Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/315708
SPRING 2014 Welcome 2 ITFWORLD SPRING 2014 PASSION AND DRAMA W hat an amazing weekend we enjoyed for the quarterfinal round of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. Three of the four ties went to the wire, all full of drama and the great fans that we are celebrating this year with our 'Show Your Colours' campaign. There is so much to say about this round — great attendance, unbelievable atmosphere, compelling matches, new heroes — that it is hard to know where to start. The champions from Czech Republic won their 11th consecutive tie, defeating a depleted Japanese team 5-0. Japan, playing for the first time in a World Group quarterfinal, suffered from an injury to their No. 1 Kei Nishikori and illness for their No. 2 Go Soeda but still showed great fight in a losing effort. This did not diminish the support of the crowd, which filled the Ariake Stadium on all three days and included the Emperor and Empress of Japan for Saturday's doubles. It was amazing to see France, a team with great depth and talent, stunned on the first day, losing both singles to an inexperienced German team, but they fought back over the next two days to become the first World Group nation in 16 years to erase a 0-2 deficit to win a tie. Tobias Kamke and Peter Gojowczyk may not have been well known in Germany before this tie but surely they are now. France will host Czech Republic at Roland Garros for the semifinals in September. The most scenic court surely was the one in Naples for the Italy versus Great Britain tie with its view of the city on one side and the Tyrrhenian Sea on the other. On Friday, weather played a part with rain delaying the start but Britain, playing in its first quarterfinal in 33 years, finished the day tied with Italy 1-1 after James Ward pushed Fabio Fognini in the opening match and Andy Murray defeated Andreas Seppi in the second. Great Britain won the doubles match and seemed poised for victory but, in front of a very animated crowd, Fognini played with great determination and skill and defeated Murray in straight sets, and Seppi won the decisive fifth to put Italy in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1998. I was in Geneva and witnessed the huge excitement the Swiss had for their tie. Sixteen thousand noisy fans filled the Palexpo every day and, while 15,500 of them were cheering for the home team, the Kazakh fans also made their feelings known. On Friday, Stan Wawrinka played a very nervous match and lost in four sets to Andrey Golubev. Switzerland's favourite son, Roger Federer, levelled the tie with a straight-sets win over Mikhail Kukushkin. After the Kazakhs won on Saturday, it was crunch time for Switzerland but both Wawrinka and Federer came through and achieved a semifinal for Switzerland for the first time since 2003. The Swiss will return to Geneva to host Italy in the semifinals in September and it will be interesting to see whose fans are louder in that encounter. With the iconic Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros and Geneva's Palexpo hosting, stadium capacity for the Davis Cup semis will be nearly 100,000 for the three days of competition and we look forward to a fascinating weekend. I was privileged to join Swiss Tennis President Rene Stammbach to present the Davis Cup Commitment Award to Wawrinka in a ceremony before Saturday's doubles. It is easy to see how much Davis Cup means to Stan and the fans in Geneva showed their appreciation for his allegiance to the team. Francesco Ricci Bitti and ITF Board member Tarak Cherif with the late Mohammed M'Jid at the 2007 ITF AGM in Tunis In DAVIS CUP