Dougal Williams and Mike Tammen, both of Portland, competed in the 2010 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Seniors World Team Championships hosted by Federacion Mexicana de Tenis. Williams captained the Italia Cup (Men's 35) team and was joined by Kline Sack of New York, N.Y., and Willie Dann and Lew Miller, both of Denver, Colo. This was the second consecutive ITF Senior World Team Championship for Williams who was a member of last year's U.S. Italia Cup team that finished seventh out of 24 teams. Williams blogged live from the event. Read below to see how the U.S. fared in this year's competition:
Sunday, April 4
Well, it’s all over. I’m sitting here in the airport with a few hours before my flight back to Portland. There is a little bit of a letdown today as there is no match to play, no warm-up to go through, no pre-match nerves. Most of the players have either already flown home or taken the six hour bus ride to San Luis Potosi where the Individual World Championships will be held starting tomorrow. It is hard for me to imagine making that trek to play another week-long tournament. I am ready to get home, see Katy and hold the little girls.
Yesterday was a great day for our team. We played a tough Great Britain squad to determine who would take third place and we won 2-0. Great Britain elected not to play their No. 1 and No. 2 players in singles but rather to rest them for the doubles if the match came down to it. We didn’t let them get that far.
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Post-match photo with Great Britain, from left, Willie, Seb Jackson, Kline, James Davidson, myself, Andy Burgoyne, and Lew. |
Willie led us off at No. 2 and despite facing three set points in the first set against Andy Burgoyne, a big serve and volleyer, he managed to hang on to win 7-6. Willie earned a break at 3-3 in the second set to go up 4-3, but was broken right back. That’s how the match was - nothing came easy. Willie rallied to break again however, and held his nerve - and his serve - at 5-4 in the second set to win the set and the match 7-6, 6-4.
It was an up and down match for him as he was struggling both physically and mentally. In practice, Willie wasn’t sure if he would even be able to play. It was a long week and Willie played his heart out every day so it was tough for him to get up for one more match. We considered having Lew play singles (who would have been a more-than-capable substitute) but we felt Willie at No. 2 gave our team the best chance to earn a win. And we wanted to go home with a win.
So, it was once again my turn at No. 1 singles. Every day this week, I’d walked onto the court with a 1-0 lead in the team match. Lew and Willie led us off with a win each day at the No. 2 singles position. I knew I would have a tough match as Britain’s No. 3 player Seb Jackson was Britain’s No. 1 from last year and is very experienced in this competition. He is a talented left-hander who can serve big and dictate with his forehand. For the past few years, Seb has been ranked among the top ten players, age 35 and over, in the world.
To start the match, he hit four first serves and ripped four winners. I knew I would have to play “lunch pail” tennis, just work hard to grind out every point, nothing pretty. With that mentality, I was hitting heavy, looping topspin ground strokes and I found out quickly they were effective against him. He had a one-handed backhand and I found early success hitting high and heavy to it. It is not easy to bring the ball down into the court here (I think I’ve mentioned we played at 8,000 feet??) so getting it up high against a player works well.
I just kept doing that over and over again and my opponent kept missing. I only hit a handful of winners in the whole match but made even fewer errors. I just kept working, grinding, giving nothing for free, and it worked. I won 6-1, 6-1 to secure the 2-0 team victory for the team and a third place finish. The Brits elected not to play the doubles so we had the remainder of the day to watch the Spain-Germany final and to await the medal ceremony in which we’d participate.
The Spain-Germany final had some fireworks, nothing compared to our match with Spain on Thursday but still lots of questionable calls, long looks and a few heated exchanges. At one point the Germans thought the chair umpire had incorrectly overruled a service ace (called in by the linesperson but “out” by the chair umpire) so one of the German players chucked his racquet about two courts down. It was a pretty good heave. As he walked to pick up the racquet, a chorus of boos rang out from the pro-Spain crowd. Walking toward the racquet with his back to the crowd, he answered them by raising both arms over his head and giving the middle-finger salute with both hands.
Spain ended up winning 2-1, having the match come down to a third set in the deciding doubles match. It was very close. When Spain won, one of the linesmen immediately gave a strong fist pump and ran up to the Spaniards to congratulate them and get a photo taken with the winners. I can’t seem to recall ever seeing a supposedly non-partisan official celebrate when one team won. But that was about par for the course this week.
The medal ceremony was nice. We received bronze medals for our third place effort, the best finish for a US Italia Cup Team in many years. The crowd was appreciative of our efforts and many came up afterwards to tell us what great players we were and how much fun they had watching. The club and its members were fantastic, making the venue a special place to play.
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Following the medal ceremony from left, Germany finished as the runner-up, Spain captured the championship and we took third. |
We also had to pose for pictures with the other medalists, first-place Spain and second-place Germany. As you can see in the photo, Oscar Martinez and I have our arms over each other’s shoulder. I congratulated those guys on their win, gave them all a hearty handshake, and they seemed to genuinely appreciate it. I guess time - even one day - heals some wounds.
It feels good to have captained our team’s effort and to have contributed well on the court. I finished the week 4-1, having lost my only match to Spain’s No. 1 player who didn’t lose a match all week. Everyone on the team played the first three matches and won. In fact, our only losses the entire week as a team were to Spain’s No. 1 - I lost to him in singles and Lew and Willie lost to him in doubles.
The USA had a strong showing across all age categories. Of the ten teams competing (5 men’s and 5 women’s from age 35-55), five won their respective divisions. Mike Tammen’s 50s team defended their title from last year. I think this is the third team world championship for Mike (he won twice when he played on the 35s 15 years ago).
Two USA teams took second place and another two teams finished third. Only one team (the women’s 35s) finished out of the medals, placing fourth after having lost in the semifinals to eventual winner Great Britain. It was a great week for Team USA and a blast to share the success with everyone.
As we wrap up this year’s event, everyone seems to be looking forward to next year. “Hope to see you in New Zealand,” was a common good-bye amongst the players here. Next year’s event will be held in Christchurch on the south island of New Zealand. I actually played a tournament there back in 1998.
