Ecuador Earns Spot in Jr. Davis Cup Semis with Win Over U.S. Team

Ecuador Earns Spot in Jr. Davis Cup Semis with Win Over U.S. Team~~~

And that’s about all I can tell you about it. After two days of providing excellent information on both results and standings on their website, today the ITF left us with only Eleanor Preston’s story as a clue to what happened in Barcelona.

[UPDATE: As of Friday morning, the story now includes the links to the final results and standings. Wil Spencer won three singles and a doubles match, earning four of the five wins the U.S. had in the Round Robin.]

Although primarily covering the Czech Republic’s upset of Australia on the boys side, there is a brief mention of the U.S. losing the doubles rubber to Ecuador. There is no breakdown of who played the singles matches for the U.S., or the doubles match for that matter. Kellen Damico was designated the number one player, but he did not take the court on Wednesday when the U.S. beat the Philippines 2-1. Instead it was Wil Spencer winning his singles match and then teaming with Dennis Lajola for the doubles point, assuring that today’s contest with Ecuador would be a battle of unbeatens.

As for the team seeding, it was both good and bad. All eight seeded teams met each other today to determine who went on to the semifinals. But except for France, the top seed, it was the lower seeded team that advanced. Italy (8) took out Japan (2), the Czech Republic (6) upset Australia (3) and Ecuador (5) beat the U.S. (4).

The Jr. Fed Cup seeds were more fortunate, with Poland (1), France (2) and the Czech Republic (4) advancing to the semifinals. Only unseeded host Spain, who took out third seeded Brazil in their group, was a surprise. Although the fact that Russia didn’t advance doesn’t quite mesh with the current conventional wisdom of global tennis powerhouses. But in fact, not many Eastern European sixteen-year-old girls with tennis ambitions are playing junior team events. Do you think the Czech Republic might be seeded a wee bit higher if Nicole Vaidisova were on the team? Wouldn’t Bulgaria be in the mix if Sesil Karatancheva took a break from the WTA to help her country out?

And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between boys and girls junior tennis. Even Rafael Nadal, unquestionably a prodigy, played Junior Davis Cup, leading Spain to a victory over the U.S. in 2002. The girls are in a much bigger hurry to reach—and more likely to have an impact on—the professional tour, so there’s no time for these quaint team events. Is there any wonder there’s so many divas out there?