U.S. v Russia Davis Cup Final
- Thread starter Mike Bulgakov
- Start date
maybe it belongs to da guy in black sleeveless..
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
The photo is real; someone posted the same photo on a thread about the Dalai Safin.
SoBad
G.O.A.T.
But both the pack and the lighter "face" Safin in the photo? Also, the sleeveless would have placed them on the side table to his right?
Yes, I have seen it before, I was not suggesting that you manufactured it, but maybe it was manufactured by some anti-Safin movement, before getting posted everywhere. Pretty sure he smokes reds.
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
You are very wrong SoBad. This photo was edited by the pro-Safin movement. Marat only smokes his tobacco from a hookah held by a young woman found at the nearest club, and the tobacco is always laced with ennui. The young woman in lingerie holding the hookah was edited out.
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
FROM ESPN.COM
The U.S. hosts Russia in the Davis Cup final at Portland, Ore. next week, but as you watch, remember it might never have happened without some intense diplomatic negotiations. No, they weren't about having official food testers, or getting Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev into the country legally, or whether there's still time for Dmitry Tursunov to switch sides before the tie.
In fact, they were about Hawk-Eye. Under the normal rules, players can challenge two linecalls during a set through Hawk-Eye, with an extra challenge allowed in the tiebreak. Players only use up a challenge if they turn out to be wrong -- they can challenge as many times as they want as long as they're correct.
But the Davis Cup's governing body, the ITF, wanted the players to be able to challenge as many times as they want whether they're right or wrong. The USTA, which is hosting the tie, wanted the normal two-challenge system used.
When the dust settled, the ITF got its way, but many still have reservations. U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe has said he's "totally against it."
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3122206&name=tennis
The U.S. hosts Russia in the Davis Cup final at Portland, Ore. next week, but as you watch, remember it might never have happened without some intense diplomatic negotiations. No, they weren't about having official food testers, or getting Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev into the country legally, or whether there's still time for Dmitry Tursunov to switch sides before the tie.
In fact, they were about Hawk-Eye. Under the normal rules, players can challenge two linecalls during a set through Hawk-Eye, with an extra challenge allowed in the tiebreak. Players only use up a challenge if they turn out to be wrong -- they can challenge as many times as they want as long as they're correct.
But the Davis Cup's governing body, the ITF, wanted the players to be able to challenge as many times as they want whether they're right or wrong. The USTA, which is hosting the tie, wanted the normal two-challenge system used.
When the dust settled, the ITF got its way, but many still have reservations. U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe has said he's "totally against it."
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3122206&name=tennis
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J-man
Hall of Fame
Probably. They will try to give as much crowd support as possible to the American Davis Cup team.
MEAC_ALLAMERICAN
Legend
Sometimes a lot of what Davydenko says is lost in translation, his english isn't the best. :neutral:
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
USA’s Final Battle
November 23rd, 2007 09:18 am
By Andyroddick.com Staff
Nov23rd2007
The final of the 2007 Davis Cup is just one week away, and we just cannot hype this up enough! Not only is winning the Davis Cup one of Andy’s personal goals, but it would end a 12-year Cup drought for the Americans.
Winning Davis Cup is everything, and you can keep up to date with the build up right here, on AndyRoddick.com.
http://www.andyroddick.com/3701/usas-final-battle/
Nice ties.
November 23rd, 2007 09:18 am
By Andyroddick.com Staff
Nov23rd2007
The final of the 2007 Davis Cup is just one week away, and we just cannot hype this up enough! Not only is winning the Davis Cup one of Andy’s personal goals, but it would end a 12-year Cup drought for the Americans.
Winning Davis Cup is everything, and you can keep up to date with the build up right here, on AndyRoddick.com.
http://www.andyroddick.com/3701/usas-final-battle/
Nice ties.
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Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
Tennis is an individual sport in a globalized world. While many countries still consider Davis Cup as important as Grand Slam events, there seems to be apathy in the U.S for the event.
Some argue that the format needs big changes to keep the event relevant. Is Davis Cup still relevant? What changes would improve the event?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/11/25/taming_of_the_feuds.html
Some argue that the format needs big changes to keep the event relevant. Is Davis Cup still relevant? What changes would improve the event?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/11/25/taming_of_the_feuds.html
L
laurie
Guest
I say this as a Tennis fan, boy the season never seems to end does it?