The competition for players to represent their country in next year’s ITF Senior World Team Championship will no doubt be tougher as everyone seems to think New Zealand is a dream venue for this tournament. As a result, I imagine there will be more countries represented across all age categories and the depth on each team will be even stronger.
I hope we have a chance to reunite as a group next year. It was awesome having Willie, Lew and Kline on the team. They are great teammates to have.
Willie fought hard all week and scored a HUGE win vs. Spain in the singles. In addition to winning three matches for us, Lew was also our “coach” for the week, having spent the most time on the bench as the calming influence we needed. Kline played great in the doubles matches the first three days, going undefeated for the week. I know both he and Lew wanted to get more playing time, especially in singles, but that is the tough part about this competition. There are four guys on the team and only two can play singles each day. And the format is such that there are no second chances. You’ve got to put your best squad on the court each day. Lew and Kline were great in that respect, always putting the team goal ahead of their desire to be in the singles lineup. They certainly made my job as captain a whole lot easier.
If you’ve read this far, you no doubt realize how special the ITF Senior World Team Championships are and how much fun I’ve had sharing it with you. The highs and lows of tennis are accentuated here, with the pride of representing one’s country matched by the desire to do well for your teammates. I trust you’ve enjoyed it and hope you have the chance to experience it for yourself one day.
DW
Friday, April 2
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One bright spot to the last 24 hours was the players' dinner
held in the beautiful courtyard of a local convent. |
You all may notice I'm a little tardy in posting this update from Mexico. It's taken me about 24 hours to gather the strength to relive yesterday's match through prose. We lost an absolute heartbreaker 2-1 to No. 1 seed Spain. While it's tough to write all of the details in this post – and this one is lengthy – you wouldn't understand how I feel if you didn't know all the gory details, so here goes...
The day started off great; blue sky, warm temperatures and we all felt very confident going into the match. Willie Dann led us off at No. 2 singles vs. Oscar Martinez, Spain's No. 3. Oscar was Spain's No. 1 player last year and in 1995 reached the top 70 on the ATP Tour with wins over Rios, Corretja, etc. He hits the ball beautifully.
Willie scrapped and fought hard to hang in the first set and earned a break point when Oscar served for the set at 5-4. On break point, Oscar missed a forehand a few inches beyond the baseline. Willie called the ball "out" and gave a little fist pump, as he was right back in the set at 5-5.
Victor Sendin, Spain's No. 4 player, had other ideas. He was the acting captain for Spain and was on Oscar's bench. He jumped off the bench, starts walking towards Willie waving his arms and shouting in Spanish. He started cussing at Willie, and saying, “You are robbing us, you $#&!^...like you did yesterday vs. Argentina!!" Obviously, he wore a huge chip on his shoulder into the match and erupted at the first chance he could. His behavior was boorish, exactly the type of person and attitude you hope to never run into.
I wasn't on the court at the time but was watching from the stands above where nearly 100 people had gathered to watch the excitement. Since no one else on our team spoke Spanish and had no idea what he was really saying, I yelled down at Victor to, "Calm down, you can't yell at our player like that." Victor responded by yelling a profanity-laced tirade in my direction - all in Spanish - to which I told him to be quiet. Hearing that, Willie’s opponent Oscar Martinez turns to me and tells me to be quiet. Needless to say, it was mayhem.
Soon thereafter, the ITF Officials were on the scene and after about 15 minutes of arguing back and forth everyone agreed to have a chair umpire and linesmen on all the lines. Mind you, these were not paid officials nor even tournament representatives, but rather staff from the host club. It was a circus. The guy calling the service line didn't even look at the line until the ball bounced (he was watching the server go through his motion, and then would follow the path of the ball just like the rest of us--hardly accurate!), and when he did make a hand gesture to accompany his "out" call, it could have been a "safe" signal (as in baseball) or he'd just wave his arms in whatever direction he fancied most. There was some doubt as to whether the guy had actually ever been on a tennis court before. And I'm not joking when I tell you that later in the day he actually took a cell phone call during one of the points in my match.
Willie remained calm on the outside through all of this, amazingly. Inside, however, I know he was feeding off the energy and excitement. When play resumed, he definitely seized the momentum and won the set 7-6.
The atmosphere was tense. The Spanish team looked for every opportunity to question calls by the linespeople and directed flurries of Spanish words at the umpire over and over again. To add fuel to the fire, the Chair overrulled Willie once in the second set, giving the Spaniards more "proof" that Willie was purposefully trying to "rob" them of the match. Oscar, too, however was overruled, to which the Spaniards yelled at the Chair for his inability to see correctly and other choice phrases.
The whole time, the ITF representatives and head official from the Mexican tennis federation did nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Oscar lifted his game, and took the second set 6-2. "Vamos Espana!!!!" He then broke Willie early in the third and one could sense the momentum changing and I got the pit in my stomach that comes from feeling like the bad guys were going to win this one.
I reminded Willie, however, that he'd been in the same spot the day before, down 2-0 in the third. He immediately broke back and evened the set at 2-2. For the next 45 minutes, these two guys battled point for point with the crowd growing larger and larger as word spread of what was happening on our court. The crowd cheered and moaned for every point, regardless of the outcome. The largely Mexican crowd, who cheered for the USA early in the match (I had made friends with the grounds crew throughout the week), turned decidedly pro-Spain by this point. The match remained on serve, 3-3, then 4-4, then 5-5. The tension increased.
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The women's U.S. Italia Cup team provided a great support to us as we fought through matches like our face-off with Spain. Back row, from left, Willie, Lew, myself, and Michelle King. Front row, from left, Mary Dailey, Trish Riddell, Kline, and Mary-Beth Williams. |
At 5-6 in the third, Willie double faulted and played a few loose points. Oscar made a great passing shot. Willie found himself down 15-40, facing two match points. He made a good first serve and Oscar missed a return. At 30-40, Oscar ripped a return at Willie's feet and Willie barely got the ball back, popping it up short in the middle of the court. Oscar had the ball lined up on his forehand and he really could have hit it wherever he wanted for a winner. But he overcooked it just slightly long - a sure sign of nerves - and Willie ended up escaping the game to force a third-set tiebreak.
