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Old 02-29-2016, 03:46 PM   #274
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
2043 WTC Wrap-Up

The finals between the United States and the Czech Republic were played on grass this year went right down to the wire. Iglar won his two matches as you'd expect, but the US won the doubles which set up a final decisive rubber between Cestmir Marcek and Perry Mockler. Mockler had the better of it during the rallies, but not by enough. He came from two sets down to force a fifth, but ultimately Marcek's 33 aces(to just 11 for the American), were enough to see him through in as dramatic a final rubber as you could ask for, 7-6(1), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 8-6. Mockler actually won three more total points(171-168) in the four-hour marathon that could have gone either way.

So the Czech Republic wins it 3-2, claiming their second world championship in three years! The United States last won four years ago, a pretty long drought for one of the world's most dominant tennis nations.


Playoffs

On the other end of the spectrum there was the specter of one of the world's greats(Spain, ranked 5th) having to fight off a relegation playoff challenge from New Zealand(24th). The Spaniards are definitely not what they once were; the nation of Gorritepe and so many other great players will soon not even have a top-10 player. New Zealand is still far beneath them though, and lost it's second promotion attempt in three years, 4-1.

Elsewhere the other playoff contestants were all borderline types of nations.

** Croatia(19th) vs. Denmark(17th). Both were Level 1 nations so somebody was going down here. The main difference is that Denmark has Jens Petersen(31st), the lone top-70 player on either nation's roster. That was enough to eke out a 3-2 win and keep the Danes up for a 5th straight year. They have yet to get out of the group stage, and this was their second relegation battle survived by the narrowest of margins, but the stay at the top tier. Croatia is relegated for the first time in over a decade, a long-term mainstay up here but they are in serious decline and frankly don't belong anymore.

** Luxembourg(16th) vs. Russia(13th). This one should have been no contest. With Groneveldt out of the picture, Luxembourg has nothing while Russia has a pair of quality experienced players with veterans Pavel Bestemianov(27, 22nd) and Fedor Starovoitov(26, 28th). A long way are they from guys like Topolski and Goncharenko, but more than enough to have Russia at the top tier. It was just a 3-2 win for the Russians which raises some eyebrows, but they survive a second straight playoff while Luxembourg is on the other side of that coin, failing in their second straight.

** Sweden(12th) vs. Netherlands(20th). A total whitewash here, 5-0 skunking by Sweden. Olav Birkeland(18th) is enough to promote them by himself, and they belong in the top tier. Not to mention that Elias Trulsen(24, 32nd) is starting to make a name for himself as well. The Netherlands did well just to get to this stage, they really arent' Level 1 quality.

Outlook

Sweden moves up, Croatia moves down. This definitely strengthens the Level 1 grouping of nations.
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