Venus and Serena Williams won doubles gold at the Beijing Olympics despite a less than stellar commitment to Fed Cup. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

In last week’s Toss, SI.com tennis producer C.W. Sesno came on to discuss the recent stability at the top of the WTA, a change from the last four years. Here to stay, or another fad? The readers have spoken, but barely: 56 percent of poll takers think the WTA’s top four will remain competitive at the top of the rankings.

This week, tennis blogger Ben Rothenberg joins The Toss to delve into the recent changes the ITF put in place for qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.

Today’s Toss: Should there be separate Olympic qualification requirements for tennis players?

Courtney Nguyen: Thanks for joining me this week, Ben. I don’t know about you, but the “B”, “L”, “U” and “E” keys on my laptop are no longer functioning thanks to Madrid, so let’s do everyone a favor and not talk about that whole mess. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have Olympic fever than a bad case of the blues.

Before we dive into this debate a bit of background is in order. The ITF recently announced a significant change in the qualification rules for the 2016 Olympics. Currently, players must make themselves available for two Davis Cup or Fed Cup ties in the two years before the Olympics, hence Serena Williams’ recent sojourn to Kharkiv, Ukraine in April. But beginning after the London Olympics, players will have to make themselves available to play four times in an Olympic cycle. It’s fairly obvious that the impetus for the change is to use Olympic qualifying as a way to get players to commit more regularly to Davis Cup and Fed Cup, competitions that are run by the ITF. The change hasn’t gone down well with the top players, who have complained that it forces them to play more in a season that is already long and grueling.

We can talk about whether the changes are good or bad but I thought it would be fun to discuss an even broader issue: Should there even be Olympic qualification rules for tennis players? Why not just do a modified direct acceptance scheme (limiting the number of players from a single country) like they do at the Slams, which is based entirely on ranking?

Read More…

When Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic fired a backhand passing shot to seal a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 victory against the Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek on Day 1 of the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Friday, he let out a boisterous celebration and then jogged to the net to share a standard handshake with his opponent. What was waiting for him was anything but standard.

Unfortunately, the television cameras cut to a rowdy Serbian bench and missed the net exchange between the two after their five-hour match. But by the time the focus returned to the players, Tipsarevic was angrily yelling at Stepanek and had to be restrained by his captain.

*****

When asked by Czech reporters what instigated the incident, Tipsarevic didn’t mince words:

“I would just like all of you to know what kind of person is Radek Stepanek. I have this thing that I always believe in the best in people, and even though players are telling that he can be not so nice on the court, I never believed it, even though I played him three times.

As you can see my behavior on the court was, I think, fair enough. When he fell, I crossed the net to see if he needs help. I was always letting him go past the net first. I even two times admitted a ball (was in) that was questionable. After five hours and 10 minutes instead of shaking my hand, he gave me he the middle finger and told me I am “stinking” … something bad, it’s a swear word. Let’s just say “vagina”. I just say it like that. I just want you to know what kind of person is your Czech player, Radek Stepanek.”

Stepanek, though, saw things differently. “We normally shook hands,” he said. Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil didn’t exactly rush to his man’s defense, saying, “Radek may have told him something, but I was too far from them [to hear].”

Read More…

Davis Cup: Where grown men fly, the wee loom large and the No. 2s become the No. 1s. Basically, it’s where nothing makes sense. And that’s precisely where the fun begins.

(Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images)

Juan Carlos Ferrero — Whee! The Spaniard enjoyed his 32nd birthday during Davis Cup weekend.

*****

(Peter Klaunzer/AP)

Roger Federer and John Isner — Which one is David and which is Goliath? Federer and Isner, further complicating the “Does size matter?” debate.

Read More…

Roger Federer lost his Davis Cup singles rubber and then lost doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka. (EPA)

Roger Federer caused a mini-firestorm after reports surfaced over the weekend that he criticized Stanislas Wawrinka’s Davis Cup performance in Switzlerand’s first-round loss to the United States. Federer and Wawrinka both lost their singles matches on Friday and teaming up for doubles didn’t help either, as Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish beat the Swiss pair in four sets in Fribourg, Switzerland.

According to The Associated Press, Federer said Wawrinka did not play well and failed to put pressure on the Americans with his opening-rubber loss:

Later, speaking in French to Swiss media, Federer appeared less gracious. He claimed not to be too disappointed while pointing a finger at Wawrinka, who slumped back in his chair looking every inch the junior partner in the relationship.

“I played well enough in doubles, but Stanislas not so much,” Federer said, adding that Wawrinka “didn’t have his best match in singles. It’s a shame, because of that defeat we weren’t able to put the U.S under pressure.”

