Australia’s Davis Cup dreaming

In the midst of Croatia's Davis Cup win, Darrell Halim remembers what it was like when Australia won the trophy and the struggle that lays ahead.

It was the Croatians’ overwhelming determination that got them there. These were the qualities that they needed to call upon if they were to get passed the Slovak Republic’s gutsy, lion-hearted effort to take out the 2005 Davis Cup.

The pride of playing for one’s nation is what almost always takes a country to Davis Cup glory. However, as valuable as all of these attributes are in winning the big points, making the big shots, and ultimately getting you over the line, it also requires a marked level of raw talent and skill.

When it comes down to it, Croatia was the deserved favourite heading into a Davis Cup final that guaranteed the name of the 12th different nation to be etched into the old trophy.

As we come to terms with Croatia’s admirable Davis Cup victory, it should remind us of Australia’s most recent Davis Cup victories – against France in 1999, and Spain in 2003 – and what this success meant to the Australian tennis community.

We should remember these triumphs now before they begin to fade, as it appears unlikely that Australia will own this famous trophy in the near future.

Despite this bold judgement, I would love to be proven wrong.

There was a four-year gap between Australia’s last two titles and if this brief pattern is to continue, then 2007 should be our year. This may be a good thing because if 2006 was meant to be Australia’s year, many would have trouble believing that Australia had a realistic chance of doing it.

So what is in front of the Hewitt-led Australians if they are to win next year’s Davis Cup?

For starters, the first round will not be an easy tie. In fact, it will take a heroic effort by whatever Australian team is nominated to do battle. The reason for this is because Australia, even though seeded in the 2006 World Group draw, could easily be said to be the underdogs against an un-seeded Switzerland that has the dual home-court and home-crowd advantage.

With home-ground advantage comes the choice of venue and, most significantly in the sport of tennis today, the choice of surface.

Switzerland has elected to play on clay, a decision that is very likely based on the fact that Australia’s preferred surface is natural grass and their weakest, clay.

A more weighty reason that Australia could be considered underdogs, though, is because Switzerland has a man called Roger Federer on their side.

Federer has an 11-7 head-to-head record against Hewitt, Australia’s finest player by a long way, including a win on their only match on clay in 2004, but if you dig a little deeper, all of the Australian’s seven wins came in the pair’s first nine meetings.

Hewitt has not won an encounter against the Swiss genius since their Davis Cup meeting back in 2003.

This is the match that supposedly turned Federer’s tennis career into what it has become – record-breaking feats complete with consistently unbelievable shot-making. His record speaks for itself.

In this match, the live fourth rubber of the tie, the current world number one and reining Wimbledon and US Open champion claimed the first two sets 7-5 6-2, and looked certain to level the tie at 2-2.

However, Hewitt was able to claw his way back into the match, taking the next two sets 7-6(4) 7-5, before comfortably closing out a despondent Federer 6-1 in the fifth.

If Federer had won his match against Hewitt, Switzerland would have entered a decisive fifth rubber on a high and with a great optimism that a fighting Michel Kratochvil could overcome Australia’s Mark Philippoussis in his own backyard in Melbourne.

However, it wasn’t to be. Hewitt had denied Switzerland of progressing to the final where they would have had an opportunity to take the Davis Cup home for the first time. At the time, Federer was clearly distraught, but just two years later, the world number one has matured and transformed so much that he has become incomparable to his yesteryears.

In nine meetings since, the dogged Hewitt has tried everything to beat the Swiss master, but has been unable to unnerve his opponent. In fact, from these nine meeting, the world number four has only been able to win three sets. That’s three sets won out of the 27 they have played. Not the greatest strike-rate.

Australia are in the top half of the World Group drawsheet and, assuming they do get passed Roger and his Swiss compatriots in the first round, it doesn’t get much easier, with a possible quarterfinal match-up with a Spanish team boasting the world’s number two, Rafael Nadal.

If Australia can get on top of a Nadal-led Spanish side with great depth, then there is a high likelihood that they will either face their 2005 conquerors, Argentina, or the reining Davis Cup champions, Croatia.

If they are to come out on top of their half of the draw, then…

OK. Maybe we shouldn’t look too far ahead. To ‘take one match at a time’ is a popular adage for many tennis players, but this old saying may, in this case, hold a different meaning because, for Australia’s Davis Cup team, there may not be a next match.

Australia’s Davis Cup captain, John Fitzgerald, appears to acknowledge the lack of depth in his side as he recently put Australia’s second tier of male tennis players through a weekend of intense training that was aimed at toughening them up and helping them take the next step this summer.

Davis Cup part-timers Chris Guccione and Peter Luczak were amongst this group of players, which indicates a concern from Fitzgerald and his Davis Cup associates, including Australia’s Cup Coach and fellow ex-professional tennis player, Wally Masur.

Davis Cup matches can make a player, break a player, or turn a career around for better or for worse. You only have to look as far as Federer’s 2003 loss to Hewitt.

Australia will be hoping to discover a quality player to regularly support Hewitt and shoulder some of the load. Wayne Arthurs, currently ranked 99 in the world, has done all he can do and is not getting any younger, whilst Philippoussis, ranked 171, continues to be distracted.

The unearthing of Australia’s solid second player may not necessarily come in the form of a heroic win. Instead, like in Federer’s case, it may be a hard-fought loss that gives a young player a greater drive and, as a result, kick-starts a suppressed talent.

At this stage, Australia can only hope for the best with the players that we have, and continue to show great optimism.

This year, Australia avoided having to qualify for the 2006 World Group when they eased their way to a 5-0 win over Austria in February’s first round tie.

Next time around we may not be so fortunate but, again, I would love to be proven wrong.

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