Querry Replaces Blake

dirtballer

Professional
I just saw a news release that said Sam Querry has been named to replace James Blake in the upcoming Davis Cup match with Spain. No details were given.
 
Are we playing spain on clay??? IIRC, Querry had a very good showing on clay this year - made the quarters at Monte Carlo - maybe that's why PMAC made that move???

Other than that, maybe Blake is injured?
 
Here's the article: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3577174

Querrey replaces Blake; Nadal to lead Spain


MADRID, Spain -- James Blake was dropped from the defending champion U.S. Davis Cup team and replaced by Sam Querrey on Tuesday.

Querrey was chosen ahead of Blake for the best-of-five series against Spain on outdoor clay Sept. 19-21 in Madrid.

Andy Roddick and doubles specialists Bob and Mike Bryan round out the U.S. team selected by captain Patrick McEnroe.

"James is just exhausted physically and mentally after a grueling summer," McEnroe said. "He said he needed a break and we respect that. This is also a great opportunity for Sam, who has had a solid year, strong results on clay and has been a loyal practice partner for this team."

Last year, Blake teamed with Roddick and the Bryan brothers to lead the Americans to their record 32nd Davis Cup title.

Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario selected top-ranked Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez.

Querrey was listed on the official nomination released by the International Tennis Federation, but it noted it was still awaiting confirmation on his eligibility. Querrey, ranked No. 40, has never played in the Davis Cup.

Last week, McEnroe said Blake would be on the team with Roddick and the Bryan brothers for a record 11th straight time.

Nicolas Almagro was listed as a reserve for Spain, while 16th-ranked Tommy Robredo was left off the team.

Nadal, who lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals of the U.S. Open on Sunday, may get a few days rest before joining the team.

"He lost a match, but the tiredness and stress are within the usual limits," Sanchez Vicario said of Nadal, who may not attend practice Saturday. "He is very enthusiastic about this tie."

Argentina will host Russia on outdoor clay in Buenos Aires in the other semifinal series.

Sixth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko of Russia will play alongside Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn. Marat Safin was again passed over.

Argentina will counter with David Nalbandian, Juan Martin del Potro, Agustin Calleri and Guillermo Canas.

In the World Group playoffs, U.S. Open champion Roger Federer will lead Switzerland, and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will guide Serbia.

Federer rebounded from losses in the French Open and Wimbledon finals to win his 13th Grand Slam title on Monday at the U.S. Open -- one shy of Pete Sampras' all-time record.

Federer will play against visiting Belgium on indoor hard courts in Lausanne, and Murray will help Britain against Austria on the grass at Wimbledon.

Murray will team with brother Jamie Murray, Alex Bogdanovic and Ross Hutchins against Austria's Jurgen Melzer, Alexander Peya, Martin Fischer and Julian Knowle.

Djokovic, who lost to Federer in the U.S. Open semifinals, will team with Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic on outdoor hard courts against Slovakia.

The Davis Cup final will be played Nov. 21-23.
 
I wonder if that means if USA loses that Querrey will play with McEnroe against Borg and Federer in the exhibition...
 
http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/1812

McEnroe said an announcement would be forth-coming from the USTA. Querrey is coming off of a strong showing at the US Open where he reached the fourth round where he gave Spain’s No. 1 Rafael Nadal all sorts of trouble in a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss.

Querrey also posted some strong clay court results earlier this year reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo. The relative high altitude of Madrid (2,000-plus feet above sea level) - which provides for faster conditions - should be an asset to Querrey and his booming serve.
 
If Sam couldn't handle Nadal on fast hard courts, how does he stand a chance on clay? At least Blake has a history of tough encounters with Nadal on all sorts of different paced hardcourts.
 
Sixth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko of Russia will play alongside Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn. Marat Safin was again passed over.

Why would they pick Tursunov and Kunitsyn over Safin, the Wimbledon semifinalist?
 
Which network will be televising the USA vs. Spain Davis Cup?

I checked Versus last week and didn't see it listed nor did I see it listed on Tennis Channel.
 
If Sam couldn't handle Nadal on fast hard courts, how does he stand a chance on clay? At least Blake has a history of tough encounters with Nadal on all sorts of different paced hardcourts.

The key for a win by the U.S team is not the two matches vs Nadal, which they dont have a prayer in hell of winning no matter who they put on court, but the other 3 matches. The two reverse singles with Ferrer, and the doubles are the keys for the U.S to pull off an upset, the two matches with Nadal on clay are throwaways and irrelevant.
 
checked Versus last week and didn't see it listed nor did I see it listed on Tennis Channel

Its listed on the TennisChannel website. They are showing it at 5 pm pst, Sept 19, on tape delay(because Argentina vs Russia will be live earlier in the day)
 
Its listed on the TennisChannel website. They are showing it at 5 pm pst, Sept 19, on tape delay(because Argentina vs Russia will be live earlier in the day)
Yes, I saw that, but I was interested in seeing it live. I guess I shuold have indicated "LIVE" in my post.

Somebody must be showing it live in the U.S., right?
 
Somebody must be showing it live in the U.S., right?

not necessarily. usually any 'road' ties the us plays are on tape delay. can't remember the last time a US away tie was shown live.

now that tc has rights, their decision understandable, they can't show both ties live if they are going on at the same time(and I can see why they wouldn't allow VS to show it the same time they are showing Argentina-Russia)
 
not necessarily. usually any 'road' ties the us plays are on tape delay. can't remember the last time a US away tie was shown live.

now that tc has rights, their decision understandable, they can't show both ties live if they are going on at the same time(and I can see why they wouldn't allow VS to show it the same time they are showing Argentina-Russia)
If that's the case, and since Tennis Channel is a U.S.-based TV channel, shouldn't they choose to show the US-Spain match live and the Arg-Russia match on tape delay? I mean if it came down to a choice between the two going on at the same time? Wouldn't that make tons more sense?