Some Swiss journalists took issue with AP’‘s translation of Federer’s quotes, claiming that Federer said “pas mal,” which translates to “not bad,” meaning Federer actually said Wawrinka played “not bad” in the doubles match, an altogether less-negative sentiment.

Read More…

Mardy Fish (left) led the U.S. to a 5-0 sweeping of Switzerland to reach the World Group quarterfinals. (Peter Klaunzer/EPA)

It was a banner weekend for Team America, as the U.S. spoiled the party for Roger Federer and Co. in Switzerland with one of the biggest upsets in Davis Cup history. While the men were embroiled in Davis Cup (Spain, Serbia, Argentina, France, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia all won to join the U.S. in the World Group quarterfinals), the ladies were in Paris and Pattaya, Thailand, where Angelique Kerber and Daniela Hantuchova walked away with titles.

Let’s take a look back at the week’s action in grade form.

Team USA: A-plus. In a fair world, the Americans’ 5-0 sweep of the heavily favored Swiss would have been the sports story of the weekend. But when you’re competing against Linsanity and Tiger Woods on a beach of pebbles, well, your accomplishments just might get buried below the fold. That’s a shame, because you can’t say enough about the Americans’ effort, which left the Swiss team in finger-pointing disarray.

It’s not that this seemed an unwinnable tie for the Americans — beating Stanislas Wawrinka twice over the weekend and winning doubles would have done it — but a 3-0 drubbing after the first two days? That was a complete shock to everyone except the men wearing red, white and blue in Fribourg, Switzerland. From Mardy Fish outlasting Wawrinka deep into a fifth set in the opening singles rubber, to two relatively perfunctory four-set knockouts (John Isner of Federer in the second singles and Fish/Mike Bryan clinching the tie by beating Federer/Wawrinka in doubles), few would have predicted this result. Take away any context from this matchup and a casual observer would have thought the Americans were the dominant favorites.

Read More…

U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier (center) made a late roster adjustment as Mike Bryan (left) and Mardy Fish swept the Swiss 3-0. (Sebastien Feval/AFP)

The U.S. Davis Cup team finished off the improbable on Saturday.

A day after Mardy Fish and John Isner notched career-defining wins, the Americans clinched the first-round match against heavily favored Switzerland as Fish and Mike Bryan rallied to defeat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. With the doubles victory, the United States swept the Swiss in Fribourg, Switzerland, and advanced to the Davis Cup quarterfinals, where it will face France or Canada in April.

“It feels pretty good to win those [Davis Cup rubbers],” Fish said after the match. “I certainly know what it’s like to lose, and it’s not a great a feeling.”

There were plenty of reasons why the Americans weren’t supposed to win. They were on foreign soil, both literally and figuratively, playing in front of a boisterous, capacity crowd in Switzerland on red European clay, a surface that has long been considered American kryptonite. On top of that, Andy Roddick was out with an injury and Bob Bryan was home in Florida with his newborn daughter.

Oh, yeah, and then there was this Federer guy, who was playing in his first World Group tie since 2004. Federer and Wawrinka are the 2008 Olympics doubles gold medalists and Federer had never lost a best-of-five singles match to anyone on the American bench.

But if Fish’s five-set win over Wawrinka in Friday’s first match signaled anything, it was that this was an American team that saw its history not as a trend, but a challenge. The last time Fish played a five-set Davis Cup match was last July, when the newly minted American No. 1 fell to Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 8-6. When Fish was unable to serve out the match in the fifth set against Wawrinka on Friday, squandering a match point at 5-4, it was beginning to feel like déjà vu all over again.

But instead of letting the nerves get to him this time, Fish kept swinging, eventually wearing down the Swiss No. 2 and prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 9-7. You can’t underestimate the butterfly effect of Fish’s clutch performance. The win was critical not only for Fish, who said his loss to Lopez was one of the most heartbreaking defeats of his career, but it also took the pressure off Isner and validated captain Jim Courier’s aggressive tactics.

Read More…

Roger Federer is 41-12 in his Davis Cup career as the Swiss prepare to take on the U.S. in the first round of the World Group. (Matt King/Getty Images)

The Watch List spotlights the must-know storylines for the upcoming week in tennis. This week’s focus is on the Davis Cup.

Davis Cup: Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Of the top five men, only one is playing Davis Cup this weekend, and that man is Roger Federer. Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer have ruled themselves out of Spain’s tie against Kazakhstan, while Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are sitting out Serbia’s and Great Britain’s ties against Sweden and the Slovak Republic, respectively, to rest and heal up. That leaves Roger.