This really is overkill, I'm sure it will be a great tie of course. But the administrators in Tennis seem completely powerless to change the calendar thanks to vested interests, tournament directors having the most power etc etc. That could well be part of the reason for the apathy. The final should be on in the heart of the season. The Fed Cup final has been moved to September since 2005 and that has worked very well.
This really is overkill, I'm sure it will be a great tie of course. But the administrators in Tennis seem completely powerless to change the calendar thanks to vested interests, tournament directors having the most power etc etc. That could well be part of the reason for the apathy. The final should be on in the heart of the season. The Fed Cup final has been moved to September since 2005 and that has worked very well.
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
Good points. Holding Davis Cup every two years would also draw more attention to the event. This would have the added benefit of allowing a team to enjoy the trophy for a year, instead of having to defend it a few months later.
RoddickistheMan
Professional
yeah I think having it every two years would be a good idea since it would create more attention. I would be very surprised if the US lost this year. All pieces are in place. It will be harder next year since federer and nadal might show up for a couple of rounds.
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Toyota corolla e30 specifications
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Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
Safin is Russia's Davis Cup man of mystery
By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 27, 2007
Russia has named its team for a Davis Cup final match against the United States beginning Friday in Portland, Ore., but it was a player who was not named, Marat Safin, whose possible participation gives the tie an element of mystery.
Safin has been taking an extended break from tennis because of a knee injury. Safin's game not being sharp, Russia captain Shami Tarpischev did not include him when he selected Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov to oppose the Americans.
Substitutions, however, can be made in a Davis Cup lineup at the 11th hour. Tarpischev, recognized as a wily individual, said there still is “a small chance” Safin, winner of the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open, could have a role in Russia's bid to capture the cup for a second straight year and for the third time in six years.
“He could be our secret weapon,” Tarpischev said.
The United States has not prevailed in the international competition since 1995, when it outplayed Russia in Moscow. In books in Europe, the U.S. team is slightly more than a 3-1 favorite to take the silverware, but Tarpischev is full of fight.
“It's true they have the best doubles team,” Tarpischev said in a reference to the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, “but I don't think their singles players are any better than any of our guys.”
By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 27, 2007
Russia has named its team for a Davis Cup final match against the United States beginning Friday in Portland, Ore., but it was a player who was not named, Marat Safin, whose possible participation gives the tie an element of mystery.
Safin has been taking an extended break from tennis because of a knee injury. Safin's game not being sharp, Russia captain Shami Tarpischev did not include him when he selected Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov to oppose the Americans.
Substitutions, however, can be made in a Davis Cup lineup at the 11th hour. Tarpischev, recognized as a wily individual, said there still is “a small chance” Safin, winner of the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open, could have a role in Russia's bid to capture the cup for a second straight year and for the third time in six years.
“He could be our secret weapon,” Tarpischev said.
The United States has not prevailed in the international competition since 1995, when it outplayed Russia in Moscow. In books in Europe, the U.S. team is slightly more than a 3-1 favorite to take the silverware, but Tarpischev is full of fight.
“It's true they have the best doubles team,” Tarpischev said in a reference to the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, “but I don't think their singles players are any better than any of our guys.”
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Squall Leonheart
Rookie
So Players can challenge every single point if they wanted? That seems a little ridiculous.
tangerine
Professional
The second Cold War is coming this weekend, can't wait. 
Here's a great article on the PMac. This is certainly a different kind of the PMac than the kind TW posters are always railing against. I posted some choice quotes. Click the link for the complete article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3128529
McEnroe's commitment has U.S. on verge of title
At the end of the day, they're going to play because they want to be with each other, not because of me. I would only be a reason that they wouldn't play. -- U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, in an interview with ESPN.com in early November.
McEnroe weighed his options and wound up making a typically nuanced management decision. He would commit to the young players and keep the door cracked for the legends. It sounded tricky, but McEnroe has navigated similarly treacherous waters his whole career, figuring out how to be his own man.
In his debut as captain, McEnroe selected a green 18-year-old named Andy Roddick to be the fourth player on the team that would face Switzerland in the first round. Roddick watched from the bench as another emerging talent, Roger Federer, won both of his singles matches and played on a winning doubles team to hand the U.S. a loss.
