FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Todd Martin, who has been commentating for interactive ESPN3, writing for the USA Today, and playing in the World TeamTennis senior event during the U.S. Open, weighed in on Patrick McEnroe’s resignation as U.S. Davis Cup captain, and his hopes to someday fill those shoes.
INSIDE TENNIS: With Patrick stepping down as U.S. Davis Cup captain, would you be interested in that slot?
TODD MARTIN: I’d love to be considered for the captaincy. It’s a great competition. It’s not had the importance in our country as I’d like, but it’s still incredibly important. We need to follow up on what Patrick’s built. He’s done a great job of cultivating a culture or participation and enthusiasm out of this group. To be able to follow up on that, build on that, take some of the newer talents that are emerging —the Isners and Querreys and Fishes — and forge forward with that.
IT: Do you think there’s a hiring process, or do you think they’ve already got it lined up?
TM: I’d be disappointed if they did know already because I don’t know. At the same time, it’s the USTA’s gig, and they can do with it what they want to do with it. I would hope, considering the importance of the role and the number of worthy candidates, they would take the time to have a process.
IT: Have you heard from them?
TM: No. I got a few e-mails and texts at 11:05 this morning after something came on TV.
IT: You’ve got to get a TV gig and say it on the air like Jim Courier did. [Courier told CBS viewers, “Davis Cup means the world to me. And at some point in my life I certainly hope to have that seat. I’m definitely interested in the job, so hopefully they’ll give me a call and we’ll chat about it.”) You need that forum to campaign
TM: I’ll let you guys do that. I don’t believe it’s something that should be campaigned for. That might be because that’s my style. I understand there are a lot of stakeholders in the USTA and a lot of people need to be comfortable with the selection of the Davis Cup captain.
IT: Do you have any sense of a timetable of when they would make a decision?
TM: No. Stay tuned.
IT: What has Pat McEnroe brought to the table?
TM: Pat brought with him a vision. That vision served him really well. To get that next generation of guys going before the ranking list told him to get it going, I thought demonstrated great leadership and it proved to be very successful, not only because they had some pretty good success, but I also think it helped Andy and James get more comfortable playing at the top of the world game.
IT: It used to be that the team was built from individuals, singles players. Patrick had the vision to create a real team sensibility.
TM: Those guys brought with them a great amount of camaraderie. Those guys were all friends right from the get-go. Frankly, Pete and Andre and Jim and Michael —they weren’t brothers in arms. They did a good job of putting aside their differences when they came together, but with this group, you go to any tournament and they’re bumming around in the locker room together, going out to dinner. They’re tight. To be able to sustain that and use that to the team’s benefit was Patrick’s doing.
TM: What was your favorite Davis Cup moment?
TM: There are two ties, in general, that stand above the rest — in Birmingham, England [a 3-2 U.S. win in ’99] and also in Prague, where we lost [Martin accounted for the only U.S. points in a 3-2 loss with wins over Korda and Vacek in ’96]. For me, those were great weeks. Of course, our experience throughout the course of ’95, with the culmination of winning in Moscow, that was exhilarating. But those other two ties, in and of themselves, probably meant more and were more gratifying than the others for me.
IT: Being 6-foot-6 yourself, would it be easier to relate to the big guys — Isner and Querrey?
TM: The Davis Cup captain has a responsibility to be a very cooperative supporter of the players’ existing coaches. I have a great relationship with the big guys’ coaches — David Nainkin and Craig Boynton. But with some tactical adjustments, I imagine from my coaching experience recently and from my playing experience, being a big guy would help.
IT: Having worked with both Mardy and Novak Djokovic, I suppose that role as captain is a natural progression.
TM: My work with high-level players has not been something to try out. I’ve always had an interest in teaching and coaching. In my opinion, that fact that I spent time with those guys, especially this last stint with Novak, has helped expose me to the highest level of play in an interesting time. I love being on the court. I love thinking form a strategic and tactical perspective. For the younger kids, I love teaching.
IT: You must have had some mixed feeling watching Mardy and Novak face off in the fourth round. [Djokovic prevailed in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.]
TM: I had a lot more time with Mardy than I had with Novak. I would love to see him be more rewarded for the hard work he’s done and the commitment he’s made.
IT: Mardy’s a different guy now. Did you think he needed to lose all that weight – 30 pounds?
TM: I would never put a number on it. I told him he had to lose weight. Frankly, I wouldn’t have believed that 30 pounds was possible. I didn’t believe he was 30 pounds heavy.
IT: It’s not like he had Marcos Baghdatis‘ body.
TM: He didn’t show well, but a lot of that was just his natural physique. He went through stages when he would dabble in it. But you know, dark places sometime produce bright answers. And he was obviously in a pretty challenging, dark place a year ago.
NOTEBOOK
WRITER’S BLOCK?: Ivan Lendl put his long-awaited return to tennis in journalistic terms, saying, “It’s really weird. I don’t know if you can understand. If you don’t write for 15 years, you’re not going to feel like a writer.”
OPEN RECORD: The Samantha Stosur vs. Elena Dementieva fourth-rounder ended at 1:35 a.m. — the latest-ever finish for a women’s match in U.S. Open history. Stosur warded off four match points to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2)). Said the Aussie, “That’s definitely one of the most exciting matches I’ve ever played.”
SAY IT AIN’T SO: Richard Williams said Venus is still suffering knee pain.
‘CIBUL’ UNREST: Moments after her 7-5, 7-6(4) fourth-round loss to Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova asserted, “I think she plays good, but my level is higher, and I have to win these matches.”
HEADLINES
MURRAY SNAKE-BRIT
AMERICAN IDLING (after James Blake and John Isner both loss)
AGAINST RAFA, NEW DADDY IS FRENCH TOAST (proud papa Gilles Simon)
THE NUMBERS
30: Years since the 1980 John McEnroe vs. Jimmy Connors U.S. Open semi —perhaps their greatest USO match (Mac won 6-4, 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)).
QUOTEBOOK
“I’m not the fastest guy out there.” — John Isner
“The people outside from Spain, they think that we can do good only in Paris because it’s clay. But I think if you check the results on the last four, five Grand Slams, there is always a Spaniard in quarters, semis, besides Nadal maybe, no? So obviously, Nadal, it’s a part because he’s No. 1 in the world and you know he’s going to win, he’s going to be there. But there is Ferrer, Almagro, Lopez, Verdasco, myself, and a lot of other players like Ferrero, Moya.” — Tommy Robredo
“Tennis became already physical when Serena and Venus started to play, [but] because they kill everybody with their power, everybody went back to the gym.” —Svetlana Kuznetsova