Davis Cup is one of the few tiny holes in Federer’s career resume, as the Swiss are still seeking their first Davis Cup title. And though Federer hasn’t made it a top priority in the past, expect him to make a push this year with the Olympics coming up and Switzerland’s strong presence in the World Group. He’ll join his Swiss mates (read: Stan Wawrinka) when they host an American team led by Mardy Fish and John Isner in Fribourg, Switzerland. Federer & Co. shouldn’t have too much difficulty with the Americans, who are without the services of Andy Roddick or new baby-daddy Bob Bryan, so the Davis Cup tie to watch for the weekend is happening north of the American border in Vancouver.

Canada is back in the World Group after a gutsy 2011 run in the fall, gaining promotion with the help of Vasek Pospisil’s three-point run (three wins in three days) against Israel. The Canadians will field a healthy team of Milos Raonic, Pospisil, Frank Dancevic and doubles specialist Daniel Nestor as they take on an experienced, if not unpredictable, French team that’s comprised of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra. Canada has been playfully trash-talking for months and it’s time for its young stars to deliver.

In other ties, Alex Bogomolov Jr. makes his debut as the No. 1 Russian in their tie against Austria, Kei Nishikori will see what he can do as Japan takes on Croatia, and Germany hosts the Argentines, who will be without Juan Martin del Potro.

WTA action in Paris: Fresh off Russia’s 3-2 victory over Spain in Fed Cup, Maria Sharapova tops a quality field in Paris, which includes: Li Na, Sabine Lisicki, Julia Goerges, and Jelena Jankovic. These women are coming straight from Fed Cup ties all over the world, so keep an eye on second-seeded Marion Bartoli. Despite being the top Frenchwoman, she was once against left off her Fed Cup team due to her ongoing feud with the French Federation of Tennis (their refusal to let her father coach her during the Fed Cup is one of many reasons), so she should be fresh for Paris.

Here are a few first round matches to look out for in Paris: Lisicki vs. Lucie Safarova, Jelena Jankovic vs. Yanina Wickmayer and Christina McHale vs. Kaia Kanepi. If Lisicki can get past Safarova, she would be on track to meet Sharapova in the third round, a match that would be well worth watching.

Bruce Jenkins has a great piece on SI.com this week about the need to preserve the passion that surrounds Davis Cup in the face of all the calls for change. I hereby co-sign.

Passion is what makes Davis Cup special. It’s not that there’s “more passion” in Davis Cup as opposed to the other big tennis competitions (i.e., the Slams or the Olympics), it’s just different. What sets Davis Cup apart is that everyone, from the fans to the players, has absolutely no problem laying their passions bare for all the world to see. While tennis is typically a staid sport with a culture of refinement and reserve, everyone lets loose when that humongous trophy sits courtside. It’s an environment like none other in tennis.

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP

I mean, in what other arena would it be semi-OK for Fernando Verdasco to insist on wearing the Spanish flag as a skirt during a trophy ceremony? If Novak Djokovic did that after raising the U.S. Open trophy, he’d be vilified. Here we just want to pat Fernando on the head and say, “Oh, you.”

*****

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP

A week before, Rafael Nadal was lamenting the fact that he had lost his passion for the game. Then Davis Cup rolls long and, well, let’s just say I’m not entirely convinced by your argument, Rafa.

Read More…

David Ferrer (right) wore down Juan Martin del Potro in their Davis Cup singles match. (EPA)

David Ferrer has never dazzled with jaw-dropping shotmaking or been considered a prodigious talent who could consistently compete for the big titles. But one thing is clear about the undersized Spaniard: He concedes nothing and fights until the last ball falls.

On Friday, Ferrer put on a tenacious four-hour, 46-minute performance that showed why he is one of the most respected players in the locker room and why he will finish the year in the top five, behind the ATP’s alpha males, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

Ferrer battled past Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 6-2, 6-7 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second singles match of the Davis Cup final. The 29-year-old improved to 12-0 on clay in Davis Cup singles, calling the marathon “maybe the best match of my career.” With Nadal having dismantled Juan Monaco in the opening rubber, Spain leads 2-0 and can clinch its third title in four years with a victory in Saturday’s doubles match.

Read More…

Rafael Nadal was merciless in his 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 drubbing of his good buddy Juan Monaco in the opening Davis Cup rubber between Spain and Argentina on Friday. Before walking off the court, Nadal showed everyone why he is so tough to beat on his favorite surface. They don’t call him the King of Clay just because it sounds cool.

Check out what Monaco has to do to even stay in this point, which he ultimately loses.