The tiebreak went back and forth, with each guy pulling ahead momentarily before the other would seize the momentum and snatch back the lead. Willie won a huge point on Oscar's serve at 3-4 in the breaker, and went up 5-3. Willie would have a chance to serve for the match on his racquet. But first, Oscar had one more point to serve. Amazingly, he double faulted!! Willie was now up 6-3, with two points to serve. He needed them both, but was able to stick a huge volley for a winner at 6-4 to win the match 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. Incredible. Now we had a 1-0 lead in the team match.
Before taking the court, I went up to the head referee who was hearing an earful from Victor Sendin (Spain's No. 4), who was continuing to complain about the "out" call at 4-5 in the first set of Willie's match. He continued to insist that we Americans had "robbed" them of that first match.
I went up to both of them, and politely asked - in Spanish - if they wanted to keep the chair umpire and linespersons for my match just to make sure there were no more issues. Victor looked at me, puffed up his chest, threw his arms back and started screaming at me in Spanish. I just walked away. As the saying goes, when you jump into the mud with pigs, you get dirty and they like it.
To start my match, I was admittedly a bit loose mentally. I don't like confrontations like that, but at least I can deal with it if I'm the one involved on court. I was hitting the ball well, but not competing mentally as hard as I should have. Nevertheless, I played well enough to earn a break at 3-3, to go up 4-3 in the first set against Joaquin Munoz, who got as high as 150 in on the ATP tour back in 1995 with wins over players like Gustavo Kuerten.
Despite the early lead, I didn't feel comfortable on my serve all day and was getting passed a lot at net. Joaquin had great passing shots and painted the lines more than a few times. He broke me twice in a row to win the first set 6-4.
Early in the second set, I had chances to break. I had break points on two of his first three service games, and had game points in all of my service games. Despite this, I found myself down 4-1 and felt the match slipping away. Joaquin played better and better and passed me, even after I hit what I felt were very good volleys and/or approach shots. He was just too good for me on this day and I told him so when we shook hands after my 6-4, 6-1 defeat. Unlike his teammate Victor, who refused to shake Lew's hand after Willie's victory, Joaquin looked me in the eye, firmly shook my hand and said "good match."
So, it came down to the doubles. We were now tied 1-1 and I'll tell you this: If you would have asked us if we would like to play one doubles match vs. Spain for a place in the final of this tournament we would have taken that offer every day of the week and twice on Sunday. We felt that good about our doubles.
Earlier in the week, when the team discussed who would play doubles if the team match rested in the balance, there was some debate. I always feel confident walking onto the doubles court, even more so than in singles, and I told the guys that. My doubles results over the years support that belief. Willie and Lew, with their multiple national doubles titles as a team, felt they should play. Kline felt the team chemistry between Willie and Lew was the deciding factor so we left the discussion at that. Now that it was time to make the tough decision, I agreed. After my singles, I was confident Willie and Lew should play. Willie played great in his singles, and he and Lew are a very solid team. I felt less confident in my form after my singles loss and I really felt like Lew and Willie would pull out the team victory for us. I think we all felt that.
The Spaniards, however, were tough. Joaquin Munoz came back for the doubles and he surprised us all with his play. He was very solid, making many more tough half-volleys and typical "doubles" plays than perhaps we thought. Lew and Willie didn't play as well as they are capable and found themselves down a set 6-3.
They broke serve early in the second however, and Willie served for the second set at 5-4. Down 15-30 however, a rapid volley exchange occurred, capped off by Lew's volley hitting the tape and dropping back on our side of the net. Willie collected the ball, realized the ball was broken (the seam had burst) and threw it out of the court onto the sidewalk.
After Lew realized the ball was broken, he asked for the ball back and upon inspecting it, showed the chair umpire the gaping hole in the seam of the ball. Lew correctly pointed out that if a ball breaks during a point, or a point is inadvertently played with a broken ball, the point should be replayed. But since Willie initially threw the ball out of the court, some time had elapsed since the end of the point and a little doubt was raised as to whether the broken ball was actually the one used during the point in question.
Lew asked the chair for a replay and the chair said no, saying that "the ball had broken after the point." This really riled up Lew and Willie who laughingly asked the chair how a ball breaks after the point. Exactly how is that possible?
The chair umpire suddenly changed his tune, realizing the folly of his logic. Instead he proclaimed he wasn't sure the broken ball was the one actually used. By this time, the head of the Mexican tennis federation and the ITF official on site were beside the court. They confirmed Lew's contention that the point should be replayed but they erroneously (we believe) decreed that the chair umpire should have the final say (actually, head referee's can always overrule the chair umpire).
So it went, back and forth, back and forth. Just when we thought the point would be replayed, the Spaniards erupted in protest, with both Victor Sendin and Oscar Martinez jumping into the fray (never mind that ITF rules state that only one player can be appointed "captain" for a match and is the only one who can talk to an official or the player on court). Oscar screamed at the chair umpire to give a warning or point penalty for delay of game, since Lew and Willie still wanted clarification on the ruling from the chair umpire before playing another point. As you might suspect at this point of the story, however, the chair umpire spoke no English and had no clue of the rules of competitive international tennis.
By this time, every person in the crowd had also formed their own opinion of what occurred and what should occur next, and felt compelled to shout it out to no one in particular. It was a circus. I was on court with Lew and Willie, trying to calm them down while at the same time relaying in Spanish their concerns to the chair umpire, the referee and the ITF official. But my learned Spanish was no match for 50 Mexicans and about 10 Spaniards (by this time the Spanish women's 35 team had arrived on the scene and a few of them, too, were involved in the spirited debate). Everyone kept telling the chair umpire that the Americans were trying to rob the Spaniards of the match. Spain’s Victor Sendin was certain there was some sort of conspiracy and as he yelled at Willie and Lew, he simultaneously tore off his jacket as if he were going to come running onto the court to fight.
