Choke..... (Davis Cup)

Member Name: Andyc

Product:	Davis Cup
Date:	17/07/00 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ummmmm

Disadvantages: No big match temprament

What a disappointment. Roundly spanked out of the Elite 16 nations of tennis by Ecuador. The same Ecuador that ex-Great Britain captain, David Lloyd had said "Could be beaten by the blind school." Perhaps this is why he's ex-captain!

No-one else had been so bold as to underestimate the Ecuadorian team, featuring Nicolas Lapentti, current number 11 in the world. But at home, on grass against the clay-court specialists, GB were the favourites. But we choked it.

Harsh, I know, but I think fair. The debates about coaching and the stregth in depth of our team, will rumble on for countless months, years etc. and of course one of our top 2 (Greg Rusedski) was injured and there was the disputed line-call, but we bottled it.

Young Arvind Parmar will no doubt have many sleepless nights about how his Davis debut went. Called in at the last minute to replace the injured Rusedski in the doubles, he and Henman were played off court by the Lapentti brothers, losing in straight sets. I had the 'fortune' to be at Wimbledon for that match and the lack of doubles experience from both our boys was glaring, but so was the lack of drive! Don't get me wrong, the Lapentti's played brilliantly, (Nicolas playing one winning shot from flat on his back after a slip) spurred on by some admirable support, but 99% of Court One were behind Tim and Arvind, to no avail. And from what I could see our problems came down to one thing, big match temprament. I was also disappointed when the 2 trudged straight off court, with out a wave or a thanks to the crowd that had willed them on so hard. I'd paid £12 to see that debacle, I would have liked a word of thanks for shouting myself horse!

In both the doubles and the singles games I lost count of the number of times the Lapentti boys served aces, or hit carcking winners on crucial points, like break points down or set points up etc. But the Brits? At 0-40 down in the doubles, Tim Henman,
our number one, serves a double fault! Tim is said to be great friends with the mighty Pete Sampras. Perhaps he should take a leaf out of his book. How many times have you seen Sampras serve out for a title with an ace? Exactly. Henman has it in him, as he demonstrated in his second singles game, winning again in straight sets. A bit too late, had he had that grit in the doubles, that win could have won the tie. Parmar from 2 sets up should really have closed it out. Did he lose concentration? Did he think it was in the bag? Was the defeat in the doubles (to Giovanni) on his mind? Perhaps all of the above and no doubt 17 year-old Giovanni Lapentti raised his game. But nonetheless, on home soil with so much at stake he should have won.

So, into Euro/African Zone, Group 1 we go. To face the likes of Ivory Coast, Belarus and Slovenia, rather than Sweden, Australia and the USA, and more than likely away from home too. Shame. I'm sure we can make it back to the top 16. But I can see Ecuador remaining there. Nicolas Lapentti is their top player, and he's just 23. Giovanni just 17, their future is bright. Tim and Greg have a few more years and Arvind will no doubt get better, but will have to do it playing mediocre Davis Cup opposition, on current form we'll blend in nicely!

As a final, mitigating point, I'd like to rubbish all the talk of Arvind losing to a player ranking 959th in the world. The only reason Giovanni is 959th is because he's not collected any ATP points as he's not played any ATP tournaments! He was one of the world BEST juniors and has just turned pro. Chin up Arvind and GB, we MUST recover.

Summary: