Davis Cup captains have, at least for countries that produce good players, generally gone to good players that have expressed interest.  Back in the day, Arthur Ashe succeeded Tony Trabert as captain.  The mild-mannered Ashe had to deal with the fiery McEnroe.  As temperamental as Johnny Mac was, he was also intensely devoted to Davis Cup.  When it came time, John McEnroe lobbied to be Davis Captain, and eventually was named captain in 1999.  He stayed on the job a mere 14 months, then cited the schedule and format as problems that caused him to leave.

His brother, Patrick, was named captain and stayed there for a decade, but recently announced he would step down after the Colombia tie, leaving the door open for a successor.

Once that announcement was made, Jim Courier, who has been doing TV commentary, primarily in Australian, lobbied for the position, and it was announced he would get the job.  It’s not clear who, among his colleagues, perhaps the “greatest generation” when it comes to American tennis  (at least, during Open tennis) in both size and quantity, would have been a better choice.  Agassi is probably happy with exhibitions and helping out with his school.  One wonders if he would even enjoy the grind that comes with traveling the world.

Pete Sampras’s reticence seems like the wrong thing needed as leader of Davis Cup, even as he has had his storied accomplishments, including heroic wins on clay in Moscow against a plucky Russian team.  Michael Chang?  No one has much heard of him lately.  Todd Martin?  Perhaps he’d be the one guy that might make some sense.

So Jim Courier it is.  Courier’s career was one of a tumultuous start, perhaps more like Federer than anything.  Impatient, intense, angry, Courier would often resolve difficult situations on court by hitting harder.  A tennis marriage, of sorts, with Jose Higueras finally brought some patience to his game, and this combination of power and patience lead him to big victories in the early 1990s, though he was never able to master the one rival, namely, Pete Sampras.

Then, as suddenly as his incandescent career went up, Courier’s style abandoned him.  He cites a “dead arm”.  Whatever the reason, players caught on to his style, and, of his top American rivals, he was the first to fade, never to come close to regaining the dominance that made him so feared.

Life after tennis has been pretty good.  Chang once joked to Courier, both bachelors until very late, that they must be doing something wrong if Sampras and Agassi were already married.  Chang has joined the fold, recently marrying a Stanford tennis star.  Courier recently relented and tied the knot a few months ago.  Courier, meanwhile, has done tennis commentary, the intensity of youth having been replaced by humor, as evidenced by a humorous interview after Federer’s semifinal victory over Tsonga.

Meanwhile, Thomas Muster, one of Courier’s colleague, decided at the age of 43 to return back to tour.  As pointed out elsewhere, this is no Kimiko Date coming back.  Date’s unusual style, and the lack of variety and often thought in the women’s game, has lead her to a title and nearly winning the Japan Open for the first time in over a decade.  The men, however, move too fast, play too hard.  Muster’s relentless style might have worked in the 1990s, but today’s players would punish him.

It’s perhaps fitting that his first opponent would also be Austrian, one Andreas Haider-Maurer.  Haider-Maurer’s ranking is somewhere in the triple digits, and it must be like Ryan Harrison playing Andre Agassi except Muster was perhaps even bigger for Austria.

Why’s the “terminator” at it again?  He claimed, much like Agassi, that he hated tennis when he played.  Years of retirement has rekindled his love for the game, and he recently rededicated himself to training, getting fit.  Although he lost, it was rather amazing that Muster made the second set close (a tiebreak).  Alas, if Muster comes back more seriously (as he claims), his goals may be far more modest: staying healthy, trying to break into the top 100.  But who can blame a guy, who once had his perfect year (1995) where he was the king of clay.  The lefty beat Chang who had, for years, been seeking that second Slam to make his first seem less like a fluke.  And although Chang had several opportunities, he never again won a Slam.

So, for this week, it’s “oldies week”.  Jim Courier named to captaincy, and one of his rivals, Thomas Muster, showing the love and desire, even at the ripe old age of 43.

Gotta love tennis!