Week 47 - Davis Cup Finals - Madrid, Spain - (Indoor, Hard).

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

RE: Week 47 - Davis Cup Finals - Madrid, Spain - (Indoor, Hard).

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

And Spain take it, so it is Spain v GB tomorrow, after Russia v Canada.

Going to be very interesting days tennis

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
With regard to the lack of spectators, it may be just me but have Eurosport deliberately tried to cut out wide angled shots of the crowd. There have been plenty of close ups, but it is almost as though they are trying not to show how many empty seats there are. Perhaps I am looking for something that isn't there.

If Spain make it all the way through, the crowds will flock to the final. But as I said before, the true nature of the tournament will be what the atmosphere is like without Spain/Nadal playing. We may have to wait until next year to find that out.

I think Eurosport are just using the world feed, so won't have any control, but someone may well be doing that.

That was one reason why I didn't mind Spain winning this, to make the semi feel like more of an important event. I obviously want GB to make the final, so if that's empty, then so be it wink

Perhaps the more the format grows and develops, the more chance the Spanish will watch neutral matches, or other countries fans might be more willing to travels, like say the French if they accept it's not changing back any time soon. Possibly wishful thinking, but who knows. It's early days.

Anyway, congrats to Spain, and that's definitely a tie to very look forward to at 5.30pm tomorrow.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
Jeff Stelling wrote:
Had a few PMs from posters on this thread, Jon H, Gary A1, Mateusz, etc. Answer is the same to all of you, unfortunately no world ranking points on offer here
Interesting set of folks that appear to have PM'd you?

Did you not get my PM Jeff?

Smudge226 · Club Coach

Rafa has played 11sets in 3days effectively in Madrid. Who ever takes Rafa on tomorrow needs to keep him out there for 3sets in the singles but we must win the opening game before this at any rate you would think.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Wins to date list:

Rafa draws top with Rublev as the winningest player (hate that phrase !)
Player Wins
Nadal 5
Rublev 5
Pospisil 4
De Minaur 3
Djokovic 3
Granollers 3
Khachanov 3
Shapovalov 3
Bublik 2
Edmund 2
Fognini 2
Haase 2
Herbert 2
J. Murray 2
Kohlschreiber 2
Krajinovic 2
Krawietz 2
Kukushkin 2
Kyrgios 2
Mahut 2
Mies 2
Pella 2
Querrey 2
Skupski 2
Sock 2
A. Murray 1
Bautista Agut 1
Berretini 1
Cabal 1
Darcis 1
Evans 1
Farah 1
Fritz 1
Garin 1
Gille 1
Goffin 1
Gonzalez 1
Lopez 1
Mayer 1
Nishioka 1
Peers 1
Schwartzman 1
Struff 1
Thompson 1
Tipserevic 1
Troicki 1
Tsonga 1
Vliegen 1

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned (although I haven't read back through 19 pages of the thread) is that getting to the SFs means that we automatically qualify for next year and don't have to play any qualifying matches.

Steven tweeted this earlier

Joy at making the last four may be tempered at least a tiny bit by it guaranteeing no home tie next year (don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy GB won, but it was even better in the past when winning usually meant another tie that might be at home)

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
And Spain take it, so it is Spain v GB tomorrow, after Russia v Canada.

Going to be very interesting days tennis

I appreciate Indy's post about getting the live fan experience and TV balance right, and I'm normally one of the first to complain about the lack of crowds in China in the (too many) WTA events, but I must say I'm looking forward to seeing Canada vs Russia tomorrow, and the in form Rublev vs Pospisal battle it out as you mentioned earlier, and a nice match between Karen K and Shapo, and then probably all 4 doing battle together later on if required - I've never watched so much Davis Cup tennis than I have this week, whereas if it was Canada vs Russia in Toronto, not on UK TV, or Australia vs someone at 3am, like the recent Fed Cup final, then I personally wouldn't be half as invested.