Meanwhile, the ITF official had mysteriously departed, and the Mexican tennis federation meekly walked away, effectively washing his hands of the whole affair and leaving the decision to the chair umpire. The umpire, for all we knew, could have been the host club's gardener. Surprise, surprise, the chair umpired ruled that there would be no replay of the point. He was now certain that he couldn't be certain the ball in question had actually been used during the previous point. Spain erupted in celebration, elated that the "evil Americans" hadn't gotten away with our "deliberate attempts at injustice" or whatever it was they were screaming.
Willie and Lew hung in there but eventually got broken for 5-5. Lew played a gut-check game at 5-6 to hold serve and force the tiebreak but serving at 2-3 in the breaker, Lew had his delivery absolutely blasted by the Spaniards on consecutive points. He hit two good first serves but the Spaniards just unloaded on two straight returns, ripping them both up the line past Willie who had little time to react. Brilliant shots at a crucial stage of the match. Too good.
Spain now served at 5-2 in the breaker and made two good first serves which Lew and Willie couldn't return into play. Game, set, match and team victory for Spain, 2-1 over the USA. It was tough to swallow but the Spanish doubles duo played good tennis and Lew and Willie couldn't find the level they needed (or are used to playing) to win this one.
So now you know why it took me 24 hours to write this post. Even now, it pains me to report on a very disappointing loss. Yes, the loss itself stings and I can look back on my match and be highly critical of my own play. There is no doubt that Spain is a talented team and their players are very, very good so there is no shame in losing to a team of their caliber. But what stings me the most is THE WAY the whole match went down. This competition should be about camaraderie, about playing hard, then enjoying a beer or a group photo with the other team. Players from around the globe get to know each other for the first time, or reignite old friendships, and everyone revels in the atmosphere of representing their countries in this prestigious event. It’s hard to accept that the experience was tarnished by some unfortunate events on court.
The good news is we are still in the hunt for a medal. On Saturday we play Great Britain for third place (they lost to Germany in two three-set singles matches). The UK is talented, with a few guys formerly ranked in the top couple hundred in the world. I'm guessing from talking to them throughout the week, however, that life does not rest in the balance of Saturday's outcome. Consequently, I expect a hard-fought but fair match with a pint or two afterwards.
Good news on the other USA teams competing here in Mexico: Seven out of the 10 Cup teams here are playing for first place tomorrow. Two more (us included) are playing off for third. The USA has shown their stuff this week and it's been a great effort from everyone.
I'll send an update after tomorrow's match. Go USA.
DW
Wednesday, March 31
Another day, another win....ha! Wish it were that easy.
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Here I am chasing down a serve from German Holzcan. |
Today we won a hard-fought match vs. No. 5 seed Argentina. We knew going in this would be a tough one and, despite the 3-0 score, it lived up to expectations. This was a really tight match and an important one for us so I'll share the nitty gritty details:
Willie Dann started us off against Daniel Borenzstein, Argentina's Captain and No. 2 player. These two guys have some history, as Willie scrapped his way from a set and a break down last year in Mallorca to beat Daniel 7-5 in the third. His win last year tied the team match 1-1 and allowed Lew and I to take the court and seal the win in doubles. Today's match was just as close.
Willie started off strong, served well, but had to fight off a lot of tough balls from Daniel who attacked relentlessly. Daniel told me after the match he thought he only served and stayed back twice in the match, meaning he served and volleyed on almost every point. At this elevation (did I mention we're playing at 8,000 feet??), serving and volleying puts a ton of pressure on your opponent. Willie came up with some clutch passing shots and big serves to take the first set 6-3.
Immediately in the second set, Willie had break chances. Serving at 15-40 in the first game, Daniel should have double faulted as his second serve landed about six inches long. Everyone watching (including the non-partisan bystanders) knew the serve was out but Willie was so focused on the return that he didn't realize he'd played an out ball. Daniel ended up winning the game to go up 1-0. At 1-1, Willie again had break points but couldn't convert. Daniel's tough play at the clutch moments started to energize him and he definitely raised his level. Willie, however, hung tough and broke serve at 5-5 to go up 6-5 with the match on his racquet. Daniel came up with some great shots in that game, Willie missed a makeable volley, and was eventually broken. Tiebreak.
The tie-break was close but I sensed Willie edging ahead. Watching from the sidelines, I started to bounce around and loosen up my legs expecting the match to finish at which point it would be my turn to play. But Daniel elevated his game once more and served a second-serve ace at 6-5 in the breaker to take the second set 7-6 and force a deciding third set.
Willie was visibly dejected and dumped serve to start the third set. Daniel then held to go up 2-0. But there was still some fight in Willie and he gathered himself, raised his game, and broke back to even the set at 3-3. From there, it was really tight. Daniel missed an easy sitter overhead which would have given him a 30-15 lead on Willie's serve, and one could sense the momentum change. A few points later, Willie (who is left handed) had to scrap out a right-handed overhead to keep the point alive, and avoid being broken again. He ended up holding serve, broke again, and served out the match for a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 victory and a 1-0 lead for team USA. We were pumped.
I took the court next and felt surprisingly good. My leg ache was gone, and I felt relaxed and confident. I liked my matchup vs. German Holzcan, a big-hitting right hander who liked to take big cuts at every ball. The problem for him however, is at this altitude (did I mention we are playing at 8,000 feet??) the ball flies so fast that you really need to shorten up your strokes to make solid contact. So my plan was to attack him and take away his time by keeping the ball low and wide on my way to the net.
I won the coin toss and elected to receive. I think that surprised him because he was a little off in that first game and I chased down some of his corner-to-corner groundstrokes to earn a break in the first game. I held comfortably from there, squandered a chance to break again for a 5-2 lead, but still served for the set at 5-4. My nerves got to me a bit serving for the set, and despite getting a 40-15 lead, I played a tentative point and allowed German to attack the net. I barely missed the passing shot but thought I'd made it and shouted, "C'mon!!" before I realized the ball was wide.
At 40-30 I hit a good first serve out wide to his backhand but missed the first volley in nearly the exact same spot where my errant passing shot landed on the point before. Deuce.
