Davis Cup Day 3 - David confirmed to play the 5th rubber

So far it's going according to the script. Robin Soderling has levelled up the tie, and taken it to a fifth and decisive rubber after defeating Leonardo Mayer in straight sets 7-5 7-6(5) 7-5.

It has now been confirmed that David will play the final rubber against Andreas Vinciguerra, who has been chosen in favour of Joachim Johansson.

Soderling started slowly early in the match, resembling more of the Soderling of old looking slow and sluggish around the court, only capable of being dangerous when standing and delivering on shots. Mayer was fired up from the beginning, but the match started to take a turn when Mayer failed to convert break point opportunities on Soderling's serve at 3-3 in the first set missing two makeable backhands, a theme that would later repeat itself.

Unfortunately this is the problem for Mayer, trying to take the ball early and playing aggressively, the likelihood of not pulling it off on big points. In all three sets, it was late in the set when Mayer would decisively make a couple of poor errors though his timing particularly on the backhand at times cost him.

Soderling started to find his range late in the first set, becoming much more consistent from the back of the court, and dangerous with his forehand. His unforced error count was about half the total of Mayer's which is surprising when you think of Soderling's aggressive power game, but he actually looked very solid. It was almost like he was playing within himself striking powerful shots but also being patient with crosscourt shots, and being able to win points just with sheer pace rather than accuracy. Whereas Mayer pretty much had to hit close to the lines to be able to win points, a sign that he was simply outclassed by a better player.

Towards the end of the match, Mayer started to struggle with either a leg injury or cramp, which explains how his game continued to evolve throughout the match to a more free-flowing game and more net approaches. He started to become irritated with himself in the second set, perhaps not showing enough feel on the ball, then slapped his leg after falling over to go down break point in the second set. Until he no longer believed he could win in the third set, though he still managed to give a decent account of himself once the pressure was off.

Now let's hope that things will continue to go according to plan, and that at the end of the day, David can be the hero, just like he wanted to. And that he can recover from this match physically in a short period of time.