McEnroe threw Roddick into the meaningless fifth match. "He just smoked this guy, Georg Bastl," McEnroe recalled. "And I remember turning to the guys on our bench right after the match ended and saying, 'We've got a future. This guy's our future.'"
............
McEnroe groomed himself for this job all his life. He soaked up different aspects of the Davis Cup tradition like an executive-in-training, first watching John play, then serving as a practice partner, then playing Davis Cup doubles himself, then breaking down matches from the TV booth when Tom Gullikson was captain.
Singer and actress Melissa Errico, McEnroe's wife, sensed his ambition when they started dating in 1996. McEnroe was still resisting retirement, trying to rehab after surgery for a bone spur on his arm that eventually forced him from playing.
"There was a lot of watching TV and not knowing how he was going to spend his time," said Errico, who grew up with McEnroe on Long Island and was re-introduced to him years later. "He would work out three to four hours a day because that was what he was used to doing. He had all these trainers with these funky ideas.
"I remember trying to provoke him and saying, 'What are the other dreams you have in your life?' He said, 'I'd love someday when I'm old to be Davis Cup captain.' That was the one thing."
............
His TV gig puts him in a bind where Blake and Roddick are concerned. Critique them too harshly and he risks straining key relationships; lay off and viewers will think he's biased and soft.
"It's obviously not the easiest situation," Roddick said. "The good thing about Patrick and the reason our relationship has been great is because we've had problems, heated discussions before, but we've talked about it. We haven't let it fester."
McEnroe handed credit right back to Roddick. "He actually helped me be more open," the captain said.
There have been contentious moments between McEnroe and all his regulars, but they generally get put into context and put to rest. The Bryans were miffed he didn't select them sooner, but said their resentment vanished forever the night before their first match in 2003, when McEnroe called to tell them they were cemented into the lineup for the foreseeable future.
In the September semifinal against Sweden, with the momentum in Blake's first match swinging against him, McEnroe got down on one knee during a changeover and, in a public rarity, got into the player's face. After Blake lost, McEnroe vehemently defended him in the post-match news conference.
His eyes get a little glassy when he talks about finding Roddick slumped in a hallway at Olympic Stadium in Moscow, spent and weeping, after losing a 17-15 fifth set to Dmitry Tursunov in the Davis Cup semifinals last year.
When McEnroe stands in the tunnel with his players, shifting from foot to foot, eyes dancing, ready to emerge into the cauldron of noise in the arena, he has the look of someone supremely happy in his work.
"I love the process, the pride that comes from being the captain," he said. "To walk out and stand there with those four guys, to me that's it. That's the moment."
Here's a great article on the PMac. This is certainly a different kind of the PMac than the kind TW posters are always railing against.
I posted some choice quotes. Click the link for the complete article.http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3128529
McEnroe's commitment has U.S. on verge of title
At the end of the day, they're going to play because they want to be with each other, not because of me. I would only be a reason that they wouldn't play. -- U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, in an interview with ESPN.com in early November.
McEnroe weighed his options and wound up making a typically nuanced management decision. He would commit to the young players and keep the door cracked for the legends. It sounded tricky, but McEnroe has navigated similarly treacherous waters his whole career, figuring out how to be his own man.
In his debut as captain, McEnroe selected a green 18-year-old named Andy Roddick to be the fourth player on the team that would face Switzerland in the first round. Roddick watched from the bench as another emerging talent, Roger Federer, won both of his singles matches and played on a winning doubles team to hand the U.S. a loss.
McEnroe threw Roddick into the meaningless fifth match. "He just smoked this guy, Georg Bastl," McEnroe recalled. "And I remember turning to the guys on our bench right after the match ended and saying, 'We've got a future. This guy's our future.'"
............
McEnroe groomed himself for this job all his life. He soaked up different aspects of the Davis Cup tradition like an executive-in-training, first watching John play, then serving as a practice partner, then playing Davis Cup doubles himself, then breaking down matches from the TV booth when Tom Gullikson was captain.
Singer and actress Melissa Errico, McEnroe's wife, sensed his ambition when they started dating in 1996. McEnroe was still resisting retirement, trying to rehab after surgery for a bone spur on his arm that eventually forced him from playing.
"There was a lot of watching TV and not knowing how he was going to spend his time," said Errico, who grew up with McEnroe on Long Island and was re-introduced to him years later. "He would work out three to four hours a day because that was what he was used to doing. He had all these trainers with these funky ideas.
