Nadal's Texas debut to come in Davis Cup
Austin's Erwin Center likely site for quarterfinal pitting Spain, U.S.
By DALE ROBERTSON
Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
March 9, 2011, 10:34PM
Roberto Candia AP
Andy Roddick agreed to rejoin the U.S. team this year and travel to Chile for a first-round match last weekend in return for assurances he could play near his home in the next round.
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Imagine this scenario: Andy Roddick, thrice thwarted in Wimbledon finals over the past decade, makes another great run this summer and winds up facing defending champion Rafael Nadal for tennis' most prized title. Then, five days later, they square off in another best-of-five rematch in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center.
The first half of that script is going to be strictly up to the 28-year-old Roddick, who lost a memorable five-setter to Roger Federer in 2009 after also succumbing to Federer in 2004 and 2005 (plus the '03 semis). But the second part appears to be reality, which means, barring injury, the No. 1-ranked Nadal will finally make his Texas debut in the 2011 Davis Cup quarterfinals.
A formal announcement that the Cup will be held in Austin July 8-10 is expected in a week or so, at which point ticket information will be available. San Antonio is also pitching the Alamodome, but Roddick's residency on Lake Austin gives the capitol the inside track.
It's assumed that Roddick agreed to rejoin the U.S. team this year and travel to Chile for a first-round match last weekend in return for assurances he could play near his home in the next round if the Americans advanced. They defeated Chile 4-1, and Spain beat Belgium by the same score.
Rumors you may have heard that the matches would be played on grass are laughable. For starters, there's only one grass court in the Austin area, and it's hardly suitable for spectators. Further, Nadal, a two-time Wimbledon champion, isn't exactly helpless on the surface. Instead, the tie will be played on a fast carpet in air-conditioned comfort.
Rafa's meteoric rise to the top of the game began in the spring of 2005, well after Houston had hosted the 2002 U.S.-Spain quarterfinal on grass at Westside Tennis and Fitness. The 2003-04 Masters Cups at Westside also came too soon for him to make a qualifying run. Roddick, in turn, hasn't played a sanctioned match of any kind in Texas since losing to Tommy Haas in the 2006 Clay Courts quarterfinals.
The first Davis Cup tie played in Texas was at River Oaks in 1936, when the U.S. beat Mexico 5-0. Arthur Ashe led the U.S. to a 4-1 victory in his Cup debut at Dallas' Samuell-Grand Tennis Center in 1965, and the Americans won the 1992 final in Fort Worth with current Davis Cup captain Jim Courier on the team.
Date & venue confirmed, etc.
"That's the way the world works... right now." --Maria Sharapova at 17
