Mary Pope

GB fans have been arriving over the last few days and the last few arrived this morning. There are apparently over 700 of us including 55 BATS!

The forecast was bad and the rain started on our bus journey to the venue. Many of us sheltered from the rain in the cafe over the road and enjoyed some Prosecco, Vino Rosso, latte or other such delights whilst waiting for the rain to stop.

Once play got underway, James Ward raced to a 3-0 lead but was pegged back by Fabio Fognini who won the first set. Ward was playing well and won the second set but could not maintain his good form and Fognini won in four sets 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-1. He seemed to be still struggling a bit with a leg injury so hopefully Andy Murray can overcome him in the reverse singles.

Murray v Seppi started with little prospect of a finish. Murray looked comfortable on serve and won the first set. It was looking a bit easy for Murray on serve and he relaxed and found himself 4-2 down. He broke straight back but it had suddenly got very dark and at 4-5 down Murray was in grave danger of losing the set. However he fought hard to save 4 set points and the day ended at 5-5.

The Italian fans were not that many and only occasionally noisy. The British fans were led by the Stirling University students with some great chants and songs!

It’s an early start tomorrow with the singles to complete and the doubles and more rain is forecast.

This tie will take place in Naples from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 April 2014.

BATS members will be out in force supporting the team. If you want to join us, send an email to batstennisfans@gmail.com for further details.

We did it!

USA 1 GB 3

We were all optimistic before the match but Andy Murray had to do the business! It was another small crowd – it seems that the locals were more interested in watching the Super Bowl (which, by the way, has only just started!) and were not keen to watch when they were likely to lose.

Sam Querry played aggressively, much better than on Friday and gave Murray a few problems. After being a break up twice in the first set, Andy edged the tiebreak. The second set was won by Querry in another tiebreak and it was looking ominous. However Andy came out fast at the beginning of the third set and we began to feel more relaxed! It’s normal to have a few scares watching Davis Cup but Andy was up to the task and he sealed the deal winning 7-6 6-7 6-1 6-3.

We are going back to the Hilton Bayfront this evening for the LTA celebrations drinks!

The next tie will be in Italy on clay on 4 – 6 April. We will know the venue by the middle of February.

Well our captain Leon Smith made the decision to replace Andy Murray with Dom Inglot. So the scratch pairing had the daunting task of facing the world no. 1 pair, the Bryan brothers.

Before the tie, three of us were interviewed on Davis Cup TV. We showed off our banner and we asked to say the Davis Cup tag line ‘show your colours’. Play was preceded by the opening ceremony which featured many Davis Cup nation flags and the national anthems again.

When the action started Dom Inglot showed his nerves and his serve was broken twice in the first set. The second set went to the Bryans but the Brits were able to break to win the third set. The match was soon over and the final score was 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-1.

Match score: USA 1 GB 2

The crowd was bigger today but still not a full house. Tomorrow is going to be exciting with Andy Murray taking on Sam Querry followed by Donald Young v James Ward.

We are optimistic that GB can win a World Group tie for the first time since 1986 and get their first win over USA since 1935.

Wow, wow and wow again!!

Match score: USA 0 GB 2

The scene was set for the match in Petco Park in San Diego. The teams marched out after their flags and the anthems were sung.

We enjoyed some banter with the locals and a few photos were taken. It was great to see Rod Laver take part in the coin toss for the first match which was a Davis Cup debut for Donald Young. After Andy Murray was taken to deuce in his first service game, he was pretty ruthless in winning 6-1 6-2 6-3. Young made too many mistakes including many double faults.

No surprises there then and the way the Querry v Ward match started it looked like that would go to form as well. However James Ward hung in there in the second set and managed to take the tiebreak. The third set went to Querry who went a break up early in the fourth set and it again looked like a US win but Ward was not lying down. After breaking back for 4 all, Ward broke again to win the set and, amazingly, raced to a 4-0 lead. He was pegged back to 4-1 when he lost his serve but then broke yet again and served it out. The final score was 1-6 7-6 3-6 6-4 6-1. It was quite extraordinary and I don’t think the US fans knew what to make of it. All the GB fans had a great time and the BATS members were making plenty of noise cheering the team. James Ward played really well at times with lots of confidence and his drop shot was quite exquisite!

The arena is quite big and was by no means full today. Presumably the locals were working and will fill the place tomorrow for the doubles. The weather today was not great as it was mostly cloudy with only the occasional glimpse of the sun and just a few drops of rain. The crowd was quite normal for the US – they came in and out a lot and there was a lack of proper stewarding. Also for much of the time there was a blue haze in front of us, being the smoke from the burger stands whose smell also wafted in our direction.

Tomorrow it’s the doubles and Colin Fleming & Andy Murray are scheduled to play the Bryan brothers. Leon Smith could decide to replace Andy with Dom Inglot in the morning if he wants to save Andy for the singles or Andy has any ill effects from today (most unlikely).

BATS members have been arriving in San Diego since Monday. We have been enjoying some sightseeing but later today the action will begin!

Yesterday evening we went to the LTA reception at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel to pick up our tickets and t-shirts. Some of us gate crashed the US supporters do by mistake but soon realised they were in the wrong place!

We heard the team news officially from Leon Smith, our captain:

John Isner has withdrawn due to injury and has been replaced by Donald Young.

James Ward will be the no. 2 singles player and Dom Inglot is included in the team in case Andy is not able to play the doubles with Colin Fleming. The clay court is slippery and not that slow so Leon decided James Ward’s experience was more important. James has beaten Sam Querry (at Queen’s) so that should give him confidence.

Today’s matches are:

Donald Young v Andy Murray
Sam Querry v James Ward

The action starts at 11.00 local time.

Let’s go GB!