2009 Davis Cup first round tie

The 2009 Davis Cup first round tie was an international men's tennis competition between the United States and Switzerland that was held March 6-8, 2009 on a hard court inside the BJCC Colisseum. The United States team, led by Andy Roddick, defeated the Swiss 4-1 to advance to a quarterfinal match against Croatia in Split. Roddick clinched the match on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 straight-sets win against Stanislas Wawrinka.

The Birmingham tie drew record crowds to a first round Davis Cup event, with 45,708 counted over the course of the weekend.

Roddick was joined by James Blake and the doubles pair of Bob and Mike Bryan on the American team. The Swiss team was expected to bring Roger Federer to the match-up, but the star pulled out, concerned about healing from a back injury. Wawrinka replaced him at number one and was joined by Marco Chiudinelli. Wawrinka also played on the doubles team with Yves Allegro.

Results

Play opened on Friday with Blake playing Wawrinka in the first match and Roddick playing Chiudinelli in the second. About 15,000 fans witnessed a three-hour opening match that resulted in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory for Wawrinka. In the second match, Roddick won 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(5) to level the tie. With the victory he tied Andre Agassi with 30 career Davis Cup victories.

On Saturday the Bryan brothers beat Wawrinka and Allegro in four sets (6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2)) to establish a 2-1 lead in the tie. With 15 victories in 17 attempts, they became the winningest Davis Cup doubles team ever to play for the US. Allegro double-faulted on his serve in the 8th game. Wawrinka later spiked his racket in frustration at their poor play. The Swiss pair did mount a challenge in the third set, but couldn't match the Americans' effort in the fourth.

The final match was punctuated by a questionable call in the third game of the second set. Wawrinka argued with the chair umpire that his serve bounced twice before Roddick returned it, but did not get the call. He did spend a few minutes getting his left shoulder treated for a muscle ache before returning to play with a fresh racket. Roddick was able to maintain the advantage through the 7th game, advancing to match point with his 14th ace of the day and winning on Wawrinka's backhand error. It was Roddick's 31st Davis Cup victory.

Blake and Chiudinelli then played a dead rubber which Blake won 6-4, 7-6(6) to close out play and provide the 4-1 margin.

References

• Solomon, Jon (March 9, 2009) "Tennis fans, passion help city score with Davis Cup." Birmingham News

External links

• Scorecards at daviscup.com
• results table at en.wikipedia.org