A service winner outside gave me another set point but I double faulted. Ugh. I again won the deuce point, and again double faulted. Double ugh. I missed a routine groundstroke on the next point to go down a break, giving German a chance to even the match at 5-5 after a set in which I controlled from the very first point. Fortunately, I quickly erased his chance with an ace up the "T" and then settled down to win the next two points and the set 6-4.
In the second set, German picked up his game and I started feeling less and less comfortable on the court. He was hitting the ball better and bigger, making it harder for me to attack. Plus, I was making it harder on myself by not putting enough returns into play, allowing him to hold easily. That gave him added confidence and just made things more difficult for me. As a result, I found myself down a break, 4-1 in the second.
I seemed to relax, however, instead of getting worried. I never felt like I was going to lose, since I felt that if I could get myself into the point I'd win it. I held serve easily for 2-4 and then broke him to get back on serve 3-4. I held again for 4-4 and probably should have broken him to go up 5-4, but didn't, so had to serve a tough 4-5 game to stay alive in the set. I did, and we both held again to force a tiebreak.
On the first point of the breaker, I hit my best return of the match. He'd hammered a first serve out wide to my forehand, which I connected on and ripped a cross-court winner, but then I played a bad point and gave the mini-break back. From then on, the breaker went back and forth until we were at 5-5 on my serve. I dumped my first serve in the net and I definitely felt the pressure on the second serve, having already double faulted a few times on big points earlier in the set. However, I was able to deliver one of my best serves, an out-wide slider to his forehand and he dribbled the ball into the net.
Serving at 5-6, German double faulted. I called the ball immediately but he protested as did his captain. They wanted to see the mark which I showed them. The ball missed by about half an inch but they insisted the mark was actually touching the line (it wasn't), so they called for the referee. Lew (who was on my bench) and I knew the ref wouldn't do anything since you can't rely on a ball mark on a hard court. On clay, it's a different matter. On clay, you can pause before calling the ball in/out to look at the mark it left on the clay surface. On a hard court you don't always get a clean mark so you can't rely on it; you must call the ball immediately as you see it. As we suspected, the ref arrived and immediately reminded the Argentines that there is no looking at ball marks on a hard court. Game, set, match, USA...and an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the team match.
We shook hands but I was disappointed. It was an unfortunate way to end the match, on a disputed call. The match was a good one, hard fought, and it bothered me that the only call he questioned the entire match was a clear double-fault on match point. So, after resting on the chair for a few minutes, I went up to their team and said, in Spanish, "Hey guys, I know you think the ball was in but I know it was wide. Regardless of whether you believe me or not, just know I'm sorry the match ended this way. It was well played and hard fought, so I'm sorry if the experience is tainted because of one disputed call." They seemed to appreciate that and we all gladly posed for a team picture at the net.
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| Post-match photo with Argentina, from left, me, Rodrigo Cisneros, Luis E'Halli Obeid, Lew Miller, Kline Sack, Daniel Borenzstein, Willie Dann, and German Holzcan. |
After that, Lew and Kline took the court for the second time this week and buried the Argentines 6-3, 6-1. Another total team victory: Everyone played, everyone won. We celebrated by going to that great Mexican restaurant I mentioned a few days ago. One of the specialties there is "Salsa 21", so named because it's made with 20 chilies and 1 tomato. Hot. They serve it in a stone bowl that weighs about 20 lbs. We tried to pass it around the table, but stopped fearing that one of us might tear a rotator cuff. But the stuff was good!
Our win today clinches first place for us in our group and we advance to the semifinals to play Spain tomorrow. The No. 1 seed and defending champion, Spain has two players formerly in the top 150 in the world (ATP tour). Their No. 1 from last year is their No. 3 this year, and in 1995 he was ranked as high as 65 in the world. I just checked the ATP website and he's beaten the likes of Marcelo Rios, Alex Corretja and Carlos Costa. He's even been on the same court with Stefan Edberg, losing in straight sets at Wimbledon in 1995. The good news for us is that was 15 years ago and we're playing on fast hard courts at elevation (did I mention we're playing at 8,000 feet?), not the slow red clay courts of his native Spain.
So, we'll try to attack the Spaniards tomorrow and make them hit a lot of passing shots to win. If ever there was a time and a place for us to pull out an upset of Spain, tomorrow here in Mexico City is the one. It will be fun.
In the other semifinals are Great Britain and Germany, so all of the top 4 seeds made it out of pool play and will now battle it out in a semifinals draw. Winners of each semifinal will play for 1st on Saturday (Friday is a day of for rest), while the losers will play for third.
Wish us luck.
DW
Tuesday, March 30
More good news from Mexico-we defeated Colombia 3-0 today to remain undefeated in our group.
As planned, Lew Miller led us off at the No. 2 singles position against a talented, if not slightly out-of-shape, Columbian who was actually a teammate of Kline Sack back when they played tennis for Auburn University. More on that later.
I know Lew wasn't elated with his performance but he did manage to win 6-3, 6-0. He started off a little tentative perhaps, but that is only natural in one's first singles match in this competition. Talk to any member of any of the Cup teams and they'll tell you that they're always nervous for that first match. He found his rhythm nicely toward the end of the first set and rolled to victory, giving our team a boost of confidence and a 1-0 lead in the team match.
I'm not sure anyone knew exactly what to expect in my match. My Colombian opponent, Pedro Mejia, handily defeated Argentina's No. 1 yesterday so we knew he would be a tough opponent. Other than a bit of a sore spot in my upper right thigh, I felt energized and ready to play.
Pedro had a deceptive serve (he was also a lefty, my second straight match vs. a left-hander) and a pretty big forehand. His backhand however, was surprisingly weak so I fed him a steady diet of balls to that wing. I won a lot of cheap points serving out wide on the deuce side to his backhand, and straight up the "T" on the ad side. Serving and volleying continues to be very effective in these conditions (did I mention we are playing at 8,000 feet???).
I broke Pedro at 2-2 and held serve for a 4-2 lead. I had break chances in his next service game but he held for 3-4. Serving at 4-3, I played a shockingly bad game. I missed two easy volleys and a routine short ball to get broken at love. Oops, 4-4. Pedro yelped out a, "Vamos!" (translated means, “Let’s go!”)