"I remember trying to provoke him and saying, 'What are the other dreams you have in your life?' He said, 'I'd love someday when I'm old to be Davis Cup captain.' That was the one thing."
............
His TV gig puts him in a bind where Blake and Roddick are concerned. Critique them too harshly and he risks straining key relationships; lay off and viewers will think he's biased and soft.
"It's obviously not the easiest situation," Roddick said. "The good thing about Patrick and the reason our relationship has been great is because we've had problems, heated discussions before, but we've talked about it. We haven't let it fester."
McEnroe handed credit right back to Roddick. "He actually helped me be more open," the captain said.
There have been contentious moments between McEnroe and all his regulars, but they generally get put into context and put to rest. The Bryans were miffed he didn't select them sooner, but said their resentment vanished forever the night before their first match in 2003, when McEnroe called to tell them they were cemented into the lineup for the foreseeable future.
In the September semifinal against Sweden, with the momentum in Blake's first match swinging against him, McEnroe got down on one knee during a changeover and, in a public rarity, got into the player's face. After Blake lost, McEnroe vehemently defended him in the post-match news conference.
His eyes get a little glassy when he talks about finding Roddick slumped in a hallway at Olympic Stadium in Moscow, spent and weeping, after losing a 17-15 fifth set to Dmitry Tursunov in the Davis Cup semifinals last year.
When McEnroe stands in the tunnel with his players, shifting from foot to foot, eyes dancing, ready to emerge into the cauldron of noise in the arena, he has the look of someone supremely happy in his work.
"I love the process, the pride that comes from being the captain," he said. "To walk out and stand there with those four guys, to me that's it. That's the moment."
DashaandSafin
Hall of Fame
Is this going to be televised on Tv anywhere? Please don't say only the Tennis Channel...
CrocodileRock
Rookie
It's also going to be live on Versus.
0range
Hall of Fame
Nice. I logged in like 10:32am and all the tickets are gone... ><
CrocodileRock
Rookie
Jack, are you out there? I might have a couple of tickets for Sunday's singles. Not promising, just a possibility. My friend and his wife are scheduled to leave Sunday morning, but he was going to try to change it. Of course if someone wins the first three, Sunday's matches would probably be cancelled anyway. My flight leaves in a couple of hours, but I'll try to find a computer at the hotel or something to check this board or my email if you're interested.
No matter where you go, Safin is always lurking in the distant shadows.
Yesterday....http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3130615
Yesterday....http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3130615
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/sports/tennis/29tennis.html?ref=tennis
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Published: November 29, 2007
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 28 — For once, it is tempting to take Shamil Tarpishchev at his word when he claims that his Russian Davis Cup team has only a “35 percent chance” of winning this weekend against the United States.
Tarpishchev, Boris N. Yeltsin’s former tennis coach, is a wily and enduring force who has not survived and thrived in the shifting landscape of contemporary Russia by playing his cards wrong or by giving away too much in prematch news conferences.
As captain, his team has had more success of late in Davis Cup than the United States, winning twice this decade, including last year in Moscow. He has shown a consistent knack for picking the right player at the right moment on the right surface.
But the Russians are not at their peak. Their traditional top player, Marat Safin, is in decline and is not expected to be in the lineup. Russia’s current top player, the fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko, is at the end of an emotionally draining season brought on by an investigation into match fixing. Besides, Davydenko has never won a match against either of the Americans’ two singles players, Andy Roddick and James Blake.
The Russians, who will announce their lineup at Thursday’s draw, have other talented men with Davis Cup experience, including Mikhail Youzhny and the big-hitting Dmitry Tursunov. But neither has had a terrific year, and the Russian player who has been most convincing in Cup play this season, Igor Andreev, is not at his best on quick indoor court like the one in use in Portland.
Meanwhile, Roddick is the leader of a tightly bound veteran squad that includes the world’s best doubles team, Bob and Mike Bryan, and that has been building collectively to this moment for years under its captain, Patrick McEnroe.
“It’s fun, because we’ve all been through it together,” said McEnroe, who took over for his older brother, John, as captain in 2001. “We were in Spain for the 2004 final, in Belgium and the Slovak Republic and all those matches, and it’s been pretty much the same guys. So it’s nice to see them get the chance to do it at home. Obviously, we know it’s a tough match, even on a surface that we like and in a home environment, but we certainly have it lined up so the positives are with us.”
