British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

the addict · Tennis legend

Week 37 - Davis Cup Qualifiers, Round 2: Great Britain vs Ecuador (indoor hard)

JonH · Tennis legend

Assuming we get through, how do the seedings work in the finals - looking at the nations qualified so far, could we be seeded? (Based on DC nations rankings I'm guessing?).

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Rubber 1: Toby Samuel WR 95 defeated Andy (Andrés) Andrade (ECU) WR 203 by 4-6 6-4 6-1

GBR 1 ECU 0

Rubber 2: Arthur Fery WR 36 defeated Alvaro Guillén (ECU) WR 293 by 5 & 0

GBR 2 ECU 0

Rubber 3: Henry Patten & Neal Skupski CR 4 (1+3) defeated Gonzalo Escobar & Diego Hidalgo (ECU/ECU) CR 184 (93+91) by 3 & 4

GBR 3 ECU 0 - tie effectively concluded biggrin

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Harry to make his DC debut:

Rubber 4: Harry Wendelken WR 175 vs Angel Véliz (ECU) WR 1505

the addict · Tennis legend

Any reports/comments from those who went on Saturday ?

Jan · Hall of fame

the addict wrote:
Any reports/comments from those who went on Saturday ?

Ha! Yes.

I was there yesterday. In the very back row (not a huge arena, though), with a great view, at the side of the court, level with the net.

Toby's match, as has been said, was a bit nervy, but once he settled in he came through nicely.

It was a real treat to watch Arthur. He was scurrying everywhere, looking to finish off points, playing some lovely volleys and passing shots. The ball was fizzing across the net!

I have to confess I'm not a big fan of music blaring from the PA system at every change of end. Probably my age!! But also it was playing during the warm up; which meant it was really hard to hear the umpire when he was announcing who'd won the toss etc. I thought that was a shame. Nothing wrong with a bit of peace and quiet occasionally!

Anyhow, the tennis was great!!

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
Rubber 1: Toby Samuel WR 95 defeated Andy (Andrés) Andrade (ECU) WR 203 by 4-6 6-4 6-1
GBR 1 ECU 0
Rubber 2: Arthur Fery WR 36 defeated Alvaro Guillén (ECU) WR 293 by 5 & 0
GBR 2 ECU 0
Rubber 3: Henry Patten & Neal Skupski CR 4 (1+3) defeated Gonzalo Escobar & Diego Hidalgo (ECU/ECU) CR 184 (93+91) by 3 & 4
GBR 3 ECU 0 - tie effectively concluded

For the sake of completeness, Harry wins on his DC debut:

Rubber 4: Harry Wendelken WR 175 defeated Angel Véliz (ECU) WR 1505 by 2 & 3 smile

goldfish · Futures level

I agree with Jan's comments. The drum was used far too much and was very loud. Unfortunately it was also difficult to hear Naomi at times. She needs to keep the mic a little further away to make her speech clearer but thought she did a good job with the interviews. Great atmosphere and really enjoyed watching Arthur. His play always seems very intentional - knows what he wants to do, what to expect in return and executes well. 6-0 in set 2 felt a bit mean for this opponent who did play some good shots at times. However once Toby had settled down there was no real reason to worry so an enjoyable non-stressful afternoon. We were on the upper level, umpire's side level with the serving line - good view.

the addict · Tennis legend

Thanks Jan and goldfish - always good to hear the first-hand impressions. I saw about four sets worth over the two days via BBC I-player and was impressed how calm all the players seemed to be.

seagull · Tennis legend

Thanks to trains we arrived a bit late and Toby was already 3-0 down!
We had great seats. Front row in upper tier exactly where main camera was.

Good atmosphere and a decent venue. I really hate this new trend of DJ at every sport event. Just let the atmosphere build naturally.
Was no real jeopardy so not as exciting as other ties. Plus I was a bit miffed to miss Arsenal game!

indiana · Tennis legend

The Finals line-up is :

Italy ( 2025 champions and hosts )
South Korea ( 3-1 home win vs India )
Austria ( 3-1 home win vs Belgium )
Czechia ( 3-2 home win vs USA )
Canada ( 3-1 home win v France )
GB ( 4-0 home win vs Ecuador )
Germany ( 3-1 home win vs Croatia )
Spain ( 4-0 away win vs Chile )

indiana · Tennis legend

SC has set up a new thread for Davis Cup Finals discussion :

britishtennis.activeboard.com/t73247787/week-47-2026-davis-cup-finals-bologna-italy-indoor-hard/

Shhh · Challenger level

I was there today and I echo what most have said on here. A cracking little venue, we were also 1st row upper tier but there does not appear to be a bad seat in the house. Very well run and staffed, I would recommend to anyone.

I too am not a fan of the generated atmosphere but I am a grumpy old **** so good luck to those that like it. Starting the day with a 2-0 lead and breaking in the doubles 1st game its fair to say it felt a formality so it lacked the tension you would see in other ties.

Neil & Henry just had too much for their opponents. One of the Ecuadorians was pretty good at the net and without the points he picked up, it probably would have finished a game or two earlier.

It was nice to see Harry, a lovely fluid game, nice consistent strokes low over the net and I can see why some are fans. The match was one of those that resembled a powerful warm up, trading several strokes cross court until one faltered....the Ecuadorian more than Harry. It would have been nice to see a little more variety but when winning, why change it, the outcome was never really in doubt.

-- Edited by Shhh on Sunday 20th of September 2026 07:36:02 PM