That's what Day 3 of Davis Cup is all about: Heroes. And the great thing about Davis Cup is that these heroes often come from nowhere. They're journeymen players who experience the biggest wins of their lives on this stage. And there is something ridiculously awesome about it.
Over in Spain, it was looking like PEHK would be the man of the day. He fended off a strong comeback from Fernando to notch an 8-6 in the 5th win. Who knew the German would knock off Nole and Fer on clay in the span of a month and a half. And if Hero #2 didn't step up in the next match and Germany had taken this tie, I would argue that Techno's win over Fer was the biggest of his career. But alas.
After the Fer's tough loss Spain had to be feeling a bit of pressure. Especially with Beck having taken Fer to five challenging sets a couple days earlier. But in stepped cool as a cucumber JCF, who swashbuckled his way to a fairly businesslike straight set win. And so Spain advances and Germany goes home. Sure, it all shook out the way we expected, but the fun is in the process. Spain will face Israel in their semifinal.
But the thing about heroes is that there's always a goat. And no, I don't mean GOAT, I mean goat. And unfortunately for Argentina, that goat was Pico. Poor guy was unable to notch a singles win during the tie and that's what's why the 2008 finalists are going home. As for Steps, he was able to fight off some knee pain and help bring this one how for the Czechs, who will have an away tie with...
This was a hard fought tie for the Croats. They had that epicly long day on Friday, wherein Ivo and Marin needed 5 sets to take care of Blah and Sockless. But Marin came out and took care of business in four sets, dumping Blah and sending a very clear message to PMac that JAMES BLAKE IS A HORRIBLE TENNIS PLAYER!!! It's time for everyone to accept it. He's clearly in a bad spot. The fact that Querrey CA was left off this team still chaps me. Fuckers.
