No lobs allowed

Blake, Roddick put U.S. in position to win Davis Cup

PORTLAND, Ore. — James Blake held off feisty Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3) Friday night to give the United States a 2-0 lead over Russia in the Davis Cup final.

Blake’s victory got the U.S. within one win of its first Davis Cup title since 1995. Earlier, Andy Roddick cruised past Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening match on the hard court at Memorial Coliseum. The crowd was on its feet when Blake went ahead in the final tiebreaker and Youzhny hit into the net for the U.S. victory.

Andy Roddick got the United States off to a fast start, beating Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the first match. Roddick threw his hands up in triumph after Tursunov’s final return landed long on the hard court. Roddick, ranked No. 6 in the world, improved to 6-0 in Davis Cup play this year.

“It’s kind of like ‘so close but so far away.’ There’s no celebration,” Roddick said. “It’s one match. The celebration will be saved for when we win, if we win.

Russian captain shakes things up

Russian Davis Cup captain Shamil Tarpischev threw a bit of a curve at Team USA during Thursday's Davis Cup draw in Portland, Ore. Tarpischev will send Dmitry Tursunov, ranked No. 34 in the world, against No. 6-ranked Andy Roddick in Friday's first match, which gets underway at 3 p.m. Tursunov, who defeated Roddick in the deciding match of last year's Davis Cup semifinals in Russia, is the lowest ranked singles player on the Russian squad. The second match will be American No. 2 James Blake against Russian No. 1 Mikhail Youzhny, who is ranked No. 19 in the ATP Tour rankings.

Tarpischev will team his highest-ranked singles player, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, with No. 33-ranked Igor Andreev in Saturday's doubles match against the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan. The competition finishes up on Sunday with Roddick vs. Youzhny and Blake vs. Tursunov. Russia is the defending Davis Cup champion but the U.S. is hoping to end its reign and capture its first Davis Cup trophy since 1995.

Davis Cup on TV
Friday’s singles: 3-9 p.m. Versus (live); 9 p.m.-12:30 a.m., Tennis Channel (taped)
Saturday doubles: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Versus (live); 9 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Tennis Channel (taped)
Sunday: 3-9 p.m. Versus (live); 9 p.m.-12:30 a.m., Tennis Channel (taped)

-- Rusty Hall

Keller's Vinsant attends training camp

Keller’s Shane Vinsant is one of nine boys 14 and under who have been invited to participate in the USTA High Performance Camp at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Club just outside of Portland, Ore., this week. The camp runs in conjunction with the Davis Cup final between the U.S. and Russia which will be played at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum this weekend.The group will train in the morning and spend the afternoon cheering on fellow Americans Andy Roddick, James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan as they face-off against Russia. Vinsant, 14, is coming off a victory in the 16-under division of the Bryan College Station Super Champs Major Zone Tournament after his 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Dane Webb of Richardson.

Whose home court is it, anyway?

When if comes to geographic distinctions, the Davis Cup player with the closest thing to a home-court advantage at this weekend's finals in Portland might not be who you would think. The Bryan Brothers? Nope. They're from all the way down in Southern Cal. Andy Roddick? He lives in Austin. James Blake? Connecticut. How about Dmitry Tursunov?

Tursunov moved from Russia to California when he was 12 and is currently based out of the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay where he trains at the Gorin Tennis Academy under coach Vitaly Gorin.

While Tursunov might not be a household name, he is ranked No. 34 in the world and may be best known for being one of the funniest guys on the ATP Tour. Spend some time reading his blog entries and you'll be smiling the rest of the day.

Tursunov, 25, won two titles this season, including the U.S. Open Series event in Indianapolis in July, but it might be considered a disappointing year. He had only one victory over a top-25 opponent, beating Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinals on grass at Queen's Club in London before falling to Roddick in the semifinals, 6-4, 7-5.

However, Tursunov defeated Roddick in the Davis Cup semifinals in Russia last year in a marathon five-setter, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15, that decided the outcome. Tursunov is also coming off a doubles title in Moscow where he teamed with Marat Safin.

Tursunov's role this weekend could likely be as a doubles partner to Mikhail Youzhny or 24-year-old Igor Andreev against the No. 1-ranked team of Bob and Mike Bryan. Nikolay Davydenko, along with Andreev or Youzhny, will likely fill the singles spots. The offical draw will be announced Thursday.

-- Rusty Hall

Fort Worth Tri-Level tournament planned

The Fort Worth Tri-Level tournament is scheduled for January 12-13 at the Arlington Tennis Center. Men's and Women's divisions will consist of doubles teams made up of 3.0/3.5/4.0 level players and 3.5/4.0/4.5 level players. All division winners will advance to sections, but only the 3.5/4.0/4.5 teams have the opportunity to advance to nationals. Cost is $20 per player with a minimum of six players and a maximum of 12. Teams must have at least two players from each level. Entry deadline is Dec. 21. For more information contact Steve Miller at leagues@fortworthmenstennis.com or at 817-821-5640.