But I played three straight great points on his serve to go up 0-40. He answered with two good first serves. 30-40. In perhaps my best point of the match, I finished off an 8 or 10 shot rally by slicing a low hard forehand to his backhand, off which I volleyed his crosscourt reply for a winner into the open court. I got the break, went up 5-4 and served out the set in the next game 6-4.
The second set was more of the same but without the goose egg of a game I laid at 4-3 in the first; a lot of chipping and charging off his returns and continued success with the serve and volley to his backhand, off of which he couldn't do much but hope to return a slice low at my feet. I broke again at 2-2 and never looked back, sealing the win and our team victory 6-4, 6-2.
Once again, we had great support from the women on the 35s team. They had the day off but came to the club to practice. After practicing, they stuck around to watch our match and really helped cheer me on. It was great to have their vocal support especially when it was a little tight at 4-4 in the first set.
Kline and Willie took the court for the doubles match, which I’m sure was fun for Kline to play against his old Auburn teammate. Kline rose to the occasion, serving well enough to free Willie up to be an animal at the net where he put away countless volley winners. Both guys returned well, keeping steady pressure on the Colombians. Team USA won the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
Tomorrow we play Argentina. The winner of our match wins the group (Argentina beat Australia 2-1 today) so there will be some added pressure. We're not sure how their lineup will be since today they sat their No. 1 player and played their No. 2 and No. 4 in the 1 and 2 singles spots, respectively.
We like our chances but Argentina will be good. We are familiar with them, having eked out a 2-1 victory on the red clay courts of Mallorca, Spain in last year's World Championships. Last year, Willie had to rally from a set and a break down to beat his opponent who is Argentina's No. 2 this year. So the guy can play and he seems to be equally comfortable on the hard courts here in Mexico. If he plays at the No. 2 position, it's sure to be a hard fought rematch of last year. If he plays at No. 1, I'll have to be play even better than I did today.
Regardless of who they put out there, we like our chances.
After showering up, we went to a great Italian restaurant and caught up with the Men’s 40s team. They battled Great Britain for a 2-1 win, with my friend Morgan Shepherd and Rick Kepler (Aptos, Calif.) winning the decisive doubles match.
After dinner, I ran into Mike Tammen's 50s team which squeaked out a hard 3-0 victory over Colombia. Of course, I wanted to hear all about it so I sat with them in the lobby and heard about how each of their singles players was down a set and a break before rallying for third-set wins. Mike teamed with Ross Persons (Houston, Texas) for a three-set win in the doubles. I got to know Ross from last year's event in Mallorca, where he was on the USA squad that won the title. I think their narrow victory today, early in the event, is a good omen of things to come…and I told them so.
Tired, content and confident about tomorrow, I'm signing off and heading to bed.
DW
Monday, March 29
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| Post-match photo with the Australians, from left, Kline Sack, Lew Miller, Rhys MacDougall, me, Jamie White and Willie Dann. |
Hopefully the cheery tone of my words comes through to you all because it was a very good day for Team USA.
Today we played Australia which always sends good teams to these competitions. Coming into today, Australia looked to be a bit weaker than in years past as their top three nationally-ranked players did not make the trip. The Aussie squad's No. 1 singles player here is Rhys McDougall, currently ranked No. 4 in Australia. He's your typical rugged Australian, about 6'4", left-handed and a good serve and volleyer. Even though they didn't send their top guys, we did not expect any gifts from Australia.
Willie started us off at No. 2 singles and pretty much put on a serve and volley clinic. His opponent was overmatched from the start and Willie's confidence rose consistently throughout the match and that confidence was reflected in his play. It was a good start for Team USA and Willie finished the match in quick order.
I was up next at the No. 1 spot vs. McDougall. His 120mph first serve felt like 220mph at this elevation (have I mentioned we're at 8,000 feet??) and he sent a few unreturnables my way.
I dug in, however and returned very well when I had a look at his second serve. His volleys were good, not great, so I often had a decent look at a passing shot after he scooped my hard, low returns off the court. And I passed him pretty well, often enough to get a break at 2-2 in the first set before I rolled off eight consecutive games to go up 6-2, 4-0. From there, I held serve comfortably, as did he, to finish the 6-2, 6-2 victory.
I am very happy with the way I played today and made some progress on my serve. As I've mentioned before, I was serving very well coming into this event but the altitude has necessitated some adjustments. It's tough to swing away for the big bomber because the ball is just flying. Better executed is a 75-80% pace sliding first serve which is still clocking in at probably 110mph. With the ball bouncing high off the court, that's all you need. Getting in a high percentage of first serves is key and doing so throughout the latter part of the first set and the entire second set has boosted my confidence a bit. I served and volleyed about half the time and was successful more often than not. That makes me feel good going into tomorrow.
My win clinched the team victory for us but Lew and Kline still played doubles and beat Rhys and Jamie White, Australia's No. 2. It was a close match but Lew and Kline elevated their games when they needed to and finished off the Aussies 7-5, 6-3. It was a total team victory in every respect.
Throughout my singles and their doubles, we had the support of the women's USA 35-and-over team which had finished up playing on the court right behind us. The USA gals defeated Turkey handily so they came to watch us earn a win vs. Australia. That's really one of the fun things about this competition. The USA has a team in every division (35s-55s, men and women) and everyone is pulling for each other. Since we're not all playing at the same venue, we catch up in the lobby or restaurant of the hotel and ask each other, "How'd you do today?"
This evening I bumped into Mike Tammen in the lobby. He and the 50s guys beat Turkey in their first match. Mike played No. 2 singles in the USA's 3-0 dismantling of their opponents. Mike and his crew have an extra special challenge this year - their competition is being played on red clay. Imagine that: The ball is traveling at 100mph, bouncing like a super ball at the elevation (did I mention we're at 8,000 feet??) AND you're on red clay where sure footing is a pipe dream.