I still think it'll be shown live somewhere else. It seems the only time TC shows anything ONLY on tape delay is when some other network has the rights to show it live first.
 
shouldn't they choose to show the US-Spain match live and the Arg-Russia match on tape delay? I mean if it came down to a choice between the two going on at the same time?

Yeah, but more people can watch on tape at 5 pm than live at 5 am.

It seems the only time TC shows anything ONLY on tape delay is when some other network has the rights to show it live first.

These recent ties were shown on tape delay on TC (or VS, can't remember where they aired 1st, but none of these matches were shown live)

US-Austria '08
US-Czech Republic '07
US-Sweden '07
US-Russia '06

Only when the US plays in the US are the matches shown live. Again its sort of understandable due to the time zone difference.

Just looked on the Versus website, they are showing Spain vs US on tape delay at 12 pm pst on the 19th.
 
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If Sam couldn't handle Nadal on fast hard courts, how does he stand a chance on clay? At least Blake has a history of tough encounters with Nadal on all sorts of different paced hardcourts.

But they are playing on clay. Blake is pretty weak on clay. Plus he claims he's burned out. I think Querrey had a better year on clay than Blake did.
 
Why would they pick Tursunov and Kunitsyn over Safin, the Wimbledon semifinalist?

I can understand Tursunov. Even though he's not a claycourt player by any stretch, he's had significantly better summer results (post-wimbledon) than both Safin and Youzhny, the other possible pick. If the captain is just going by latest results, I can understand that.

But why on *earth* would Kunitsyn get the nod? That makes no sense to me. It's not like he's been tearing up the tour, has he?
 
I think Querry is a great choice by McEnroe in replacing Blake due to exhaustion however I feel Roddick has a better chance or opportunity in defeating Nadal. What comes to mind is the 2004 Davis Cup match in which Roddick came so close in defeating Nadal so if anyone has a chance in an upset, Roddick's the man who could deliver the goods for the US. In conclusion, I predict a tight content but the US will find a way to pull this out.
 
To be honest I think Nadal needs some rest after such a tough and grueling year so far. It would be best for him to take some time off and put things into perspective and relax a bit.
 
I think Querry is a great choice by McEnroe in replacing Blake due to exhaustion however I feel Roddick has a better chance or opportunity in defeating Nadal.

Roddick beats Nadal on clay???? Please. Nobody beats Nadal on clay when he really wants it, especially a fast-court specialist like Roddick. It seems like Fish was next in line though, after he straight-setted Blake at the Open, and made the quarters. Maybe PMac knows its a lost cause, and is letting Querry get a little experience in.
 
Roddick beats Nadal on clay???? Please. Nobody beats Nadal on clay when he really wants it, especially a fast-court specialist like Roddick. It seems like Fish was next in line though, after he straight-setted Blake at the Open, and made the quarters. Maybe PMac knows its a lost cause, and is letting Querry get a little experience in.

Yes, I also think that it might be Pat McEnroe trying to grab a little lightning in a bottle. Blake had long summer that finished with a disappointing result at the USO. Querrey has had a breakout year and just had his best result at slam.
 
Might be Blake's call, actually. He'll need to do really well in the coming tournaments to get into shanghai, so maybe he could use the rest.
 
Why? Because Querrey had one good clay court tournament? That's funny. Better on all surfaces? Even funnier.

Querrey should not be called better then Blake now, but he could be sometime next year easily. Blake has hit his peak, the max of his potential has been reached. He is going be 29 in the off season and it is only downhill for him from here realistically. Querrey is only getting better and probably will pass Blake in the ranking at some point next year.

As for clay none of Roddick, Blake, or Querrey are any good so who knows who is the best, 2nd best, 3rd best. It is not a huge achievement to be as good or better then 1 of Roddick or Blake on clay. Roddick and Querrey both had one big clay court tournament this year, so maybe they are the two better on clay right now by default through that.
 
At this point in Blake's career he should probably spend as much time on fast indoor surfaces as he can, and as little time on slow red Spanish clay courts as he can.
 
Querrey should not be called better then Blake now, but he could be sometime next year easily. Blake has hit his peak, the max of his potential has been reached. He is going be 29 in the off season and it is only downhill for him from here realistically. Querrey is only getting better and probably will pass Blake in the ranking at some point next year.

As for clay none of Roddick, Blake, or Querrey are any good so who knows who is the best, 2nd best, 3rd best. It is not a huge achievement to be as good or better then 1 of Roddick or Blake on clay. Roddick and Querrey both had one big clay court tournament this year, so maybe they are the two better on clay right now by default through that.

Great post. I would just add the observation that Querrey is kind of his own peer group. There aren't any other young Americans anywhere near him. Pat McEnroe probably sees Querrey as the future of the DC team and it is a good opportunity to give him the experience.
 
Great post. I would just add the observation that Querrey is kind of his own peer group. There aren't any other young Americans anywhere near him. Pat McEnroe probably sees Querrey as the future of the DC team and it is a good opportunity to give him the experience.

Yeah I agree with that. It must be hard for him in a way since he will have the weight of the world on his shoulders alone likely once Roddick starts to really show the effects of age and combat fatigue (of course this will have already happened to the older Blake before Roddick).
 
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