Davis Cup: Heroes for the Weekend, featuring Wawrinka, Berdych, Federer and Murray

Andy Murray (L) celebrates Great Britain’s victory over the USA with the rest of his Davis Cup team

Back or No Back, Andy Murray Wants to be Back:

Fans of the grumpy Scotsman were treated to his most reassuring performance yet since his comeback from back surgery last year. Playing against the Americans in a renovated baseball stadium in San Diego, USA, Murray efficiently crushed the challenge of Donald Young in the opening singles rubber.

Heading into the middle doubles day with a 2-0 lead, the Brits made the tactical decision of resting Murray. The Bryan brothers promptly made them pay for it. But in the end, it might have been the right strategy, as Murray came out fresh for his reverse singles rubber against Sam Querrey, and clinched a tight match and the tie 3-1.

Sam Querrey posed a poignant counterpoint to Murray, as a Davis Cup could-have-been, when he lost both his singles encounters in tight matches, and thereby a tie that the USA would have been hopeful of winning, Murray or no Murray. In the end, it was Murray who played the knight in shining armour, and saw Great Britain into its first Davis Cup quarterfinal appearance since 1986.

Andrey Golubev, the Last Kazakh Standing:

A unique aspect of the Davis Cup is how it throws up players we know nothing about suddenly into the spotlight, fighting for their countries on the biggest of stages. Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, ranked number 88 in the world, contributed to this aspect over the weekend, as he helped defeat Belgium in the only tie over the weekend that featured a live fifth rubber.

Another special aspect of the tournament are the 5-set, never-ending classics that occasionally play out, providing us with thrills, spills and a lot of flag waving. Golubev contributed to this as well, when he beat David Goffin in the second singles rubber of the tie, 12-10 in the fifth set.

Entering the fifth rubber, the scores were tied at 2-2, and it was down to Golubev again. He chose to ignore the dramatics this time, as he proceeded to complete a straightforward straight-sets win over Ruben Bemelmans.

Kazakhstan is an emerging tennis powerhouse, as their Davis Cup results over the last few years indicate. Whether Andrey Golubev is also an emerging talent, or just a one-weekend hit, remains to be seen.

So the heroes rose over the weekend – some familiar faces, some new ones. The competition is down to eight teams now, and the tournament, in its year-long circuitous odyssey, will reconvene for the quarterfinals in April.

And in case you were wondering about Wawrinka, he did just fine, with a 4-set victory over Dusan Lajovic, the top Serb in an unfortunately depleted team. The Swiss team cruised to an expected away win over the Serbs, but Wawrinka might have been happiest for the presence of his friend and countryman Roger Federer back in the national team. Federer did even better in his sudden return to Davis Cup duty, winning in straight sets in the tie-opener against Ilifa Bozoljac.

For the Swiss team looking to go all the way this time, and for the Davis Cup looking for more star power, having Federer around must have been very encouraging. For them, his very presence makes him a hero for the weekend.