The whole compact nature of it, all under one roof makes it so easy to follow and get involved in. I also appreciate not everyone will have Eurosport (although they do cover a fair bit of tennis and will be the only UK channel to watch live coverage of the AO in a couple of months, so it's not obscure), but their dedicated coverage has been absolutely superb - they've basically been on air from 9.30/10am to well after midnight all week. It would obviously be better if the BBC had GB's matches, or the LTA at least provided a Facebook feed to GBs ties so that as many as possible could watch, but it's pretty poor when no UK TV channel picks up the Davis Cup final like last year, or even the aforementioned Fed Cup final between the other week, so the fact it is covered does make it feel like a much more relevant event, at least to me anyway.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned (although I haven't read back through 19 pages of the thread) is that getting to the SFs means that we automatically qualify for next year and don't have to play any qualifying matches.

Steven tweeted this earlier

Joy at making the last four may be tempered at least a tiny bit by it guaranteeing no home tie next year (don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy GB won, but it was even better in the past when winning usually meant another tie that might be at home)

Yeah, that was covered at ehe bottom of page 16 / start of 17, but while a lot of the posts have been from JonH and me, the fact that the thread has made it to 19 pages is surely a sign that it has captured the imagination, whereas a Canada vs Russia semi final tie in Toronto, may have got a random, general - 'good win for Shapovalov over Rublev' type individual post, raather than many really invested in the whole competition.

Smudge226 wrote:
Oh that's good. Well done boys. Evo played well there. So GB automatically qualify for next year's finals I understand as semi finalists. The easier tie would be Argentina I'm sure but at least the Spanish now have to play dubs and hopefully SAP those legs.

Yep, secured our place next year, so no home/away which will annoy many, but if this format is here to stay (and I hope it is) then ultimately the finals is where you want to be, and there's no chance of that not happening now.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Just as a further point on the live spectator numbers, here is a tweet from Stuart Fraser with a view of Stadium 2 for the GB vs Germany QF.

twitter.com/stu_fraser/status/1197918656623185921

In an attempt to get the GB fans back there, the LTA are handing out free tickets to any bob - sorry, any one - who can get there. wink

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Saturday 23rd of November 2019 12:50:49 AM

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

To be honest, while clearly not ideal, and obviously nothing like a Glasgow tie, when you compare that to a decent looking Svitolina vs Sabalenka match in Wuhan P5 last year (almost a Masters 1000 equivalent), or Heather Watson's recent match against a Chinese player in the top 20 in Tianjan, that genuinely looks like the hottest ticket in town.

twitter.com/OpenCourt/status/1044422799937474560

Not that a Davis Cup QF tie should be compared to near end of season WTA events, but just saying I've certainly seen far sparse looking courts. JonH did post some suggestions earlier about fans potentially selling tickets back if their team went out early, and it is of course difficult to plan things at late notice, but perhaps the organisers could get some ideas from other big sporting events like the Euro's or Rugby World Cup, and make it more friendlier for fans wanting to support their team. It is of course early days for the format, and I'm sure people will be making a note of all the potential issues, and hopefully as many as possible will be addressed for next year.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Just as a further point on the live spectator numbers, here is a tweet from Stuart Fraser with a view of Stadium 2 for the GB vs Germany QF.

twitter.com/stu_fraser/status/1197918656623185921
In an attempt to get the GB fans back there, the LTA are handing out free tickets to any bob - sorry, any one - who can get there.

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Saturday 23rd of November 2019 12:50:49 AM

biggrin

Mind, with Spain confirmed as the opponent, there may well be more demand than supply now. They'll just have to do the same for the final wink

Toby · Lower Club Player

Ive been watching via a 7day free trial add on to my Amazon Prime account. For the AO Ill pay the £7.99 for a month.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Road trip wink

Will report in later.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Road trip
Will report in later.

Go for it bob. Did you respond to the andy murray and lta messages?