Going back in time, part IV (and last): Davis Cup, March 2011

Just a month after hosting the Fed Cup, Israel got to host the Davis Cup once again, in the largest tennis compound in Ramat HaSharon. This tie was against Poland, and it was actually the 2nd round of the Europe/Africa Zone Group I, with the winner advancing to the World Group play-off.

With Poland's top doubles player, Lukasz Kubot, not participating, and their best singles player, Michal Przysiezny, getting out with an injury just before the tie - Israel's chances were looking really well. But Israel also showed up with what seemed to be a less strong team than before, as Harel Levi (and Noam Okun) officially retired from tennis about a month before the tie.

However, Israel went up 3-0 after just 2 days, as both Dudi Sela and Amir Weintraub won their singles matches, and Andy Ram/Yoni Erlich won the doubles against the strong Polish duo, Matkowski/Fyrstenberg. Amir, who played his first ever Davis Cup match, managed to win in a tight 5-setter. This was also his first best-of-5 match ever, and he won it despite twisting his ankle (if I remember correctly) in the 4th set. Most of the crowd left before the match was over, but the level of cheering never dropped :)

The tie ended with a 3-2, as Weintraub retired from his final match (a small exho match was done instead), and Sela lost his.

This is the last "Going back in time" post - from now on, I'll only post about recent events. Specifically, really looking forward to Roland Garros (got tickets for the mens' semifinals!) and the US Open (Booked a mini-plan for the first 5 days), but there are quite a few tournaments before that, as well ;)