The Davis Cup is one of the most important tournaments in the tennis calendar. This year the USA team faces Serbia on Boise State’s campus. Official matches won’t start until Friday, but on Wednesday tennis fans saw some of the best players in the world show off their skills.
About 150 fans at the Taco Bell Arena watch the number one tennis player in the world practice. Serbian Novak Djokovic has spent about 20 minutes warming up. He’s known as one of the more dynamic players on the court. Djokovic has a rapt audience when he fires a powerful serve over the net.
The Boise crowd is so surprised that they almost forget to clap.
The tennis crowd is expected to get pretty rowdy this weekend. And for American doubles team Mike and Bob Bryan, that’s where the fun begins.
“People will have their faces painted, there will be flags, they’ll be cheering on great shots and errors. It’s going to be really raucous and it really brings out the best in us,” says Bob Bryan.
The Bryan Brothers are identical twins and arguably one of the best doubles teams in history. And they are happy the Davis Cup is in Boise. Mike Bryan says the Boise State men’s tennis coach, Greg Patton, is a close family friend.
“He’s been trying to get the Davis Cup here, you know 10-15 years and he finally pushed it through. We go way back with Greg; he’s a legend of the game. We call him the General [and] he’s one of our best friends in tennis.”
The Bryan Brothers say the Davis Cup is special to them because it was how they fell in love with the game when they were kids. Seventeen-year-old Dominick Michael Austin understands that.
“I’ve idolized these guys my whole life. And actually being on court with them is exciting," he says. "We accidentally ran into the Serbian team and Djokovic and we just stopped in a daze, so excited that they came to Boise.”
Austin will work as a ball boy during the Davis Cup matches. He hopes to get autographs from some of the most talented players in the world.
Copyright 2013 Boise State Public Radio