DUESSELDORF, Germany, 22 May 2005 — Tommy Haas and Alexander Waske revived memories of Germany’s glorious tennis past by capturing the World Team Cup with a stunning 2-1 comeback triumph over Argentina yesterday.
Guillermo Coria had taken the favorites to within a victory of their third title with a quickfire 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Florian Mayer but the home side roared back to win the next two rubbers.
Haas kept German flags flying with a shock 6-4, 6-3 win over French Open champion Gaston Gaudio to level the tie before he and Waske upstaged Coria and Guillermo Canas 6-1, 6-2 in the doubles to spark jubilant celebrations in the Rochusclub.
The result gave Germany their fourth crown here, but the first since 1998.
“We had nothing to lose playing against Argentina, the best claycourters in the world,” said Haas.
In the city where Germany had won the last of their three Davis Cup titles in 1993, the achievement of Haas and company was truly remarkable considering they were facing an Argentine dream team made up of three top-10 players.
The victory provided an astonishing turnaround for a team that had come within two points of being knocked out of the tournament by Spain on Friday.
Mayer’s stirring fightback against David Ferrer in Friday’s second singles secured the hosts an unexpected passage into the final and German No. 1 Haas, ranked 22 in the world, ensured it would not be a wasted opportunity.
However, the day began rather tamely for the underdogs. Coria shrugged off accusations that he was not a team player by running a rather lethargic Mayer ragged around the baseline during a 51-minute defeat. The three-set win over Ferrer appeared to have taken its toll on Mayer with his shots lacking depth and failing to put Coria under any pressure.
Even when the Argentine dropped his serve at the start of the second set, he smiled before storming through the rest of the match.
Davydenko Wins in Austria
Sankt Polten, Austria, top seed Nikolay Davydenko claimed his first title of the season in the 323,250 euros ATP event yesterday with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 final victory over Austrian Jurgen Melzer. Davydenko, 24, notched up the fifth title of his career after a 2hr 07min battle on clay against fourth-seeded Melzer, who had been looking to celebrate his 24th birthday yesterday with his first career title.
The 13th-ranked Russian dominated the first set but stumbled in the second dropping his serve three times to Melzer, who was buoyed by the crowd who were looking for a first home win since Thomas Muster’s double in 1994 and 1995.
Turkish Delight for Venus Williams
In Istanbul, American No. 1 seed Venus Williams won the inaugural $200,000 WTA event yesterday with a straight sets final victory over Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.
World No. 13 Williams, whose last title came in Warsaw in May 2004, beat the 16-year-old second seed 6-3, 6-2 in just under 1hr 30min of play. The four-time Grand Slam winner did not drop a set in the tournament as she prepares her clay form for next week’s French Open. The 24-year-old, who is yet to win the French Open title, is seeded 11 at Roland Garros.
