Davis Cup Qualifiers 2023 - Colombia vs GB - 3-4 Feb

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

RE: Davis Cup Qualifiers 2023 - Colombia vs GB - 3-4 Feb

Smudge226 · Strong Club Player

JonH comes home wrote:
Priesty wrote:
Sat watching with my mate who reckoned they should have played Draper. Could have a point there.
Still can tomorrow - Dan will be tired after doubles .

Might have to play Draper on this evidence.. Dan doesn't look like he has potentially 6sets in him tomorrow.

indiana · Tennis legend

Smudge226 wrote:
Jaffa wrote:
Proper leveller the altitude. No ranking points are there?
You have it there I think. The GB team have not had very long at this altitude, afew days, Dan looked cooked in the 3rd. Looks like it's about strength as much as fitness with this ball and the clay. Thin air will offer less drag, higher ball speed but this ball needs to be hit harder.

Leon was talking to Eleanor Oldroyd on 5 Live Sport on Thursday ( from about 7.50 pm ).

He said very unusually they would actually have had 8 days prep given the various circumstances. So much more than normal but still so much to get used to. All the players came straight from Melbourne apart from Jack who had a few days back home after he lost to Rafa, with Neal the last one to fly in

Interesting re Dan's previous comments about not playing Davis Cup doubles. Leon said he'd spent quite a bit of time with Dan, especially in Australia, prior to going to Colombia and they'ed ironed out quite a few things. He said that included agreement that things be kept in house in future - good luck with that one.

Seriously though, good that they did spend time together. I was critical of Leon's responses to quite generall criticism of his selections last time. Unusially very defensive.but guess he's rarely been questioned as much about selections which I too thought just looked wrong. But he seems to have dealt with things pretty well since.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
R1: Nicolás Mejíia (COL) WR 253 defeated Daniel Evans WR 30 by 6-2 2-6 6-4

Cam redresses the balance:

R2: Cameron Norrie WR 11 defeated Nicolás Barrientos (COL) WR 510 by 2 & 5 smile

COL 1 GBR 1

Smudge226 · Strong Club Player

indiana wrote:
Smudge226 wrote:
Jaffa wrote:
Proper leveller the altitude. No ranking points are there?
You have it there I think. The GB team have not had very long at this altitude, afew days, Dan looked cooked in the 3rd. Looks like it's about strength as much as fitness with this ball and the clay. Thin air will offer less drag, higher ball speed but this ball needs to be hit harder.
Leon was talking to Eleanor Oldroyd on 5 Live Sport on Thursday ( from about 7.50 pm ).
He said very unusually they would actually have had 8 days prep given the various circumstances. So much more than normal but still so much to get used to. All the players came straight from Melbourne apart from Jack who had a few days back home after he lost to Rafa, with Neal the last one to fly in
Interesting re Dan's previous comments about not playing Davis Cup doubles. Leon said he'd spent quite a bit of time with Dan, especially in Australia, prior to going to Colombia and they'ed ironed out quite a few things. He said that included agreement that things be kept in house in future - good luck with that one.
Seriously though, good that they did spend time together. I was critical of Leon's responses to quite generall criticism of his selections last time. Unusially very defensive.but guess he's rarely been questioned as much about selections which I too thought just looked wrong. But he seems to have dealt with things pretty well since.

Evo may have got his way and feature in the dubs but he hasn't half loaded himself with some pressure now after his very public statements. Hopefully spending time with Leon has helped and he'll be less prone to repeat. Not great for team morale, has to be one message, one direction.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Itf match report

ESP
Nicolas Mejia (COL)Photo: Luis Emiro Mejia

HONOURS EVEN AFTER MEJIA HEROICS IN COLOMBIA-GB CLASH
04 Feb 2023ATP Staff
It's all square for Great Britain and hosts Colombia after Friday's Davis Cup Qualifier action in Bogota.

After Colombia's Nicolas Mejia earned his first Top 100 win with a 6-2 2-6 6-4 result against Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie levelled the tie by beating Nicolas Barrientos 6-2 7-5.

Mejia clinched his milestone victory with a break in the final game against Evans, a blazing backhand passing shot sparking wild celebrations in the Colombian capital. After the competitors split a pair of one-sided sets, the 22-year-old fended off three break points in the first game of the decider before piling on the pressure late.

While he could not convert on two break chances as Evans held in a marathon game to level the set at 4-4, Mejias responded with a love hold before clinching victory with his third break of the two-hour, 31-minute contest.

"The key to victory? The attitude, dedication, not getting nervous more than necessary," he said post-match. "I have also learned a lot from previous defeats.

"I wanted to go out and win and I was not going to give them anything. I am very happy for the point that I was able to give to Colombia. There is a long way [to go] to think about victory."

In the day's second match, Norrie coped with the pressure of the 1-0 deficit and the volume of the home crowd, claiming an early break against Barrientos to settle British nerves. The British No. 1 again scored an immediate break to open the second set, but the Colombian snapped back with his first break of the match.

Barrientos then created five break points on return at 1-2, but he could not break Norrie's dogged resistance. The Colombian earned another break chance at 2-3 but was again denied, and ultimately paid the price when a missed volley handed Norrie a crucial late break in the set's 11th game.

With the match on his racquet, Norrie finished the job to earn Great Britain its first point in the tie.

"Especially given that we're the away team, they've got a huge advantage [with us] coming here on clay, in altitude, with the fans out there," Norrie said after his victory. "That's why we love it and that's why we're out here playing. I really enjoyed the match today and I can improve on a lot of things going into tomorrow."

Both teams will require two wins from Saturday's play to clinch the tie and secure a place in the 2023 Davis Cup Final Group Stage. Play is set to begin at noon local time with doubles.

TIE DETAILS
QUALIFIERS - 1ST ROUND
COL 1:1 GBR
Pueblo Viejo Country Club, Cota, Colombia
03 Feb - 04 Feb 2023
Nicolas MEJIA Nicolas BARRIENTOS Cristian RODRIGUEZ Juan-Sebastian CABAL Cameron NORRIE Daniel EVANS Jack DRAPER Neal SKUPSKI Joe SALISBURY
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2023 DAVIS CUP QUALIFIER
COL 1:1 GBR
Pueblo Viejo Country Club, Cota, Colombia
03 Feb - 04 Feb 2023
R1
N. MEJIA6 2 6
D. EVANS2 6 4
R2
N. BARRIENTOS2 5
C. NORRIE6 7
R3
J. CABAL
R. FARAH
D. EVANS
N. SKUPSKI
R4
N. MEJIA
C. NORRIE
R5
N. BARRIENTOS
D. EVANS
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KK · Club Coach

What can I watch this on?

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

KK wrote:
What can I watch this on?

Details at the end of this report by the Beeb.

KK · Club Coach

Stircrazy wrote:
KK wrote:
What can I watch this on?
Details at the end of this report by the Beeb.

Thank you.

Ian1314 · Lower Club Player

GB (Evans and Skupski) have just won the doubles 6-4 6-4 biggrin

emmsie69 · Top national player

Dan redeemed himself so we take a 2-1 lead into the singles

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Well, that was enjoyable. Those two play well together.... didn't they reach a couple of ATP finals together two years back or so?

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

For the record:

R3: Daniel Evans & Neal Skupski CR 83 (82+1) defeated Juan Sebastián Cabal & Robert Farah (COL/COL) CR 46 (23+23) by 4 & 4 biggrin

COL 1 GBR 2

Rich2310 · County player

Good one. Get this all wrapped up tomorrow.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yay, well done Dan and Neal

I was always relatively optimistic about the doubles here in spite of all the circumstances and playing Cabal & Farah.