By Chris Oddo | Friday, April 4, 2014
As it so often does, Davis Cup brought a few obscure names to the fore on Friday, as Peter Gojowczyk, Andrey Golubev and Tobais Kamke all took center stage.
Photo Source: AP
He was tired, cramping and had never won a five-set match before. Up against a heavily favored Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a hostile environment, and having just squandered a few match points, the situation seemed more dire than hopeful for 24-year-old Peter Gojowczyk of Germany.
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But Gojowczyk, like his compatriot Tobias Kamke had done earlier in a stunning defeat of Julien Benneteau, ignored the fact that most people felt he had no business winning a match of this magnitude and soldiered on to defeat Tsonga, 7-5, 6-7(3), 3-6, 7-6(8), 8-6 to catapult his underdog squad into the driver's seat against the French.
And just like that another yarn was woven into the ever growing quilt that is the legend of Davis Cup.
It's the type of compelling drama that Davis Cup tennis fans are accustomed to, which is why many die-hard fans of the Cup scoff when they hear about how the Davis Cup should change its format so that it can be more accommodating to the exceedingly busy schedules of today's top players.
True, the event lacks starpower at times for that very reason (star players skip it for their sanity, and their health, much too often), but what Davis Cup lacks in starpower it seems to always make up for with drama, atmosphere and emotion. Davis Cup in its current format creates the perfect climate for what we saw today—great achievements from rank-and-file players whose abilities all too often go overlooked during the regular tour events. We saw it in the first round of World Group, when Great Britain's James Ward stunned Sam Querrey to help the Brits advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in nearly 30 years. On that fine day in San Diego, Ward was a genuine hero, if only for a moment.
And we saw it again today, as Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan coolly and calmly knocked off Australian Open Stanislas Wawrinka to earn his team an opening day split with the mighty Swiss.
The argument about the competition's format will go on in perpetuity (and really it's fine—have at it), but on days like this, when excitement is at a fever pitch and fresh faces that have been forever overshadowed by the game's big names take center stage, it makes sense to ask the question: Does Davis Cup have it right after all?
Surely, we'd get no argument from Gojowczyk, the current World No. 119, who has competed in eight tour-level matches since the beginning of 2012. Though the Germans found themselves in a lamentable position heading to France, without their top four players, they now find themselves the possible lead story of the tennis weekend after Gojowczyk and Kamke's heroics.
“He did such a great job,” gushed Tennis Channel commentator Paul Annacone, who called his match against Tsonga today. “He just took my breath away.”
On social media, too, the admiration for what Gojowczyk was able to achieve against Tsonga was rampant.
The German nearly took his own breath away, too, and when he was asked if this was the best result of his career, he didn't hesitate.
"Yeah of course,” he said.. “This, in the Davis Cup, is amazing. It was tough for me, I was cramping, and I can't believe it you know? You're playing for your country and that's so motivating. You just keep going, doesn't matter what's going on."
Golubev felt the same feelings of nationalistic pride, as he took the play to Stan Wawrinka for the first two sets, then overcame a dip in his play to rebound and snatch the match in a fourth-set tiebreaker.
“I was trying to be always aggressive, don't give him too much time at the baseline and come into the net, and I think I did good,” said Golubev, understaing the awesomeness of his performance. “I'm happy that in Davis Cup I'm playing good matches, always.”
“It feels very good, to be honest,” Kamke, who got the ball rolling for the Germans in the day's first rubber, said. “One of the biggest [wins of my career] for sure. Maybe it's the biggest because it's something special in Davis Cup.”
Friday Roundup
Fabio Fognini staked the Italians to a 1-0 lead in Naples by defeating James Ward in four sets, but the late start due to rain forced Andy Murray and Andreas Seppi to pull the plug due to darkness in the second rubber with Murray up a set.
The defending champion Czech Republic took a 2-0 lead over Japan in Tokyo on the strength of wins from Radek Stepanek and Lukas Rosol.
Roger Federer brough the Swiss level with Kazakhstan, 1-1, by beating Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets.
Germany leads France 2-0, thanks to the aforementioned heroics of Kamke and Gojowczyk.