Southlake tournament changing dates

Stephen Poorman at Southlake Tennis Center said the Southlake USTA Women's Pro Circuit event will be moving from July to October next year, but the exact date has not been set. The Fort Worth women's Pro Circuit event at TCU is scheduled for June 16-22 and a men's Challenger event is set for Jan. 28 in Dallas. All events on the 2008 Pro Circuit calendar are subject to change.

No Davis Cup for Safin

Russian Davis Cup team captain Shamil Tarpischev has ruled out the 11th-hour appearance of Marat Safin for the Davis Cup final, and no one should be happier than Team USA.

While Safin has been in a prolonged funk for much of 2007, the competitive atmosphere of a Davis Cup final might have been just what the big Russia needed to snap out of it. Safin has the talent to be one of the top players in the world, if he head wasn't always getting in the way. Safin is 29-18 in the Davis Cup, and he won the decisive point in Russia's s 3-2 victory over Argentina in the final in Moscow last year. For now, the Russian team includes Nikolay Davydenko, ranked No. 4 in the world, as well as Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny, still a dangerous combination.

The draw for Friday's first round will be held Thursday, and matches run through the weekend on the hard court at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. The U.S. team is led by sixth-ranked Andy Roddick and 13th-ranked James Blake and the No. 1-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan.  The captain is Patrick McEnroe. The once-dominant United States has 31 Davis Cup titles but none in 12 years, the longest span without an American victory.

-- Rusty Hall

Gilbert has some free time

Andy Murray has announced that he will be splitting with coach Brad Gilbert after a little more than a year together. Murray spent much of the year sidelined by a wrist injury suffered in May at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany that forced him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon.  Despite the injury, and at times his volatile relationship with Gilbert, the 20-year-old Scot finished the year ranked No. 11 in the world and was in the running for a spot in the Masters Cup in Shanghai until late in the season. He had a record of 43-14 in singles and won two of his three career singles titles this year in San Jose, Calif, and St. Petersberg, Russia.

In a statement, Murray said: "Despite being injured for almost four months this year, I am pleased with my 2007 results and am very grateful for the help that the LTA [Lawn Tennis Association] have given me by providing Brad Gilbert as a coach but the time has come to move on to the next stage of my career. I am ranked 11 in the world and can now afford to pay my own way and so will now hire a team of experts, each to fulfill a specified role in the development of my tennis and fitness."

Gilbert, who has coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to the world's No. 1 ranking, was hired by the LTA in July 2006, primarily to help Murray, but to also help other elite British players and he will continue in that role for the time being. The LTA, which had been paying Gilbert about $1.5 million to coach Murray, has renegotiated the 46-year-old's deal, according to the Times of London. Gilbert will now coach for 20 weeks in the next 12 months and he will work with Alex Bogdanovic, who is ranked 161 in the world.

The reduced work schedule could allow him to return to the TV broadcast booth and there are a few young Americans who might benefit from his knowledge, including 64th-ranked Sam Querrey, John Isner or Donald Young.

The LTA announced earlier this month that Paul Annacone has signed a new three-year contract with the LTA to continue in his role as Head Coach of Men's Tennis. Annacone has previously coach Tim Henman and Pete Sampras.

Sampras beats Federer in exhibition

Pete Sampras avoided being swept by Roger Federer in their three-match exhibition swing through Asia. After dropping the first two matches, Sampras proved he still has a little something in the tank.

Like most exhibition matches, the two players joked with the crowd, but after Sampras won the first set, both players took a more serious approach. Sampras was able to utilize his patented serve-and-volley skills to keep Federer off balance. Sampras also took advantage of a faster indoor carpet than was used in the previous two matches, making his serve more effective.

Sampras never faced a break point in the third match and converted one of two against Federer to earn a 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 victory at the Venetian Macao arena.

The two players have won a combined 26 Grand Slam titles, but Sampras, 36, retired five years ago after winning the U.S. Open in 2002. The 26-year-old Federer of is fresh from another stellar season as he won three Slams and last week's Masters Cup in Shanghai in compiling a 68-9 winning record.

Federer beat Sampras 6-4, 6-3 in Seoul on Tuesday and edged the American 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Haarhuis beats Courier for Dubai title

Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands defeated Jim Courier of the United States 6-1, 6-4 to win the singles title at the season-ending The Legends Rock Dubai Championships on Saturday at the Dubai Tennis Stadium at The Aviation Club. Haarhuis collected a first-prize paycheck of $50,000 in his first event on the Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events around the world featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30.

It was Courier’s second consecutive runner-up showing after falling to Wayne Ferreira in the Stanford Champoniships in Frisco. However, Courier move from No. 4 to No. 2 in the Stanford Champions Rankings, surpassing Wayne Ferreira of South Africa and Pete Sampras of the United States in the final series standings. Todd Martin finished as the Stanford Champions Rankings Champion after tournament victory in Newport, R.I. and runner-up showings in Boston, Athens, Greece, and Charlotte. 

In Saturday’s third-place match, Thomas Muster of Austria defeated Michael Stich of Germany 6-4, 6-4.