But the Americans no longer dominate men’s tennis, and it has been awhile since Pete Sampras produced one of the finest and pluckiest performances of his career to lead the United States to a 3-2 victory in the 1995 final against the Russians on clay in Moscow.
Sampras was responsible for all the American points, winning both his singles matches despite cramping against Andrei Chesnokov on the first day and needing to be carried from the court.
But upon returning to the United States, Sampras was disappointed to discover that the American public had not paid much attention to his labors, and he shifted his energies to the more individualistic pursuit of Grand Slam titles and ranking points.
Former Tarpischev Protégé Boris Yeltsin:
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Published: November 29, 2007
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 28 — For once, it is tempting to take Shamil Tarpishchev at his word when he claims that his Russian Davis Cup team has only a “35 percent chance” of winning this weekend against the United States.
Tarpishchev, Boris N. Yeltsin’s former tennis coach, is a wily and enduring force who has not survived and thrived in the shifting landscape of contemporary Russia by playing his cards wrong or by giving away too much in prematch news conferences.
As captain, his team has had more success of late in Davis Cup than the United States, winning twice this decade, including last year in Moscow. He has shown a consistent knack for picking the right player at the right moment on the right surface.
But the Russians are not at their peak. Their traditional top player, Marat Safin, is in decline and is not expected to be in the lineup. Russia’s current top player, the fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko, is at the end of an emotionally draining season brought on by an investigation into match fixing. Besides, Davydenko has never won a match against either of the Americans’ two singles players, Andy Roddick and James Blake.
The Russians, who will announce their lineup at Thursday’s draw, have other talented men with Davis Cup experience, including Mikhail Youzhny and the big-hitting Dmitry Tursunov. But neither has had a terrific year, and the Russian player who has been most convincing in Cup play this season, Igor Andreev, is not at his best on quick indoor court like the one in use in Portland.
Meanwhile, Roddick is the leader of a tightly bound veteran squad that includes the world’s best doubles team, Bob and Mike Bryan, and that has been building collectively to this moment for years under its captain, Patrick McEnroe.
“It’s fun, because we’ve all been through it together,” said McEnroe, who took over for his older brother, John, as captain in 2001. “We were in Spain for the 2004 final, in Belgium and the Slovak Republic and all those matches, and it’s been pretty much the same guys. So it’s nice to see them get the chance to do it at home. Obviously, we know it’s a tough match, even on a surface that we like and in a home environment, but we certainly have it lined up so the positives are with us.”
But the Americans no longer dominate men’s tennis, and it has been awhile since Pete Sampras produced one of the finest and pluckiest performances of his career to lead the United States to a 3-2 victory in the 1995 final against the Russians on clay in Moscow.
Sampras was responsible for all the American points, winning both his singles matches despite cramping against Andrei Chesnokov on the first day and needing to be carried from the court.
But upon returning to the United States, Sampras was disappointed to discover that the American public had not paid much attention to his labors, and he shifted his energies to the more individualistic pursuit of Grand Slam titles and ranking points.
Former Tarpischev Protégé Boris Yeltsin:
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Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
Better Tennis Player?
Boris Yeltsin:
Or Vladimir Putin:
Boris Yeltsin:
Or Vladimir Putin:
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Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
Better Tennis Player?
George H. W. Bush:
Or George W. Bush:
George H. W. Bush:
Or George W. Bush:
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Jack the Hack
Hall of Fame
CrocodileRock,
WOW! Thanks for the offer...
Unfortunately, I was away from my computer this weekend and didn't see your post until this morning. However, it was very nice of you to think of me... :grin:
I had a feeling that there would be some tickets available on Sunday after the US clinched it on Saturday... especially given the weather.
I'm sorry that it was so cold and rainy while you were here. Ironically, I just saw the sun come out about 15 minutes ago, and it's an overcast day in the low 50s. Sure beats the storm that came through during the Davis Cup! Anyway, I hope you had a decent time visiting our area. Watching the matches on TV, it certainly looked like the crowd was enthusiastic and gave the US players the energy they needed.
MEAC_ALLAMERICAN
Legend
Still, his english isn't very good, so I wouldn't know if he is trying make a joke or not.
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