School kids cheer Canada to opening daysplit
DAVIS CUP DOUBLES TODAY
TORONTO • Canadians are generally regarded as a polite people, a shy bunch of patriots who — barring the outbreak of an Olympic hockey game against their neighbours to the South — keep their flag-waving to a minimum. And true to form, there were only a handful of Maple Leafs on hand at the Rexall Centre yesterday, where the best that Canadian men’s tennis has to offer met Belarus in Davis Cup action.
But while the flags were few, and the crowd itself in relatively thin supply, there was a symphony of Thundersticks waiting to welcome Frank Dancevic as he strode out into the late September sun to face Vladimir Voltchkov in the opening match of the three- day tie.
The Thundersticks, which, when hammered together, generate a considerable din, were in the hands of about 2,300 gradeschool students, bused in for the event by some enterprising caregivers looking for a fun afternoon activity.
“ They were great out there,” Dancevic said of the kids, after wrestling his way to a 5- 7, 6-4, 4-6, 7- 6 (7-3), 6-3 win over the Belarussian in a match that took just over four hours to complete.
Belarus had its believers, too, a 35-or-so person tribe of flag-wavers who came armed with giant noisemakers that sounded like a chorus of kazoos. Voltchkov said the noise — which drew at least one cautionary, “Okay boys and girls, keep quiet” — from the chair umpire, didn’t bother him a bit. But the Belarussian did have a beef with Dancevic.
“Full credit to him,” Voltchkov said. “But I think that getting [massage] treatment four, five breaks in a row, I think it’s kind of taking advantage of the fact that you can actually do it, and that didn’t seem fair to me.”
The Belarussian responded with a gratuitous on-court back rub of his own after the third game of the deciding set. “I just played it back a little bit,” Voltchkov confessed.
Aside from the gamesmanship and the constant noise, the actual match was more miss than hit. Both players committed every conceivable type of unforced error; from the forehand side, off the backhand, and at the net. However, Dancevic did shine during one masterful stretch. Trailing two sets to one, the 20-yearold forced the fourth frame to a tie-breaker, whereupon his wildness disappeared.
“I just said what the hell, I’ll just go for it, I’ll just go for my shots,” he said of the tactics that led to a 7- 3 triumph. And with the momentum his, Dancevic kept pressing — pumping his fist after every point — and giving Canada its precious first point in the bestoffive match format.
By the time Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi assumed centre stage for the day’s second match, most of the Thundersticks had gone home for dinner.
Nestor, the doubles specialist who had his left wrist surgically repaired in June — and has a bum left shoulder besides — was not given much chance against Mirnyi. But the unranked Canuck gave the world No. 27 all he could handle.
At least, that is, until the third frame.
Playing like the 19-year-old who knocked off world No. 1 Stefan Edberg, as a Davis Cup rookie in 1991, Nestor served and volleyed his way to the first set 7-6 (7-4), and had Mirnyi pinned 3-0 in the second before the Belarussian began to roll. Nestor blew four set points in the second ( 5- 7), and was in full retreat in the third when he disappeared altogether.
With Mirnyi ahead two games to one, Nestor retired with a sore left hip — and “my wrist didn’t feel great, too,” he said.
“I started thinking, after I lost that second set, do I really have it in me to win this match, as opposed to coming out and winning the doubles, which I have a better chance of.”
Nestor pledged he’ll be back today, along with partner Frederic Niemeyer, as Canada goes looking for its second point of the tie, which wraps up tomorrow with two more singles matches.