Tomorrow we face Columbia, which provided a scare to Argentina today before falling 7-6 in the third set of the deciding doubles match. We were surprised to see Columbia's No. 1 defeat Argentina's No. 1, since we know Argentina's No. 2 player is very solid. We'll need to play well again tomorrow to take down the guys from Bogota and keep our chances of winning our group alive.
I think we are going to give Willie a day off from singles tomorrow so he's fresh for Wednesday's match vs. Argentina. He serves and volleys hard on every point and his body takes a pounding. A day off will help him and should help us down the road. We won't miss a step with Lew Miller filling in at No. 2, as I think I've said before Lew's returns and passing shots will give any opponent fits. And he'll fight tooth and nail to the bitter end so we're in good with Lew leading off for us at No. 2 singles.
Off to dinner with the 40s team...
DW
Sunday, March 28
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Me enjoying the opening ceremonies. |
Today we were able to practice at the club where we'll compete throughout the week. We were pleasantly surprised as the courts were in good shape and the grounds were beautifully landscaped. It is really a neat little club.
Lew, Willie, Kline and I practiced together for a few hours and played a few competitive points. Lew and Willie both feel good at the altitude and that will help our team for sure.
I had to cut my practice a bit short so as to get back to the captain's meeting where the team nominations (order of strength on each team) were discussed/confirmed, and then the seeds were proposed. No captain took any major issue with the seeds which are as follows:
1) Spain
2) Germany
3) Great Britain
4) USA
5) Argentina
Given the odd number of seeds and size of our field, the play will be organized around four groups, three groups of three teams and one group of four. The top three seeds are seeded first in their respective group of three, and we are placed in a group with Argentina along with Columbia and Australia.
Group play will be a round robin, with each team playing each other once. The teams in the other three groups will each have a bye (day off) during the first three days of play, while teams in our group will play each day. We will be slated to play Argentina on the last day, in what hopes to be a rematch (with the same result!!!) from last year's World Championships in which we won 2-1 to secure seventh place. But, there is some work to be done before that…starting with Australia tomorrow. Everyone is feeling good and ready to play.
After the captain's meeting, all the teams in every division gathered for the opening ceremony. We all paraded into a large stadium tennis court named in honor of 1960 Wimbledon Doubles Champion Rafael Osuna. One by one, the teams entered the stadium (a beautiful red clay court and surrounding capacity for a few thousand fans), led by a young Mexican girl very ceremonially dressed. A military band played from high up in the stands of the stadium and the crowd really got into it. It was a neat atmosphere.
After the standard opening statements by various officials, we were all treated to an hour or more of live music (a 10-piece mariachi band) and dancing. Ladies in colorful dresses dancing with traditional Mexican vaqueros, who did a sort of tap dance routine except they were boot stomping, not tapping. It was pretty amazing to see the effort that the Mexican Tennis Federation put into the event, into welcoming these senior players from around the world.
An amazing fireworks display ended the ceremony.
Tomorrow we play Australia at 10 a.m. We are going to stick with our designated order of strength, which is to say me at No. 1 singles, Willie at No. 2 and then see where we are before deciding on a doubles team.
We like our chances but every match is important and we'll need to play well to get a solid win on day one.
More tomorrow after the match.
DW
Saturday, March 27
Hola from Mexico!
I arrived late Friday night, actually Saturday morning about 12:15 a.m. by the time we went through customs, and to my dismay, no representative from the International Tennis Federation was there to greet and transport me to the hotel (as promised). Knowing I was flying in late, I actually reconfirmed with the tournament officials just the day prior, as I didn't want to start my trip by violating two of the US Embassy's posted suggestions on traveling to Mexico: 1) Don't go out late by yourself and 2) be careful about hailing a cab late at night. But, that's just what I did.
The cab ride was actually fine, safe and quick. I was able to check into the hotel at about 1:30 a.m., but was so wired from the flight that it was tough to sleep. Plus, I was being serenaded by the dull "umph, umph, umph" of muted discotec music coming from somewhere outside. Oh, yeah, and my eyes were starting to burn and my nose was running from the air in my "no smoking" room. I think the previous guest flaunted the hotel rules. Nasty.
After struggling to sleep by about 3 a.m., I was disappointed to awake just after 6:30. Not the night sleep I'd hoped for, but the cobwebs cleared pretty quickly when I walked down to the breakfast buffet at the hotel and the first person I saw was Mike Tammen (of Portland). It was nice to see a familiar face, and quickly a host of other U.S. players emerged, new and old friends from tournaments past and fellow players from last year's ITF World Team Championships in Mallorca, Spain.
Kline Sack and I hopped on the shuttle bus to head to the practice facility (Lew Miller and Willie Dann didn't arrive until later in the day). We were able to get in a good 90 minute hit but it wasn't the highest quality tennis. The courts were LIGHTNING FAST and the elevation of nearly 8,000 feet made the ball absolutely fly. I immediately went into my bag and grabbed a racquet I'd had strung at 5 pounds tighter tension than my normal racquet, and that certainly helped. But the conditions play so quickly and the ball jumps so fast - this is definitely going to be "first-strike tennis". No long rallies and very little hope of making a passing shot if the opponent grabs the net first. It is kind of like playing on grass, only faster!
In the afternoon, Kline and I played a few sets and things started to feel better. I played well and served well. Even though I've been serving better lately, I've never known what it has been like to be a "big server", but today I did. Well-struck, a hard first serve has a very good chance of being an ace or at least a service winner. Even a serve hit at 75% slams into the opposing back fence with the force of something Sampras or Ivanisevic would have hit in their prime. Nice to get a glimpse of what that feels like!
After a few sets with Kline, I played another set with my good friend Morgan Shepherd. Morgan is the former long-time assistant coach at Boise State under the legendary Greg Patton. Morgan is a quality player and even a better guy. He and I won the USTA National Men's 30s Grasscourt doubles title together two years ago. Some of you may remember watching him at the Nike Oregon State tournament held at Mountain Park Racquet Club in Lake Oswego, Ore., last summer. Morgan rolled through the 40s, and he and I also played doubles together in both the 35s and the Open division that weekend. Morgan loves tennis and will play until they turn the lights out so he was more than willing to play another set with me.
