Baker to earn his crust before seething Argentinian masses

Sheddie · administrator

Baker to earn his crust before seething Argentinian masses

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

Nice to see an article focusing on Baker but I have to ask...does Harman know something about Boggo and the Davis Cup that we don't? If not then saying Baker will be the second singles player is a bit presumptuous isn't it?

Drew · Sep 30, 2007

Boggo has no future in the DC as long as JL is captain. Thats my opinion. Alex would have to win a couple of significant challengers and get inside the top 75 nevermind the top 100 for John L to think about him.

MrBaseliner · Social player

Surely Bogdanovic has to play. He's ranked 100 places higher!

Drew · Sep 30, 2007

MrBaseliner wrote:

Surely Bogdanovic has to play. He's ranked 100 places higher!

You would think so but Boggo has not helped himself in the past and John L just doesnt trust him...thats my opinion....not fact.

Bladetiger · Pro player

Think he's probably got it right.

Not that I can see much of a chance either way. But be good experience for him anyway

Bladetiger · Pro player

Drew wrote:

Boggo has no future in the DC as long as JL is captain. Thats my opinion. Alex would have to win a couple of significant challengers and get inside the top 75 nevermind the top 100 for John L to think about him.

He's got to play on the big stage and win some Atp rounds to prove he can handle pressure. Winning challengers proves he can play tennis (we already know that) winning ATP rounds shows he can play good tennis when the pressure is on.

steven · Tennis legend

If JL is worried about Boggo's mental strength, putting him in fromt of 15000 baying Argentines on his least favourite surface doesn't sound like the best idea.

Then again, Boggo would have nothing to lose and if he did manage to give them a fright, it might cure his confidence problems forever!

Good to see you again, BT

Ratty · County player

Am I the only one who was underwhelmed by Baker in the Davis Cup?

Cilic was playing his 3rd match in 3 days, it was a dead rubber, and Baker made no impression at all on the Cilic serve until there was a minor choke when serving for the match.

All in all it was the sort of performance you would expect from a 200-ranked player. In fact it was a bit like Karanusic against Henman, with the vital exception that Tim was really up for it. Is anyone suggesting that Roko has (ahem) "kick-started his career" by his brave performance in front of the seething hordes of Henman-iacs?

Count Zero · Tennis legend

Boggo missing the argentina trip maybe not be a bad thing as it would let him cocnrrate on ranking events, as i am guessing it would be a 3 week chunk.

However i am 100% certain that if Alex where to play he would do better than Baker. Alex seems to play much better as the underdog.

Remember he put up a great fight againt Hewitt on clay in sydney!

His whole DC thing is based on his losses to Okun, yes he got psyched out in the away tie after missing some easy set points, but you cant hold his injury effected match at eastbourne against him.

from what i can gather it wasnt the loss to okun that hurt his confidence but the team reaction to it afterwards, he was dumped on by them, which isnt the way to do it. If a player misses a big penalty your team mates shouldnt turn on you they should console you.

wolf · Tennis legend

I think it was Boggo's comittment that his team-mates were disappointed in more than anything.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

'There was such a level of spite in the reaction of his fellow team members to Bogdanovics straight-sets loss in the second singles to Noam Okun, the player was visibly shaken and prefers to sidestep specific detail'

That's a snipet from a Times article by Harman back b4 the Isreal tie in eastbourne.

But up till then boggo hadn't shown any lack of commitment as far as i was aware, he choked in a match which maybe he should have won (although at the time okun was higher ranked) but it was only his 3rd DC match (2nd live one) and perhaps the team should have been more supportive because of that.

mike55 · Lower Club Player

Don't forget there was the Serbia tie (I think) when he wasn't 'mentally ready to play DC' (his words as I recollect them). Overall he has done little to inspire confidence.

jezzauk · Lower Club Player

mike55 wrote:

Don't forget there was the Serbia tie (I think) when he wasn't 'mentally ready to play DC' (his words as I recollect them). Overall he has done little to inspire confidence.

Regarding that tie, was there ever any consideration that he might not have felt comfortable playing against his birth nation? confused

mike55 · Lower Club Player

jezzauk wrote:

mike55 wrote:

Don't forget there was the Serbia tie (I think) when he wasn't 'mentally ready to play DC' (his words as I recollect them). Overall he has done little to inspire confidence.

Regarding that tie, was there ever any consideration that he might not have felt comfortable playing against his birth nation?

I did wonder at the time whether that was a factor, although I don't remember any mention being made by Boggo (or anyone else) about that being an issue. Given Boggo's history, I'm not surprised JL is wary of giving him a place even if his ranking implies he should be second choice after AM. That said JL isn't exactly spoilt for choice, so maybe he will take a risk, but I'm sure he regards Boggo as a risk. Baker on the other hand may not have Boggo's natural talent, but he is reliable and doesn't give up even when he is up against a much better player such as Cilic.