that?) will be no easy task. But the likelihood of Austria beating Spain in Spain is — oh, I’ll guess 500-1. So if Captain Courier and the boys can get out of France, it will mean a trip to the Iberian Peninsula come September.

Can Fish Turnaround the Spanish Beatdown of American Players? The matches between Spanish players and Americans at Wimbledon have...
See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...

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Isner’s Win Over Federer a Landmark for the U.S.

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:54:40 +0000

In an interview Peter Bodo did with me about my new novel on his TennisWorld blog on Feb. 4, his final question to me was, “Federer, or Nadal? And why.”

I answered: “I’m not allegiant to either one. What I would really love to see is my fellow Georgia Bulldog John Isner beat one of them on an Grand Slam stage, preferably in the finals of the U.S. Open.”

I didn’t think to add that I would take such a win in Davis Cup, but that’s what Isner did this past Friday. Not only did he put the American team in position to knock out the Swiss team (which they did in doubles on Saturday), it marks the most significant win for an American man since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open nine long years ago.

For Isner to beat the widely anointed greatest of all time in his home country on clay in a best-of-five sets is nothing short of spectacular. The only other American to beat Federer in a best-of-five match was Andre Agassi way back in 2001 in the U.S. Open, long before Federer reached his peak.

The career record of top American players against Federer is an abysmal 8 – 58. The biggest win against him before Friday would have to be James Blake’s upset in two sets in the 2008 Olympics in China (Blake is 1-10 in his career against Federer).

As for other Americans? Andy Roddick is 2-21 lifetime against Federer, with his wins coming in three set matches in Miami in 2008 and Montreal in 2003. Mardy Fish is 1-7, with his only win coming in three sets at Indian Wells in 2008. Sam Querrey is 0-2, Robby Ginepri is 0-5, and Pete Sampras was 0-1. Agassi fared the best with a 3-8 record, but his three wins came in or before 2002. He then proceeded to lose his last eight matches against Federer.

And now Isner is 1-2 against Federer. Here’s hoping we’ll see the big man get another shot soon to even the score.

Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...
See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...

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Faux Nationalism in Full Force in Fed and Davis Cups

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:45:58 +0000

Roger Federer will play for his home country this weekend, but don’t chalk it up to nationalistic pride — he has to play in order to be eligible for the Olympics this summer.

When Switzerland played the U.S. in Birmingham, Ala., in 2009, the “Greatest of All Time” bailed on his country only two weeks before the matches began, citing the decision a “precautionary measure” to heal a hurting back. Of course, he played in Indian Wells, the big money tournament that started only a few days after the Davis Cup match ended. His countrymen lost without him to an American team led by Andy Roddick. Now that Roddick — a long-time Davis Cup participant — is out with an injury and Federer needs the credits to play for the gold in London this summer, he’s all in.

Of course, the same goes for Serena and Venus Williams last weekend in the Fed Cup. You can bet it wasn’t the chance to play Belarus in Worcester, Mass., in front of 2,279 fans that motivated them.

Can Fish Turnaround the Spanish Beatdown of American Players? The matches between Spanish players and Americans at Wimbledon have...
See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
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Does Djokovic Have a Deal With the Devil?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:49:10 +0000

I never thought Novak Djokovic would get out of that fifth set of the Australian Open final alive. Between that and coming back from match point against Federer at last year’s U.S. Open, I now wonder if he’s made any deals more significant than a shoe and racket contract — such as selling his soul.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:12:45 +0000

She’s bigger than the rackets and much more mobile than she was in last year’s picture.

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Even the Rich Battle the Shadows: Tennis at Hearst Castle

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:50:13 +0000

William Randolph Hearst’s home in San Simeon, California, once the site of many star-studded tennis matches, is as close as America has to a great castle. But on that court even the very rich and famous had to deal with late afternoon shadows that make the ball hard to see. Fall Line, my second novel, is out this month so I’m taking a hiatus from this blog, and thought this made for a good on vacation picture. Will be back on here in January, when the Australian Open rolls around.(Photo taken at Hearst Castle summer 2003.)

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Two, Count’em, Two American Men in U.S. Open Quarters

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:53:21 +0000

It’s been quite a long time since two American men have reached the quarters of a Grand Slam. And good to see that Roddick broke the streak of Spanish wins over American players. Now he just has to keep it going against Nadal, but I think he has a good shot on the hard courts. As does Isner with Murray. On to the semis, gentlemen!

Can Fish Turnaround the Spanish Beatdown of American Players? The matches between Spanish players and Americans at Wimbledon have...
Isner’s Win Over Federer a Landmark for the U.S. In an interview Peter Bodo did with me about my...
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Dear CBS and ESPN: An Open Letter on the U.S. Open

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:16:58 +0000

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a letter from my parents. They have been watching a lot of the U.S. Open.

To the producers and directors of CBS & ESPN tennis productions:

You have some of the worst announcers in sports.

I have a son who was a junior tennis player when McEnroe was beginning his career. I saw hundreds of junior tennis players who copied McEnroe’s horrible behavior — screaming, ranting, raving, cursing, acting like an out-of-control person. He had a negative influence on thousands of junior players. I have complained to the officials at many tournaments because of the behavior of junior players — behavior that McEnroe displayed for years on worldwide TV.

And now McEnroe is a spokesman for tennis. His tennis commentaries should be renamed the “McEnroe Autobiography Show.” He babbles on about matches he played thirty years ago while ignoring the current matches. He thinks he is the only person who ever played the game. Chris Fowler and Mary Carillo are just as bad. They talk about things unrelated to ongoing matches.

Jim Courier, Darren Cahill, Bill Macatee and Cliff Drysdale are very good.

You should trash McEnroe and Carillo.

Eddie and Jo Anne Starnes, Cedartown, Georgia

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USTA’s 10 and Under Tennis Nothing New

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:52:11 +0000

If you’ve watched 15 minutes of the U.S. Open by now, you’ve probably seen one of the USTA’s ads about its 10 and under tennis program. Is this concept really that new? Perhaps it is in the days of graphite rackets that can’t be sawed off like my first wooden racket (a Jack Kramer), but small rackets and lowered nets have been around a long while.

The unspoken implication in the USTA campaign is that American professional tennis is weak because the rackets, balls and courts are too big for American kids. That’s not the problem. The problem is that for whatever reason, tennis is no longer considered very cool or an important part of American culture, much like it was in the seventies when I was starting out (pictured here at age 7 in 1974 with my mother, pregnant with my brother at the time).

Spain, France, Serbia, Argentina and Russia aren’t dominating the pro ranks because they have lots of miniature courts and pint-sized equipment for kids; they are dominant because in those countries, tennis is appealing, like it was here thirty to forty years ago.

Of course, just maybe this program will work, and American kids will enjoy the game and tennis will be cool again. Encouraging kids to play is a great cause and I hope it’s wildly successful — just quit blaming the tools. What’s needed is the desire to hit the ball, not custom-made equipment. Connors, McEnroe and Sampras grew up on rackets like war clubs — there is no reason a new generation of young American players today can’t do the same.

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U.S. versus Spain: 0-9

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:11:55 +0000

Zero to nine. The number says it all. That is the record of American men versus Spanish men in singles during Wimbledon and the recent Davis Cup meeting.

For some well-chosen but dismal descriptions of the state of the American team, check out Jonathan Scott on Tennis.com who concludes his article “U.S. Davis Cup Team Walks the Plank” this way: “Down for the count. Dead in the water. Another sad metaphor for those matches.”

Perhaps we should have seen this coming when Patrick McEnroe decided to step down.

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