Switzerland: The 2014 Davis Cup Journey, Kazakhstan — The “Easy” Tie

Unfortunately, Day 2 of the Cup didn’t look much brighter. Once again, Golubev played spoiler, he and teammate Aleksandr Nedovyesov pushing #Fedrinka hard in four extremely tight sets.

 
This time it was us that got a bit testy, as #BlameStanimal became a resounding theme in Twitterland…

Good serve from Rog but his volley goes wide. Kazakhstan up 2-0. — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 5, 2014

I’m sure that was Stan’s fault somehow. — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 5, 2014

Terrible game from Stan. Acing and smashing winners. Just appalling. 😉 — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 5, 2014

@mapanda923 I blame the downturn in our economy on him, too. He’s holding us back…lol. — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 5, 2014

Noting that Stan wasn’t at his best, the Kazakhstani duo aimed as many of their shots at him as possible. Roger tried to compensate by running over to help, but Dom Roger occasionally got carried away…

Yessss….boys are working to break down their “Attack Stan” strategy. I think Rog served and volleyed his own ball…lol. 2-3. — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 5, 2014

 
The Swiss pair fought valiantly and nearly pushed it to a fifth set, but just couldn’t quite edge it out. Kazakhstan took the match, 6-4, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(5).

Fed still had faith…

Federer said he isn’t too disappointed because they still got it in their own hands. He’s convinced Stan will play well tomorrow #DavisCup — Svenja Mastroberardi (@svenja_mastro) April 5, 2014

With the Swiss team down 1-2, fans were freaking out. As Stan came out for the fourth rubber against Kuku, we tried to lighten the mood…

Stan’s knee is all scraped up. Is that from the fall yesterday, or from Sev’s punishment last night? 😉 — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 6, 2014

 
Stan elevated everyone’s mood by elevating his level of play…

 
Things were still tense, however. After an egregious out call, Stan was fired up again…

Hahaha, Sev just pushed Stan back from the ump chair…lol. Shoo Stan, go away. — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 6, 2014

We were all feeling the tension…sort of…

Kukushkin doing the Ana Ivanavic fist pump again. I would be angry, but Stan just took off his shirt. — Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) April 6, 2014

It was all good, the Stanimal had it under control.

Things were tied at 2-all…Swiss fans waited breathlessly for the final rubber. (CLICK to go on to PAGE 3 for the DECIDING MATCH!)