Photo credit: Daylife
Bad weather in Benidorm caused the first matches of the Davis Cup tie to be postponed until Saturday March 7, 2009
9:00 a.m. GMT
4:00 a.m. EST
Nadal vs Tipsarevic follows the above match.
Live Streaming
Davis Cup Live Stream for Saturday March 7, 2009
www.channelsurfing.net
Look in the list for Davis Cup Spain
Or you can go to
http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=tennis
Click on the TV icon to the right of 'Spain' and then hit 'play'.
Spain vs Serbia
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Rafa fan site:
http://vamosbrigade.com/
Original Forum from Rafael Nadal's website (before Nike made a new Forum):
Photo credit: Yahoo
Photo credit. rtve es.
Photo credit: Reuters
Photo credit: Marca
Photo credit: Marca
Rafa Nadal and Nicholas AlmagroPhoto credit: Jose Navarro
Photo credit: Jose Navarro
Photo credit: Jose Navarro
Photo credit: Jose Navarro
Rafa
Photo credit: Jose Navarro
Photo credit: unknownApologies to photograher
Photo credit: unknownApologies to photograher
Photo credit: Marca
Rafa
Photo credit: Getty Images
The next three articles are from Rafael Nadal's website.
The most recent post is the first one.
DAVIS CUP DAY ONE
Source: http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/home7th of March
The much anticipated Davis Cup encounter between Spain and Serbia was suspended yesterday after strong winds saw seats ripped out of the 16,000-capacity stadium, causing some concerns over its structure and the safety of the people attending the opening day of their first round showdown at the ‘Terra Mítica’ park.
The overnight 55-mile-per-hour winds may have damaged a large section of the temporary seating, but the organizers of the event were quick to call in engineers, technicians and security staff (who work hard all day to fix the built-in arena that was put into place for the event) to help them “come up with a solution that would guarantee the safety of the event” and allow the tournament to go ahead as scheduled.
Much later in the day, the Spanish squad was allowed to carry on with a double training session as preparation for what will be a very long day of tennis today and even though they know the 3 day rubber may be extended to Monday, they are all ready for whatever comes ahead. This is how today’s Schedule looks:
First up, at 10am (local Spanish time) David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic will fight for a chance to give their teams the lead before their corresponding team-mates: Rafa Nadal and Tipsarevic take over center stage to play the second singles match.
At the moment, no decision has yet been made as to whether the doubles rubber between Tommy Robredo/Feliciano López (representing the Spanish Armada) and Novak Djokovic/Nenad Zimonjic (representing Sebia), will remain on Saturday as well, or pushed back to Sunday.
Rafa is scheduled to fly to Indian Wells with Iberia Airlines on Tuesday and to this moment his plans have not changed, he would arrive in California that same day in the evening, however if the Davis Cup is delayed any more, he may have to change his plans.
What ever happens, the team knows that they don’t expect the rubber to be “a walk in the park”. That is why “we have to play at out best level and try to win”, said Rafa. “We are prepared for everything, any score: 2-0, 0-2, 1-1….we just want to do our best”.
Vamos España!
DAVIS CUP: FIRST DAY OF PLAY CANCELLED
6th of March
Source: http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/news
The first day of play in Spain’s Davis Cup matchup against Serbia has been suspended after the organizers of the event decided that the strong winds compromised the stadium.
Gusts up to 60 mph have “blown off some of the rows of the stands and has played an effect on the whole stability” of the 16,000-seat temporary stadium, International Tennis Federation referee Soren Frienel said.
“Matches have been canceled because of the security of the stands.”Frienel will meet with the Spanish and Serbian federations at 11 a.m. to decide whether the World Group first-round tie can be pushed back one day, to be played from Saturday to Monday.
He was confident it can start on Saturday, pending an inspection and repairs of the damage to the specially constructed outdoor clay court at Terra Mitica amusement park.“The structure will be inspected tomorrow and be repaired before anyone can be allowed into the stadium,” Frienel said.
