Davis Cup - Euro Africa Zone Group II R1 v Tunisia (home) - 4-6 March 2011

British_is_Best · County player

RE: Davis Cup - Euro Africa Zone Group II R1 v Tunisia (home) - 4-6 March 2011

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:

steven wrote:

Good idea to leave Boggo out to avoid the risk of us losing a rubber from a set up. Er, oops ...
I did get the impression you would have gone with Boggo ( as would I theoretically but without knowledge of how they all looked in prep ). Still, I presume Leon picked as he thought best. Just because Jamie has now lost, can anyone be certain Boggo would have won ?!

No, of course we can't, and we're still going to win the tie barring some unmitigated disaster, so it's not a big problem.

It's more a case of the unfairness of the media (and to a large extent, the LTA) always making out that Alex is the ultimate choker when none of the other lower-ranked Brits (apart from Wardy against Ilhan last year) have done any better against decent (top 200) opposition in live rubbers either.

I bet you anything Jamie doesn't get hammered by the press for losing to Jaziri from a set up in the same way that Boggo did after losing from a set up to Peya (while carrying an injury), despite the fact that Jaziri (a clay-courter who had only gone beyond 3 sets in a singles match twice in his life) isn't as good a player as Peya was. Indeed, I hope he doesn't get hammered at all, but the contrast will be very stark in that case.

If it is a case of Leon losing his nerve at the last moment having made a bold decision with the original selection, then we have found out yet again that playing 'safe' (in media terms) doesn't save you from bad results.

That said, this is all idle speculation, and I'd still much rather have Leon as the DC captain than the last one!

-- Edited by steven on Friday 4th of March 2011 05:10:37 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, as long as Jamie is fit OK and good to see he finsihed the match after the timeout ( can they take MTOs in Davis Cup for other reasons than injury / illness concerns ? ) then this tie should clearly still be won.

I must admit when I was thinking of Jamie being possibly injured my previous leaning towards just a single doubles specialist kinda became more marked. You suddenly even more see the point of covering the singles players more than be worried about putting out two specialist doubles players in this particular tie.

spud · Challenger qualifying

Yeh it must be very hard to not pick Jamie in DC as a captain because of his well known work ethic and the effort he puts in day in day out. I too think Boggo would have had a "better chance" of winning, but just cuz hes had a break from DC does that mean we will get a player who has completely changed mentally and can his best tennis in a DC rubber.

Court surface choice is a load of sh*t it seems, it had to be quick so we would have the chance of blowing them off the court rather than rallying with them where the pressure can also get worse.

indiana · Tennis legend

steven wrote:

indiana wrote:

steven wrote:

Good idea to leave Boggo out to avoid the risk of us losing a rubber from a set up. Er, oops ...
I did get the impression you would have gone with Boggo ( as would I theoretically but without knowledge of how they all looked in prep ). Still, I presume Leon picked as he thought best. Just because Jamie has now lost, can anyone be certain Boggo would have won ?!
No, of course we can't, and we're still going to win the tie barring some unmitigated disaster, so it's not a big problem.

It's more a case of the unfairness of the media (and to a large extent, the LTA) always making out that Alex is the ultimate choker when none of the other lower-ranked Brits (apart from Wardy against Ilhan last year) have done any better against decent (top 200) opposition in live rubbers either.

I bet you anything Jamie doesn't get hammered by the press for losing to Jaziri from a set up in the same way that Boggo did after losing from a set up to Peya (while carrying an injury), despite the fact that he too lost from a set up and Jaziri (a clay-courter who had only gone beyond 3 sets in a singles match twice in his life) isn't as good a player as Peya was. Indeed, I hope he doesn't get hammered at all, but the contrast will be very stark in that case.

If it is a case of Leon losing his nerve at the last moment having made a bold decision with the original selection, then we have found out yet again that playing 'safe' (in media terms) doesn't save you from bad results.

That said, this is all idle speculation, and I'd still much rather have Leon as the DC captain than the last one!

Yes, it is "idle speculation" and as Count at least probably knows there have not been many folk more vocal than myself re thoughts on how Boggo has been mistreated over the years by the tennis authorities and the media.

Let's give Leon the benefit for now that he simply picked what he thought was the best team here. Jamie has lost. Boggo might have too.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

Cant believe Jaziri was cramping over 4 sets indoors!

British_is_Best · County player

Ward has started well, up a double break, *3-0

British_is_Best · County player

Ward takes the first set 6-0

British_is_Best · County player

Instant break at the start of set 2 to lead 6-0, 2-0

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

That's more like it. . .

British_is_Best · County player

I believe (attempting to decipher the LTA update) that Ward leads 6-0, *3-2

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

And now it is 6-0 6-2 2-0, with I think Ghorbel next to serve.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Quote on the LTA site: "Judy Murray on Twitter, @judmoo: "Sounds like Tunisia no2 will get ghorbeled up.""

Worthy of the punmeisters on here smile

djlovesyou · Strong Club Player

Haha, clearly Judy has been reading and is desperate to impress the expert punnists on here.

It is actually quite a good one, with a bit of practice she could really do some damage.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yeah, think James fancies ghorbelling up another bagel.