Davis Cup a big win for suburbs, mayor says
When Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod selected the players for the opening match of the Davis Cup tournament that opens Friday at the Sears Centre Arena, he set up the draw for the rest of the weekend.
But his action also signaled the return of the so-called “World Cup of Tennis” to Illinois after an absence of more than 85 years.
“It's huge,” McLeod said of the significance of the event being held in the Northwest suburbs. “It brings incredible excitement to the area and impacts the entire region.”
Hoffman Estates officials welcomed Davis Cup players and their captains from the United States and Slovakia, as well as tournament sponsors, international media and International Tennis Federation referee Andrew Jarrett to the draw meeting, held Thursday at the Stonegate Banquet & Conference Center.
McLeod reached into a glass bowl and drew the name of the second-seeded Slovakian player, Norbert Gombos, who will face the top-seeded John Isner in the opening match at 4 p.m. Friday. Second-seeded Sam Querrey will face top-seeded Slovakian Martin Klizan 20 minutes after the completion of the first match.
They will flip opponents in their second round singles matches, beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The tournament's highly anticipated doubles match, featuring U.S. Open champions Bob and Mike Bryan playing against the Slovakian doubles team of Lukas Lacko and Michal Mertinak, takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Bryan brothers have won a record 21 Davis Cup matches.
“We've been watching Davis Cup matches since we were kids,” Bob Bryan said. “This is one of the reasons why we're playing today. It's an atmosphere like no other tournament.”
Jim Courier, who captains the American Davis Cup team, said players thrive on representing their country and they are driven to advance.
“This is the start of our 2015 campaign,” Courier said. “We need to win five rounds next year to win the Davis Cup. This is the first step.”
Ben Gibbs, general manager of the Sears Centre, said he and village officials had been talking about landing the Davis Cup for the last few years, and they learned in June that the site had been selected. He credited a grant from the Illinois Office of Tourism for helping make it possible to win the world-class sporting event.
“We're on a roll,” said Gibbs, who works for the company the village has hired to manage the center, Global Spectrum. “This year alone, we hosted USA Volleyball, USA Gymnastics and we'll be the site for the U.S. Figure Skating Association's Skate America in October.”
The center also hosted the Women's Big Ten Basketball Tournament in March and the U.S. Figure Skating Association's team synchronized skating tournament, which booked 7,000 rooms in January at hotels from Elgin to Elk Grove Village, said Linda Scheck, director of tourism for Hoffman Estates.
“Under the management of Global Spectrum, the arena has become a demand generator,” Scheck said, “having developed a niche market for hosting world-class sporting events that have translated into regional tourism.”