Article espn.go 09-02-07

Take notice of Davis Cup

by: Peter Bodo,

It's Davis Cup weekend, and the most compelling Davis Cup matchup in a long time -- Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer, on the Swiss World No. 1's home court -- is not even going to happen. This matters not one bit to millions of tennis fans worldwide, and that in a nutshell explains why Davis Cup is not just a great event, but a crucially important and successful one. Like Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, it's bigger than any of the players.

Davis Cup has just one nagging problem. In the United States, the epicenter of media power and global trendsetting, many media honchos and fans simply don't get it. They whine about the format, they say Davis Cup isn't important. Yet all around them in the global community, Davis Cup has flourished. The tiresome rallying cry in the U.S. is "Let's fix Davis Cup!" (That is, Let's reinvent it as a two-week tournament played on a hard court at some resort trying to sell condos. I know! We'll put different, colorful flags all around the stadium to show how international it is!) falls on deaf ears. The rest of the world, marching off to enjoy Chile vs. Russia on red clay in La Serena, shrugs and says, "Yeah, dude. Whatever."

The U.S. has squandered a great Davis Cup tradition (we invented the dang thing, and once were the New York Yankees of the event), partly because we just don't do international team competitions well, and partly because many Open era stars have blown hot and cold on Davis Cup. The soccer World Cup and Olympic Games are the biggest of all global sporting events. In the U.S., our "World Series" might be contested between two teams from, uh, Chicago. Hey, dude, like, where is this place, Montevideo? This has hurt what feeble efforts have been made to convince the U.S. public that Davis Cup matters.

I suppose there's something charming about such provincialism. There is also something dangerous, if you're an American sports fan, tennis division, because the U.S. is in deep Davis Cup doo-doo these days. Just ask Andy Roddick. On Friday, Roddick and his stablemate James Blake, lead the U.S. into Davis Cup battle on a clay court in the Czech Republic. This tie is no gimme, even though it's a first-rounder, the Czechs aren't a Davis Cup powerhouse, and Roddick and Blake are both top-five players.

The Davis Cup's five-match format, in which as few as two players can carry a team to victory, has leveled the playing field and made a dozen nations dangerous. The alternating, home-and-away structure (teams take turns hosting ties, and that includes choice of surface) adds even greater volatility. The mix has created a monster: Since 2000, five different teams have won the Cup, three for the first time. Fully half the teams in the World Group of 16 nations are legitimate contenders. Federer declined to play, and nobody really cares. How cool is that?

Fellow Americans, it's time we took notice.

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