[Brian Swartz]

World Team Cup Final

Spain proved a worthy adversary as expected on their favored surface. #7 Juan de los Santos beat Girsh in straight sets to open the tie, with Mooljee beating #19 Martin Zarco in three as well to even things up. Then we showed our improvement in doubles by rallying for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win, moving a single rubber away from the title. Mooljee got it for us by winning almost half of the points on Santos' serve, a surprisingly one-sided three-setter there again. Girish Girsh finished his career with me out with a whimper, losing perhaps the week's best match on the final day to Zarco. The final there was 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-5. He goes winless but we took the others for a 3-2 victory, returning to the top of the international tennis world.

Final 2050 National Rankings

1. Sri Lanka -- 2691(+90, --)
2. United States -- 2528(+96, +1)
3. Argentina -- 2429(-72, -1)
4. Spain -- 2233(+197, +2)
5. Germany -- 1940(-284, -1)
6. France -- 1936(-123, -1)
7. Slovak Republic -- 1929(+124, +5)
8. Croatia -- 1889(+141, +5)
9. Czech Republic -- 1826(-77, -2)
10. The Netherlands -- 1796(-19, --)

Things are bunched up even more than usual after the top four. We're just shy of our national record(2705 pts.) and look more secure in the top spot for the moment after last year's champion Argentina took a dive. The USA is definitely the long-term threat with three players in the 3-13 range in singles. In a couple of years, the Santos/Zarco pairing will make Spain a real threat on clay. Those are the two I'll be keeping an eye on. I expect us to struggle a little more as Girsh declines for the next couple of years -- Mehul will help with doubles, but until Dudwadkar's ready we won't have a quality #2 singles and by the time he is Mooljee will be starting his decline. The golden era of Sri Lanka tennis is definitely over, with Ujjaval out of the Top 10 and figuring to slide further ... but we still had enough to take our 5th world championship in 6 years. Should definitely be among the contenders every season, but no longer prohibitive favorites.

WTC Playoffs

** China(36th) vs. Germany(5th) -- It's almost unheard-of for a Top-5 nation to suffer the indignity of a playoff. The Germans lost close ties to The Netherlands and Argentina as part of a very tough group that also included the US. It's the first time in six years they have had their spot in the top tier at risk. Meanwhile it's quite bad luck for China after they reached the top level for the first time ever in a playoff last year; they were almost certain to go back down. The opener was close, but after that Germany lost only one set and cruised to a 5-0 shutout.

** Finland(18th) vs. Serbia(26th) -- As recently as '43, Finland was regularly involved in relegation battles from Level 2, so the fact that they are even here is a victory. 11th-ranked Kire Zopp's rise aided them in reaching the Level 2 final this year, where they narrowly lost to the Slovak Republic. The last time they made it to this point was 13 years ago ... and they lost to Serbia then, 4-1. Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. In 40 straight years of competition -- they didn't join until two decades in -- that's the only chance they've had to reach the top. A second chance to make history here. Serbia's been a team that's bounced between the top two levels, winning narrowly in playoffs the past two seasons. Zopp won his two rubbers, leading to a decider on the final day. Uolevi Paasilinna rallied from a 2-0 sets deficit to beat Rusomir Mrakovic 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. A very dramatic serving of revenge here, and Finland gets the 3-2 victoy!

** Slovak Republic(7th) vs. South Africa(14th) -- Just three years ago, the Slovaks were a Level 3 nation. Last year they were Level 2 runners-up and lost a close playoff to Sweden; this year they won the second tier title. They've got a pair of journeyman-level singles players just outside the Top 50, which should be enough. They have history, but it's old history. It's been two decades since they were last in the top flight, having been pushed down in 2031 and never making it back yet. South Africa made it up to Level 1 a couple of years ago, got blanked in a playoff loss to the Netherlands last year, and is trying to bounce back. A 4-1 SF loss in a recent matchup between these nations doesn't bode well for them though. For a country that doesn't have a single current Top 100 singles player, they've done remarkably well. This one was closer, with South Africa's Esrom Hoaton splitting a pair of five-set rubbers. He needed to win both, and the Slovaks win again, 3-2 this time.

** Uzbekistan(23rd) vs. Sweden(11th) -- Uzbekistan has basically been single-handedly revived by world no. 7 Khasan Zakirov. Five years ago they were on the bottom, Level 4. After back-to-back 3-2 promotion playoff wins, they were knocked out twice in a row by Serbia in the Level 2 quarterfinals ... and then again last year in their first crack at promoting to the top tier. All three were decided by a 3-2 margin, so Uzbekistan doesn't really like Serbia much. Sweden is in their 7th straight year in the top group, though they've made it past the quarterfinals only once(losing 5-0 to Argentina two years ago). They are definitely in decline, with 91st-ranked Olav Birkeland their top singles player, but the doubles are still excellent led by Elias Trulsen. Zakirov's basically a lock in his two rubbers, but who can get that third win against the Swedes? As it turns out, nobody. Zakirov swept his chances, but Uzbekistan didn't win a set in any of their other opportunities. Sweden stays up 3-2.

Finland and the Slovak Republic join Level 1, with China and Serbia being relegated. With three of the matchups decided on the final day, it was quite an excellent playoff week.