Russia have discovered a new Davis Cup hero in Dmitry
Tursunov.
Tursunov beat Andy Roddick in an epic five-set battle on Sunday
to give the hosts the winning point against the United States and a
place in the Davis Cup final for the first time in four years.
The California-based Russian prevailed over the US No 1 6-3,
6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 after an almost five-hour marathon on Moscow
clay in the semi-final.
On Monday, Russian newspapers hailed the modest 23-year-old as
the country's hero.
"Dmitry Tursunov wrote his name into the history books," said
the headline in the respected daily Izvestia.
"Dmitry would have been given the Order of Courage for his
heroics 11 years ago," said the influential Kommersant Daily,
referring to the feat of Andrei Chesnokov in the 1995 Davis Cup
semi-final against Germany.
Chesnokov saved nine match points against former Wimbledon
champion Michael Stich at the same Olympic Sports Complex in Moscow
to lead Russia into the final.
Later that year, then Russian President Boris Yeltsin, a big
tennis fan, awarded Chesnokov the Order of Courage, one of the
country's highest honours.
Mikhail Youzhny has been widely regarded as Russia's Davis Cup
hero ever since he clinched his country's first title, winning an
equally memorable five-set tussle against France's Paul-Henri
Mathieu in the 2002 final in Paris.
Forgotten man
Youzhny, then 20, replaced an ageing and out-of-shape Yevgeny
Kafelnikov for the fifth and deciding rubber and became the first
player in the 102-year history of Davis Cup to win a match in the
final after losing the first two sets.
This time it was Tursunov who stepped in for Youzhny to take on
US Open finalist Roddick.
"It was only (on Sunday) morning I found out I was going to
play," Tursunov, who was preferred to world number five Nikolay
Davydenko, said afterwards.
"I didn't have much time to prepare, to work out a strategy. I
had some ideas of how to play him...but in the fifth set I had no
strategy, just tried to fight back."
After his move to the US 11 years ago, the Moscow-born Tursunov
became virtually a forgotten man for Russian tennis, which boasts a
string of top players, both among men and women.
When he arrived in Moscow for the US tie, Tursunov was well down
the pecking order behind former world No 1 Marat Safin and US Open
semi-finalists Youzhny and Davydenko.
"Davydenko was not in good physical form, so I had no choice but
to take a risk with Tursunov on Sunday," Russia captain Shamil
Tarpishchev explained. "Besides, Dmitry wanted to play very much,
he was really pumped up for it."
Tursunov handsomely repaid Tarpishchev's trust, securing
Russia's first victory over their former Cold War adversaries in
Davis Cup after they lost two previous ties, including the 1995
Moscow final on a similar clay surface.
Tennis tolstoy
Afterwards, Tursunov was asked if he knew he would get a chance
to face the Americans.
"I don't know. We have four good players on our team, so I was
just hoping for a chance to play," he said.
He was modest about his victory over Roddick.
"It wasn't his best surface but the same can be said about
myself," said the Russian, who prefers hard courts and grass.
Just as he had done in the match against Roddick, Tursunov
quickly grew in confidence at his post-match news conference.
Asked if he would have picked himself for the tie, Tursunov
said: "I'd pick myself for all five rubbers except the
doubles."
Tursunov and Youzhny lost to the world number one doubles team,
American twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, on Saturday.
Tursunov, known as the Tolstoy of tennis because he regularly
writes for the ATP website about his personal experiences on the
tour, was asked what the win against Roddick would do for his
future career.
"I don't think I can properly comprehend this victory just yet,"
he said, choosing his words carefully. "No doubt, this is one of my
best matches, certainly the longest of my career. But I hope all my
best matches are still ahead of me."
Tursunov is now expected to play a major role in the Davis Cup
final with Argentina in Moscow in December when the Russians will
certainly chose a fast surface against the clay-court specialists
from South America.
"Argentina has a very strong, confident team," he said.
"But so is our team. Certainly, if I get a chance to play in the
final, I will not be as nervous as I was now. This match against
Roddick has given me a huge confidence boost, no doubt."
(China Daily September 27, 2006)