The Weekly Recap: Pro Tennis Around The Globe

What happened in pro tennis around the globe in the past week? Plenty. We can't cover it all here but a few key highlights follow below in order to catch you up on all the action... 

Bryan Makes Surprising Doubles Decision, The US Loses in Davis Cup Battle

The United State's Davis Cup team captain Bob Bryan, one half of the world's greatest doubles duo ever and Sunny Isles resident, made an interesting decision regarding the deciding match in the tie against Australia. In the first out of three possible matches, Ben Shelton lost an absolute nail-biter to Thanasi Kokkanakis, 1-6, 6-4, 6-7, with the Australian winning 16-14 in the final set tiebreaker. This heartbreak put the team one point down, but this did not have them eliminated from the tournament yet. Taylor Fritz played excellent tennis against Alex de Minaur in the next match-up, winning 6-3, 6-4. This tied the rubber, and American fans watching throughout the world hoped that the recent win's momentum would carry into the deciding doubles match. With doubles specialists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, who have both been ranked #1, included on the team's roster, it was presumed that they would headline that final battle. But Bryan made a surprising decision to put Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul in the match, which many people speculate is a reason why the team lost to arguably the less powerful nation. But it is important not to judge the captain on this decision, there is many things that we don't know about the circumstances of the moment, and the American duo did not play badly, losing 4-6, 4-6. Still, it was a sad moment for many Americans who hoped to see their team lift the trophy.

The Italians Bring Home Both The BJK Cup And The Davis Cup Titles!

Photo: Todd Pechter for Florida Tennis.

What a year it has been for Italian tennis, and their joint win of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup titles showed the world that Italy is clearly the strongest tennis country right now. Headlined by Jasmine Paolini, the Italian team won the BJK cup for the fifth time, defeating Slovakia to do so. The Slovakian team was not a major contender coming into the competition, but boy did they play some stellar tennis throughout the week, taking down Great Britain, Australia, and the United States. And the Italians knew that winning the title would be difficult knowing who their opponents were and the quality of the tennis they played all week, but this didn't stop them at all, with Lucia Bronzetti winning her match 6-2, 6-4, and Jasmine Paolini taking home the title with a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Rebecca Sramkova. In regards to the victory, Paolini said: "I'm trying just to enjoy every moment because its important also to understand where you are and I feel lucky to be in this position, I feel lucky to be part of this team. I think we played an unbelievable week and I'm really happy this year that we could bring the trophy home again." Meanwhile, the Italian men's team also were playing brilliant tennis, and they took down a talented Dutch roster for the trophy. Matteo Berrettini, who has completed a major comeback this year, defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2. In the second match, year-end #1 Jannik Sinner defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-6, 6-2, which decided the tie 2-0. Sinner has had a dream year---two majors, year end #1, the ATP Finals crown, and a Davis Cup Victory!? Success like this is rare in professional tennis with a player being able to assert his dominance on every single level at every single tournament, but Sinner did this beautifully and is now able to go home to relax, finally. 

Rafa Says Goodbye ):

Photo: ATP Tour.

Even if you were always in Rodger Federer or Novak Djokovic's camp during the big three rivalry, everybody wore a pained face as they watched Rafa Nadal lose his final match and say goodbye to professional tennis. In a back-and-forth battle against Botic van de Zandschulp, the high intensity and the way the Dutchman drew out the points to the max was too much for Nadal, who lost 4-6, 4-6. Afterwards, an emotional retirement ceremony was held on the court, with Spanish fans properly sending the 38-year-old into retirement with loud chants of "Rafa!" A video, curated by Nadal's rivals and friends, highlighted key moments of the Spaniard's career and provided a way for people who shaped the Spaniard's career to give him their best wishes for his retirement and reflect on the journey they shared together. The video was played with Nadal looking onward, and this invoked emotion in many spectators, whether you were Nadal's compatriot sitting on the bench, a cheering fan in the crowd, or a viewer from home. And while his storied career may have come to a close, no tennis fan of this age will ever forget the mark that Rafael Nadal made on tennis. 

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Written by Will Turvey. Top Photo: Davis Cup.