The ITF inspected the stadium late Thursday after the gusts along the Mediterranean coast cast doubt on whether the scaffold-structure was safe enough to host the event. Winds were expected to drop to about 35 mph early Friday.
Although the teams were reluctant to push back Friday’s two opening singles matches, there was little choice.“We’re talking about a security issue so there’s not much we can say about that, what the teams prefer,” Frienel said. “Both teams have to accept the decision and they have.
”Third-ranked Novak Djokovic was to open against Spain’s David Ferrer before Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic faced top-ranked Rafael Nadal.Spain beat Argentina in November for its third Davis Cup title since 2000, while Serbia was looking to avoid a second straight first-round exit.
DAVIS CUP: ORDER OF PLAY REVEALED
March 5th
Source: http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/news
Yesterday morning, the Davis Cup draw ceremony for the Spain –vs- Serbia first round rubber revealed the order of play for this weekend’s showdown at the ‘Terra Mítica’ Park in Benidorm.
At the event, the Spanish Armada: Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez were accompanied by their Capitan, Albert Costa together with the Serbian team lead by their corresponding Capitan, Bogdan Obradovic and his players: Novak Djokovic, Víctor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic.
ORDER OF PLAY
Today, Friday 6th of March will be the beginning of the Davis Cup tie which will take place at 11:00am (Spanish local time).
The first encounter will be between David Ferrer against the Serbian No.1 player, Novak Djokovic, followed by Rafa Nadal against Janko Tipsarevic.
Tomorrow, Saturday 7th of March will stage the doubles encounter at 1:00pm (local time) between Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo, representing the Spanish team and Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic, representing Serbia.
The third and last day of the Davis Cup rubber (8th of March) will feature the reverse singles matches between Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic (in the first single’s match) and David Ferrer against Janko Tipsarevic (in the second and final match).
Right after the draw was put into place; both teams had their corresponding press conferences. Spain confirmed that it will be a very difficult couple of days given their opponents; which count with the support of “the number 3 ranked player in the world and the number 2 best doubles team”, However, they will be giving it their all and hopefully win the tie, like Rafa described it.
What ever happens, the team knows that they don’t expect the rubber to be “a walk in the park”. Every match is different NO mater who they are playing against. “Tennis is a very competitive sport”. That is why “we have to play at out best level and try to win”, said Rafa. “We are prepared for everything, any score: 2-0, 0-2, 1-1….we just want to do our best”.
Friday's matches could be delayed by strong winds, with gusts forecasted to reach 60 kph (37 mph) in the morning before calming in time for the 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) start.
Winds were even stronger on Thursday, with heavy rain at times, limiting both teams' chances to train.
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Spain-Serbia tie to start 23 hours late
Source: http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?articleid=15745
One of the most eagerly awaited ties of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round will get under way on Saturday morning, when Spain’s David Ferrer takes on Novak Djokovic. That is subject to an early morning inspection by safety authorities at the 14,000-seater temporary stadium in the Terra Mitica theme park on the edge of Benidorm, an inspection that will hopefully be the last act in a two day series of extraordinary events.
Players, organisers and spectators were left frustrated on Friday afternoon, as glorious sunshine and gentle breezes that would have been perfect for tennis were instead used by engineers to repair damage to the stadium wrought by record strong winds on Thursday afternoon and evening. Wind speeds reached 89 km/h (55mph) late on Thursday, causing damage to some of the upper tiers of the arena.
The Spanish tennis association RFET had announced at midnight local time on Thursday night that play scheduled for Friday would not take place. On Friday morning officials and journalists arrived to find seats lying strewn around the ground, some in pieces after falls from considerable heights. The stadium was a complete no-go area until lunchtime.
Officials from the RFET and their technical advisers held a news conference in which they said continuing strong winds were preventing their technical staff starting repair work. That work began in the middle of the day, and early inspections made it clear that play could, in all probability, begin on Saturday morning. The referee, Soeren Friemel, later announced that play would begin at 10 o’clock local time on Saturday, an hour earlier than the scheduled start time for Friday, subject to an 8am safety inspection.
