On Thursday, at the foot of the giant Ferris wheel in Vienna, a draw decided the order of play. The result: Gauthier Onclin, 25, ranked 164th, opens on Friday at 1pm against Jurij Rodionov, 142nd. It is his first Davis Cup match.
I spent the day on this draw business.
Silly question, but: both teams prepare for a full week, a captain picks his players, and then the order of the matches comes out of a draw. Held at the foot of a Ferris wheel. I checked, and actually nobody could tell me why it happens there rather than in a room. I’m told it’s tradition, fine, but what does that mean? And can you go up in it?
Onclin, for his part, doesn’t seem to mind: “I didn’t really have a preference and, in any case, it’s the draw that decides. But maybe it will stop me thinking quite so much. I imagine there’ll be a small ceremony first and then we go straight in. That’s maybe better than waiting in the locker room for two hours, it’ll force me to stay in the moment.”
Second thing I learned: the player opening the tie wasn’t even in the team to begin with. Onclin was a reserve, then a substitute after Raphaël Collignon (ATP 47) withdrew, then a starter after Alexander Blockx (ATP 27) did the same. A fortnight ago he was playing a Challenger in France. His week in Vienna was spent finding his feet on clay again, having been in the middle of a hard-court swing.
I was told one o’clock, the schedule says 13:00, I checked, it’s the same time and I’m fine. What I still don’t understand is how you change surface in a week. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
Rodionov beat Onclin earlier this year and is playing in front of his own crowd; the man from Liège sees him as the favourite. The winning team goes to the Davis Cup Final 8 in Bologna, from 24 to 29 November.
It’s true, we checked: La Libre.
