Argentina and Croatia Star for 2016 Davis Cup Semifinals Winners and Losers

The weekend in tennis was all about semifinals Davis Cup action featuring defending champion Great Britain and Andy Murray, who hosted Argentina’s resurgent star Juan Martin del Potro. Who won the battle, and who won the war?

While Great Britain and Argentina are the focus of this “Winners and Losers” edition, there was another equally important clash with France traveling to Croatia. There, the Croatians hopped on the back of their big superstar Marin Cilic to fend off the deep French squad.

There was also a crucial Davis Cup decision that was easy to second guess, but in tennis, things rarely turn out the way they do on paper. Maybe that's a good lesson for the tennis folks Down Under who have their eyes on the future.

All in all, it was competition and drama performing their usual pleasing dance together.

Winner: Juan Martin del Potro

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Del Potro is back. Slugging away for over five hours and just as many sets, the Argentine took down Andy Murray in front of Scottish fans in Davis Cup action. That’s not to be taken lightly.

Murray led Great Britain to the 2015 Davis Cup, winning all eight singles matches and teaming up with brother Jamie for three doubles wins.

Del Potro is no longer just a feel-good story coming back from devastating wrist injuries. He’s fearlessly playing like a top-five player, securing wins over Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at the Olympics, Dominic Thiem at the U.S. Open and Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon.

He’s generating tremendous power with his serve and forehand, he's mixing in backhand slice, and his legs have been rejuvenated with plenty of time off from grinding through the ATP tour.

Finally, Del Potro is a real factor to win a major title in 2017. He has the tools, fortitude and desire to milk whatever he can out of his career. He’s not afraid to stare right back at the top players in the world and win big matches. He’s done it before, and he’s a certain contender once again.

Loser: Kyle Edmund

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Day 1 of Davis Cup play put Team Britain behind the eightball when Brit Kyle Edmund imploded against Argentine Guido Pella. It was a strange result, even though both players are ranked near each other on the fringe of the top 50.

Edmund is considered a rising player with more firepower and potential than Pella, and he was playing for his country on fast indoor courts. Pella is more of a clay-courter, but he managed to keep the ball in play, and Edmund sprayed the ball too often outside the lines like an amateur painter. Fifty unforced errors were costly.

But that's also tennis. Edmund no doubt felt the pressure in evening things up for the home nation after superstar Andy Murray went down, and Pella could feel like he was playing with house money. He was the more solid player.

After one day, defending champion Great Britain was on the brink of elimination.

Winner: Leonardo Mayer

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Team Argentina had blown a 2-0 lead and needed the fifth and deciding rubber to land in the Davis Cup final. It was thought that they would be able to ride their comeback star Del Potro.

Instead, Del Potro was unable to play, and everything rested on journeyman Leonardo Mayer—a solid player who was ranked in the top 30 last year but who struggled with injuries and had a miserable time trying to win ATP matches during the spring.

Mayer had been relegated to Challenger tournaments in recent weeks, but there he was trying to hold back the defending Davis Cup champion.

On paper, it looks like an upset that he defeated Daniel Evans, ranked No. 56, but Mayer has the superior size and talent when he’s playing well. He completed the the 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory with strong serving and nerves of steel.

It ranks as one of his career highlights and gives his team a trip to Croatia in November for a chance at the title.

Loser: Argentine Decision to Use Juan Martin del Potro in Doubles

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Argentina blundered by sending out Del Potro in doubles, and it nearly cost the team a trip to Croatia for the Davis Cup final.

Up 2-0 and only needing to win one rubber, the thinking was that it could sweep the Davis Cup tie against Great Britain’s Murray brothers. Instead Del Potro and Mayer were swatted aside in four sets.

Too greedy? The upside was a long shot and the risks were costly.

1. The Murray brothers have more experience and were desperate to win. They were at least a 90 percent lock to win that match.

2. Andy Murray would be an enormous favorite in stamping out Pella in the fourth rubber even if he had played 10 hours the night before. The Scot swatted aside Pella comfortably the next day.

3. Del Potro would not get a day off on Saturday that would have given him a much greater edge on Sunday against Evans.

4. There was risk in wearing down Del Potro, who has been playing a lot of big-match tennis this summer. Suppose his conditioning were to suddenly hit a wall. Big men can get exhausted easier.

5. If things got tight, Del Potro would face a hostile crowd and all kinds of energy. Fifth rubbers can be a wild card.

Then it happened. Del Potro was unable to play the next day because of a "lower body injury," according to the report in ATP World Tour.

Thankfully for Argentina, it escaped, which was discussed in the previous slide. But that does not excuse the terrible decision to play Del Potro in doubles. Team Argentina dodged a fusillade of media bullets.

Now the British media can second-guess captain Leon Smith's decision to bypass Edmund in favor of Evans.

Winner: Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig for Croatian Doubles

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How about Cilic and Ivan Dodig to win a major title in doubles? Don’t laugh. The Croatian tandem defeated France’s world No. 1 team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in four sets to give their country the one-point edge heading into Sunday’s reverse singles.

It’s no fluke either. Cilic and Dodig pulled out a similar effort against America’s famed (Bob and Mike) Bryan Brothers in mid-July. The Croatians have great chemistry, more power with Cilic and fine skills to smother shots at net.

Suppose these two decided to play together for a year and focus exclusively on doubles. They have shown they can beat the best teams in the world on pressure stages. Would it be worth sacrificing singles money and prestige for doubles majors victories?

No. Cilic is the 2014 U.S. Open champion and the most recent Masters 1000 winner at Cincinnati. The dream of being a top-10 singles player far exceeds the greater possibilities of championships in doubles for most of the very top stars.

It was a great win for the Croatians, who sent out Cilic on Sunday to close shop on the French tourists. Wily veteran Richard Gasquet tried to break down the door, but Cilic barred the way with his 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Team Croatia will rank as slight favorites to win the nation's second Davis Cup title after turning the trick in 2005.

Loser: Team Kazakhstan

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In kind of a minor upset, Team Kazakhstan lost a regional rivalry tie to Russia in the World Group tennis playoff.

The hero was Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov, who won both his singles matches—including the fourth-tie clincher over Mikhail Kukushkin. The Russians now return to the World Group for the first time since 2012.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan, so close to defeating powerful Serbia in March, must now bow out of the main event in 2017. It doesn't help matters that its more powerful neighbor to the north gets a slot.

Winners with Plenty of Skepticism

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Bernard Tomic (left) and Nick Kyrgios are all smiles right now...

OK, great, Team Australia. You blew out Slovakia in the first three rubbers of the World Group tennis playoff, and captain Lleyton Hewitt has already been talking about picking up the Davis Cup as soon as possible.

"We expect that we can go deep," Hewitt said, per the Australian Associated Press (h/t news.com.au). "This group wants to try and get our hands on the Davis Cup."

Perhaps, but it might not be such smooth sailing when the two key players are Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic. Nobody associated with tennis really needs to examine the lengthy dossier of their controversial behaviors and results on and off the tennis courts.

Last year, Tomic was suspended from Davis Cup in July after he made derogatory comments about Team Australia, including revered former star Patrick Rafter, one of the nicest players of his playing days.

Kyrgios got in on the act with his unnecessary defense of Tomic.

The two then turned on each other. They bickered in March after Australia's first-round loss to the United States, when Tomic accused Kyrgios of faking illness to avoid the Davis Cup commitment.

Meanwhile, Hewitt thinks he can keep these two on the same page for the months and years ahead, even while they navigate through their own troubled waters on the ATP tour’s singles tour.

Good luck, mates.