Day 2 Davis Cup
Nicolay Davydenko* & Igor Andreev VS. Sebastien Grosjean & Micheal Llodra
Marat is replaced by Nicolay Davydenko for the doubles today.. The 'rumours' are that he had blisters on his feet, but these are not for sure. It could also just be a tactic thing from Tarpischev, but I'm not sure now. I'll keep you informed!
They won! 36 75 63 36 63!!! It's now 2-1 for Russia!
2 video's from doubles match:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ngcd_coupe-davis-double-frarus
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1nf90_richard-gasquet-coupe-davis-intervi
The most recent articles after the match:
Tarpischev calls it right again
You have to hand it to Shamil Tarpischev. The Russian captain, who has pulled off several shock selections over the past few months, pulled off another with an unexpected doubles team of Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko. Yet the unlikely lads pulled off a 36 75 63 36 63 victory against France's Sebastien Grosjean and Michael Llodra to give Russia a 2-1 lead going into the final day of this fascinating tie.Some may say Tarpischev had no choice, with Marat Safin reportedly suffering from blisters and Mikhail Youzhny coming off a four-hour 48-minute singles on Friday night. But the selection will have done nothing to damage the 59-year-old’s reputation as one of the wiliest captains in the history of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.
Russians have a shaky start
Tarpischev is well aware of his history as well as his tennis, and will be aware of Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous dictum that he wanted generals with luck as much as skill. Well the Russian pair had their stroke of luck just when they needed it, to help them turn round an inauspicious start and deliver a performance that grew in confidence as the match wore on.Although they have played a fair bit together on the tour, and won the Moscow title in 2004, Andreev and Davydenko are not natural doubles players. That was apparent in an opening set that went comfortably to France, thanks to a break of the Davydenko serve in the fourth game. With both Russians staying back after all their serves, the match became a battle of the French bearing down on the net, and the Russians trying to get the ball at their feet. By and large the French were doing their job better.
Controversial line call upsets French dynamics
In the third game of the second, Davydenko’s serve was again in trouble. He found himself at 15-40, second serve. The serve looked to go just long, but there was no call. Grosjean returned and Andreev put away the volley, at which point the French pointed to the mark in the clay which they claimed showed the serve had been long. Yet the umpire, Andreas Egli, maintained Grosjean had played the point so refused to accept the challenge and stayed in his chair. The French were furious, saying they stopped playing immediately. In such circumstances the umpire has to make a subjective judgement, and whether the French agree with him or not, this was a legitimate application of the rules.The Russians saved the second break point, Davydenko held serve, and from then the tenor of the match was different. The French pair still looked the likelier to break, but at 5-6, Grosjean was broken and after 87 minutes the match was level. It was Grosjean’s serve which cracked in the eighth game of the third, as Russia took a 2-1 lead. Three consecutive breaks at the start of the fourth left the French ahead, and a Llodra ace levelled the match after two hours 48 minutes.
France remain confident
For a while, neither team seemed to have an advantage in the fifth, but France’s captain Guy Forget may be left with nightmares over his decision to leave out Arnaud Clement, as it was Clement’s replacement, Grosjean, who dropped serve for the fourth time in the match to give Russia a 5-3 lead, and Andreev, the more secure server of the two Russians, sealed victory in just under three and a half hours.To their credit, the French refused to blame the dispute with Egli for their defeat, and were still confident of pulling off both the final day’s rubbers. Forget had sacrificed his best doubles team for greater singles strength, so his gamble could yet pay off. And he will take comfort from the fact that when Russia beat France the last three times these teams played each other, France had won the doubles. Maybe this time the fates will be reversed.
Some articles I found after the match:
From http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=14185:
Defending champions hold steady to take control
Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko fought off a stern challenge from French duo Sebastien Grosjean and Michael Llodra to put Russia 2-1 ahead after the doubles.Davydenko was making his Davis Cup doubles debut and it took a while for him and Andreev to gel but after losing the first set, they combined well to take the next two. The French fought back to take the fourth set before the Russian pair secured the vital break in the fifth set to emerge 36 75 63 36 63 winners after three hours 23 minutes.Russia is now just one match away from reaching the semifinals for the third year in a row while France has it all to do. The winner of the tie will be at home to Germany, who defeated Belgium with a day to spare, in September's semifinals.
From http://www.eurosport.com/tennis/davis-cup/2007/sport_sto1142329.shtml:
Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko beat Sebastien Grosjean and Michael Llodra 3-6 7-5 6-3 3-6 6-3 in doubles to give Russia a 2-1 lead over France in their Davis Cup world group quarter-final.
Before Saturday, no Russian or Soviet pair had won against France in Davis Cup doubles, since their first meeting in 1973.
France's Paul-Henri Mathieu had upset world number four Davydenko in the opening singles on Friday before Russia's Mikhail Youzhny levelled the score in a marathon match against Richard Gasquet.
Davydenko replaced Marat Safin for the doubles.
"It was a difficult match," Andreev said. "We put up a fight and the French maybe started getting nervous. We had a few chances and we used them."
For pictures of the match: www.daviscup.com -> Photo Gallery
For some more information:
Related Links on other websites
> Information from RTF
> Infos en francais - FFT
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and stats from this tie >
Battle of the Captains begins with a big gamble
>Mathieu puts visitors in front
> The expected score but by a remarkable route
Interviews:
Interview with Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) (MP3 format)
Interview with Sebastien Grosjean and Michael Llodra (FRA) (MP3 format
