2008 Davis Cup Diary - Winston-Salem, NC
THE CRISIS: BLAKE SURVIVES IT SENDING U.S. TO CUP FINAL IN SPAIN

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - Standing alone in the darkened arena, a spotlight gleaming against its silver frame, the 108-year-old Davis Cup, almost 4-feet tall, raised higher on a platform, seemed the holy grail from a Wagnerian opera. Reverential music sounded throughout Joel Coliseum, and people were saying "Wow...so that's it! Awesome."

But that mood was quickly lost, and 10,082 folks inhabiting the building began transforming it to Bedlam-beside-the-Yadkin River for 3 days. Noise and more noise. Pep bands, cheerleaders (a uniformed group, the "Netheads" for the U.S.), the abominable thunderstix crackling and rattling. Constant hollers of "USA - USA!" Over and over for hours.

Fun noise - a sliver of French loyalists were in on it, too -- threatened to lift the roof of the Coliseum as the United States in the persons of Andy Roddick, James Blake, Bob and Mike Bryan, moved onward, past France, into the Davis Cup semifinals, 4-1. Russia and Argentina are the other two survivors in the 2008 chase for the Cup that is in temporary possession of the Americans.

Overpowering noise isn't new to sports, especially at places like the Joel, home to the Wake Forest basketball team. But noisemaking followers of other sports would be surprised at how a tennis mob turns the cacophony on and off - thank goodness - as though pushing a button. One moment a Niagara of sound, halting just as the players are set for the next point - and breaking out again during the interval between points. Of course the blare continues during changeovers, but there are blessed moments of relief.

Andy Roddick offered no relief from the explosives rolling off his racket. In neither of his victories did he confront a break point. Aces flew here and there - 30 as he beat lefty Michael Llodra in the opener, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), and 17 whizzed past Paul-Henri Mathieu in the third point clincher, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. To Roddick, the court on which he labored was almost as sweet as his fiancée, Brooklyn Decker. Seeming a strip of blue ice, it heated up Andy's already formidable serve to an even higher degree.

Naturally this was by design, the old stand-by, home court edge. The Premier hard court came to lickety-split life under the supervision of U.S. Capt. Patrick McEnroe, making sure it was a speeder's highway that suited Roddick and Blake just fine.

Abruptly serve-and-volley tennis - that ancient process - erupted as Andy and Michael battled, and witnesses were amazed. They hadn't seen such for a long time, some of them never. It was good to glimpse S&V again, if only temporarily.

The court could be slowed, Capt. McEnroe said, by adding sand to the mix.

But this wasn't supposed to be a day at the beach for Capt. Guy Forget's Gallic guys. However, it was for one day when little Arnaud Clement and Llodra startled everybody but themselves by repeating their 2007 Wimbledon final decision over the Brothers Bryan, 6-7 (7-9), 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, cutting the U.S. lead to 2-1

That gave the French a smidgin of hope, sending the series undecided into the third day, and mortified the twins who had won 8 straight Cup matches, the clinching decision on 6 occasions.

A couple of weeks ago, this looked like a very dangerous collision for the Americans, since Jo Tsonga and Richard Gasquet were the singles lineup, either capable of beating both Blake and Roddick. Then Tsonga, the Australian Open sensation, went gimpy in a knee (that may require surgery), and Gasquet went fuzzy in the head, and didn't appear until the series had been settled.

A French upset still might have occurred but for Blake.'s stonewalling at the series crisis: 10th game, fifth set, second match. Within a few seconds at 3:30 in the afternoon, James' hopes were just about buried by the persistant, strong Mathieu. The Frenchman stood tantalizingly at match point. Twice. And he was serving -- 5-4, 40-15.

Those match points hung within his reach glowingly like the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides. It would have been so glorious for Paul-Henri, who had been behind 2-1 in sets and clawed back. He will probably be haunted forever by letting a 2 set lead slip away - and with it the Davis Cup -- to Russian Mischa Youzhny in the 2002 final in Paris.

This was his chance for some atonement. Neither of them has been a solid fifth set performer. Blake was 2-10, Mathieu 3-7. One more point for Paul-Henri and the series is locked at 1-1 (and 2-1 for France after the doubles, with a genuine shot at victory).

A nice thought from a French standpoint. But James wasn't going to let it happen, as his countryfolk pleaded "USA - USA!"

Mathieu didn't wilt; James wailed. In two torrid baseline duels, the American shooed MP 1 with a rifling backhand crosscourt, and MP 2 with bold forehands. Though Mathieu hung in through a break point, James took the game with crushing forehands, and ran 7 points, 10 of the last 12.

The U.S. crisis had vanished, but the French crisis hung uncomfortably above Capt. Forget's team, a crisis named Richard Gasquet. Despite his world ranking, No. 10, and his recent Wimbledon victory over Roddick from 2 sets and a break down, he didn't want to play Andy again, even with a chance to square the series.

Forget tried to put the best face on it. "Well he has had some injuries...but it is an honor, and I want guys who say they want to play...Mathieu wanted to play..."

Forget wasn't offering Gasquet an opportunity to step in front of a train - just face Roddick. Richard said no thanks, but would accept the fifth match, inconsequential since Mathieu had no chance against Andy.

Hard to figure. Gasquet, who was seen looking indifferent, making phone calls on the bench during the matches, is a puzzle to his teammates. A shy guy, he has been over-touted in France since age 9 when he appeared on the cover of a tennis magazine. Beautiful strokes, but...

A weekend in small, friendly Winston-Salem was pleasant. Spring was arriving in technicolor - pink and white dogwoods, purple redbuds, apple green whatevers everywhere.

"Of course we're the home team and everybody here treats us great," Roddick said, "but it's almost like this is our real home. Very unusual."

Thrice in the last 8 years the U.S. has played here (2001 over India), 2007 (over Spain). That is unusual. "We'd love it if they played all their home matches here," said a tourney volunteer, Patricia Landy.

Far from Winston-Salem in every respect will be the Americans' semifinal in September. Spain beckons with a somber clay pit somewhere with the speed limit of a school zone.

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