After a good five hours of tennis today, I've accomplished two things I set out to do: 1) get comfortable with the conditions and 2) tire myself out so I sleep better tonight!
Tomorrow we practice at the facility where our matches will be played (today was at a different club), and Willie and Lew will be on court with us. It'll be interesting to see how those guys find the conditions here after coming from mile-high Denver. I still think they'll be amazed by how quick the courts are.
After a morning practice, I will head to the Team Captain’s meeting where the draw will be held and the seeds will be placed. We're hoping for a top four seed since there will likely be four brackets of round-robin play to determine which team advances later in the week to the semifinals. Being a top four seed means we're safely away from the other good teams until at least the semifinals. That said, every team is dangerous and there are always surprises by the end of a week's tournament.
I am feeling good, ready to battle and looking forward to getting this thing started. Oh yeah, and the hotel graciously allowed me to switch rooms into one with better air. Night, night.
DW
Wednesday, March 24
I am once again looking forward to representing the USA at the ITF World Senior Championships to be held in Mexico City. This year will be extra special as I have been selected Captain of our four-man team.
The only bummer is that my wife Katy won’t be joining me (“Mexico City doesn’t quite have the allure of Mallorca, Spain”), so this year will be even tougher to be away from home/work/family. I have little doubt, however, that once I arrive in Mexico City, rendezvous with my teammates and hit the practice courts, the tennis juices will be flowing.
This year’s team is virtually the same as the 2009 squad: Willie Dann and Lew Miller, both of Denver, are veterans from last year. Willie is an athletic lefty who can be a fierce competitor. Lew is anyone’s nightmare opponent: He never misses a groundstroke and, while you can create chances to attack him, he possesses pinpoint-accuracy passing shots. Kline Sack of New York is our No. 4 player and replaces Chris Carey from last year. I believe Kline played on the Italia Cup team in 2007 so he’s played at a high level for many years and is no stranger to this competition.
Going into this year’s tournament, I think we have a real chance at doing well. We finished in seventh place last year and the matches we lost (to eventual third place team France and sixth place Sweden) were very close. Neither of those teams is back, nor is defending champ Austria. In fact, the field of countries is much smaller than 2009 when 24 countries sent teams. This year, only 13 teams have elected to participate. Blame the weaker numbers on the global recession, safety concern, and/or the long flight from Europe (I say let the Euros fly 14 hours for a change - the USA has done it the past four years!).
Despite the smaller field of competitors, the teams will be good. Early indications have 2009 finalist Spain and 2009 semifinalist Germany as the teams to beat. In addition, Great Britain is sending what appears to be a loaded team. Their No. 1 player from last year looks to be No. 3 on this year’s squad, making one wonder how good their No. 1 and No. 2 players are….probably really good. And the Brits will no doubt feel comfortable on the fast courts and high altitude of Mexico City.
That said, we have some talent and experience on our side. We will always be tested against the best teams at the No. 1 singles position, but we will have more depth top-to-bottom than most teams. Plus, we have a real edge in the doubles category. Each guy can play quality doubles - we must have a dozen gold balls (indicative of a national title) between us - and will most likely be called upon to do so. Our goal will be to at least split the singles so doubles becomes a factor (each tie is comprised of two singles and one doubles match, with two match victories needed to secure the win). On top of that, Willie and Lew live in Denver and will be well accustomed to seeing the ball traveling Mach 3 and bouncing like a superball at that elevation.
I feel healthy, fit and am generally playing well. I think I am serving better now than at any time in my life, and I hope I can maintain that standard when the butterflies of representing my country kidnap my stomach. Because they will. That’s part of what gets me going.
I’m also coming off a good tournament in Palm Springs (the Babolat World Classic where, en route to winning the title, I beat the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in the country) and have been logging some quality hours on court in recent weeks. A host of guys have been my sparring partners, namely Eric Pickard, Joel Kincaid and Brett Joelson. I’m lucky that Joel and Brett have been back in town (a brief respite from their pro tour travels) the past few weeks. Seeing that kind of ball is invaluable. Eric is always willing to squeeze an hour in with me between his clinics, and on more than one occasion has made me realize I probably should have paid him for the lesson he gave me. And I certainly wouldn’t be as prepared if it weren’t for my good friend Jon Hummelt who heartily embraces getting up at 5:15 a.m. to hit with me before we start our respective workdays.
I hope the upcoming ten days in Mexico City is the wonderful experience I expect it to be. Representing the USA in international competition is the privilege of a tennis lifetime and the camaraderie of the players on all teams is something I remember well from last year. On top of it all, we have a real opportunity to create something special down there which could very well result in the need for an additional carry-on to transport the Italia Cup back to the USA.
I’ll update you on Saturday after I get settled.
DW
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ITF SENIOR WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
The USTA selected the top American tennis players in age divisions 35-55 for both men and women who will represent the United States in the 30th annual ITF Seniors World Team Championships that will be held March 29-April 3 in Mexico City, Mexico. The events will be held at the following five venues: Club Aleman de Mexico, The Reforma Athletic Club, Club Casablanca Lomas Verdes, Club Casablanca San Angel and Club de Racqueta El Yaqui.
In addition to Williams, the U.S. will also be represented by Mike Tammen of Portland. Tammen has been named to the Fred Perry Cup (Men's 50) team that also includes Egan Adams of Palmetto, Fla., Mike Fedderly of Palm Desert, Calif., and Val Wilder of Fort Worth, Texas. This will be the fifth ITF Seniors World Team Championship for Tammen who competed on the U.S. Italia Club (Men's 35) team from 1996 to 1999, twice winning the championship and twice finishing as runner-up.
The ITF Seniors/Super-Seniors World Team Championships is the most coveted team event on the ITF Seniors circuit. Since its inception in 1981, the number of competitors attracted to this event has increased year by year. In 1993, the ITF took the decision to divide the Seniors World Championships into two groups, Seniors (35-55) and Super-Seniors (60-80 for men and 60-75 for women).
For more information about the ITF Seniors/Super-Seniors World Team Championships, please click here.