Sweden d. Belarus, 3-1.
Belarus’ amazing home record — they had been undefeated in home ties since 1995 — was tarnished when both Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov lost their singles matches on Friday. Johansson beat Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and Soderling took down Voltchkov. While the Belarussians won the doubles match on Saturday, the Swede Soderling took down the gigantic Mirnyi on Sunday, ending the tie with a 3-1 victory against the Belarussians.
and who won the clothing tie?
I have to give props to Max and Vladimir for sticking with the green and red of the Belarus flag (+1). I’m docking points for the collar on Voltchkov’s shirt (-1), but giving it back because of the clean white lines punctuating the red on Max’s shirt (+1). And very few people even attempt the red and green combination if your name isn’t associated with Gucci, so I approve of their choice (+1).
In the interest of full discretion, (as some readers know) Max Mirnyi is one of my true loves, so he can do little wrong in my eyes.
I’m also docking them points for not taking advantage of that crazy pattern on the left side of their flag (-.5):
That could very well have been a good sweater pattern (cowl neck!!), or a knit cap, or a scarf. People, let’s figure it out by Davis Cup 2008, ok?
Now onto the Swedes, who was totally lacking in their incorporation of the yellow and blue flag into their uniform choices (-1). I haven’t seen their warm-ups, so that might have more yellow. If we’re basing it solely on what Soderling and Johansson were wearing during their ties, we get these:
Thomas Johansson
Thomas is always a shoe-in when it comes to his fashion choices. Never disappoints. Though I don’t see any yellow in his ensemble, I will give him props for his subtle use of blue. Always clean, always crisp. (+1)
Robin Soderling
Robin: surely we could have asked adidas to get you blue strips (or even yellow stripes) instead of the red? Ok, so maybe you don’t have a clothing deal and you had to pluck this out of your closet. You should have borrowed something for the occasion… (-1)
Belarus’ total: 1.5
Sweden’s total: -1
Winner: Belarus!
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