With Andy Murray in prime form, two more young players in top 60 and a super doubles team in the Murray brothers, Great Britain were favourites to win the 2016 Davis Cup semi final at home versus Argentina.
Yet Argentina shocked Great Britain 3-2 to enter the Davis Cup finals against Croatia who won against a weakened France.
In the first match Juan Martin Del Potro, ranked 64, shocked world No.2 Murray in a five setter. This ultimately proved crucial as Murray had been expected to win all his three matches. Then in a battle of equals world No.49 Guido Pella won against world No.55 Kyle Edmund.
Britain as expected won the doubles and then Murray won his reverse singles comfortably. However the surprise was that Del Potro played the doubles. The gamble didn’t pay off.
Surprisingly the world No. 114 Leo Mayer was fielded against Evans and he pulled it off, playing like a top 20 player and not someone ranked below 100. He is a former No.21 and had an unbeaten run of eight singles wins, which may have led his captain to place his trust in him instead of Del Potro, who had already played several hours of singles and doubles.
This great Davis Cup win made me think about a couple of more great wins in Davis Cup history.
Germany versus Sweden 1988
The Swedish team defined greatness with as many as seven Davis Cup finals in a row from 1983 to 1989. They had won the Davis Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1987.
In 1988 they were supposed to play West Germany on slow clay at Gothenburg and they seemed all set for their fourth Davis Cup in six years.
The second singles player for Germany was Carl-uwe Steeb who at that point of time did not have a singles championship win in any tournament and had only a fourth round performance as a best show in a Grand Slam. He was up against Wilander, a seven-time Grand Slam winner who had won three majors in that year 1988.
Yet Steeb came back from 0-2 sets down against Wilander to win 8-10, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 and 8-6. Then the great Boris Becker played a super match to defeat the equally great Edberg in a one-sided match 6-3, 6-1 and 6-4.
However still Sweden would have had hopes as their doubles team was very strong. In contrast West Germany had Becker and Eric Jelen who had never reached even a fourth round in a Grand Slam doubles.
The match started as expected with Edberg-Anders Jarryd lifting the first two sets at three and two However in an enthralling comeback Becker and Jelen lifted the Davis Cup by winning the final three sets 7-5, 6-3 and 6-2.
The next year too they went on to retain the Davis Cup by winning against the same opponents, but at home.
France versus USA 1991
USA with both Pete Sampras as well as Andre Agassi playing singles were obviously expected to win versus France for whom Guy Forget and Henri Leconte were playing singles.
Agassi started well for USA by winning his match versus Guy Forget in four sets but then Leconte shocked Pete Sampras by winning against him in straight sets. Ken Flach and Robert Seguso were a strong doubles team for USA but Leconte and Forget combined well to take France to a 2-1 lead.
Still it seemed that Sampras and Agassi would pull it off. However Forget played stunning tennis to defeat Pistol Pete and lift their first Davis Cup in almost 60 years.
I am sure Roarers will have several more interesting wins to share about regarding this glorious championship.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Rafael Nadal has hailed the brilliance of Alex de Minaur, calling him "a great player" after the Australian forced the Spanish legend to say…
The clay season promises to be one of high level and tight margins. With the Monte Carlo open just around the corner, it will…
In incredible scenes, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells was halted abruptly due to a "bee invasion." Less…
Marathon man Jordan Thompson has finally clinched his first ATP Tour title, with the Australian upsetting Norwegian Casper Ruud to lift the trophy in…
Alex de Minaur has earned the perfect 25th birthday present, booking a place in the final of the Rotterdam Open with an emphatic revenge…
While watching the recent Australian Tennis Open I became obsessively fixated on the same thought. Why has no one done a television biopic or…