By starting early, organisers are clearly hoping to keep open the option of getting the tie completed in two days. Spain’s captain Albert Costa said: “The players want to finish on Sunday because they have to leave for Indian Wells, but we’ll see. It depends how the tie goes, how long the matches are, and who plays on what days. Anything can happen as we can see!”
The crucial figure in this is Novak Dokovic. He is due to play three matches, but he is at least first on court against Ferrer, so if his match is quick, he might be in a position to start the doubles. The only rule amendment for these circumstances is that captains will need to notify the referee of any changes to their doubles teams 10 minutes after the end of the second singles, not an hour before the doubles as is usual.
The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is generally good, which will be a relief to more than just Spain’s tennis community as Benidorm is not the only part of Spain suffering abnormal conditions. The capital Madrid has been under snow this week, and the winds have caused other damage along the coast, including blowing the gangway off a moored luxury cruise liner.
Davis Cup rules allow for play on up to five days, so action on Monday or even Tuesday is theoretically possible. In addition, the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells doesn’t start until the middle of the week, so there is less pressure for the players to be on a plane than in most tour weeks.
The match referee Soeren Friemel, who took part in the RFET’s news conference, said: “This is not about the wind being too strong for tennis. In tennis terms we could play. It is about safety of spectators and all concerned. The Spanish federation has done a great job in organising the tie, and the players are all happy with the court. These are exceptional weather conditions that could not have been predicted.”
The RFET has twice used 14,000-seater stadiums like this one which are built from scratch on a base of scaffolding. It did it first for the 2000 semifinal in Santander against the USA, and for the 2003 semifinal in Malaga versus Argentina.
The first day of Spain's Davis Cup tie against Serbia was postponed after strong winds damaged the purpose-built stadium in Benidorm.
Gusts of wind blew off some rows of seats and affected the whole stability of the 16,000-seat stadium.
However, a favourable forecast has left organisers hopeful they can complete the tie, which is now scheduled to begin at 0900 GMT on Saturday.
World number one Rafael Nadal is due to return from injury in the tie.
A Spanish tennis federation spokesman said: "Once the conditions allow, we will work the whole day so that tomorrow (Saturday) we can play the first singles matches."
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said Davis Cup rules allowed for the tie to run on for up to five days and play on Monday or Tuesday was possible.
Spanish star Nadal has not played since losing to Andy Murray in the Rotterdam final on 15 February because of a knee injury.
"I feel great and with a great will to keep going on," Nadal told his personal website. "I'm very excited about representing my country."Champions Spain are without Australian Open semi-finalist, and 2008 Davis Cup hero, Fernando Verdasco because of injury but are otherwise at full strength.
"Everybody's perfect," captain Albert Costa said of his squad after Nadal, Nicolas Almagro, Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo practised on Wednesday.
"Nadal's 100%, everybody on the team is 100% healthy."
Spain remain strong favourites on their favoured surface of clay, despite the presence of world number three Novak Djokovic in the Serbia team.
Roger Federer is another name missing from the first round as a back problem has forced him out of Switzerland's testing trip to face the USA in Birmingham, Alabama.
Argentina, last year's runners-up, bagged two victories on Friday against the Netherlands in Buenos Aires, despite the absence of David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro.
Juan Ignacio Chela struggled for nearly four hours to beat Jesse Huta Galung 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-2, while Juan Monaco overcame Thiemo De Bakker in straight sets.
France look like being serious challengers for the title this year with a line-up that includes Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet.
Facing the Czech Republic in Ostrava, the French got off to a bad start with Simon losing to Tomas Berdych, but Tsonga fought back and defeated Radek Stepanek in straight sets.
Sweden's home tie against Israel has already been the subject of much attention as it will be played behind closed doors.
Local authorities took the decision over fears about the safety of the Israeli team members in Malmo - a city with a large Muslim community.
The ITF has criticised the move, but Sweden captain Mats Wilander said: "This is about security and there have been experts on the case.
"We can only try to play our best, even though it will be hard (without the fans)."
Around 1,000 police officers will be on duty for the three-day tie and between 8,000 and 12,000 people are expected to demonstrate on Saturday.
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