A closer look at Spain's Rafa-less Davis Cup triumph and more

David Ferrer helped Fernando Verdasco mentally prepare for his match and was cheering loudly for his teammate during Spain's victory. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Jon Wertheim's Mailbag Jon Wertheim will answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag every Wednesday. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jon Wertheim on Twitter

Check back next week for our annual Baggie Awards ...

Not to cry over spilled clay, but do you think Argentina got too cute by opting for the hard surface in Buenos Aires for the Davis Cup final? Argentine players seem to play well enough on the red stuff -- at least a lot better than the Yanks do. I would think that playing on clay is just as much a part of the Argentine players' DNA as the Spaniards'. Or, at a certain point, do you just have to say that Spain is a really deep country as far as talent?
-- Steve Adams, New Hope, Minn.

• The Davis Cup questions were late in coming last week, but suddenly they've been flooding in. What a bizarre weekend, a fitting end to a season that, in typical tennis fashion, was irresistibly crazy. Rafael Nadal pulls out; his own captain "bans" him from attending (see below); The Argentine team is aboil with tension that, reportedly, included a near fight in the locker room; one of the surliest players in the sport outdoes himself; a match between Argentina and Spain is played indoors, of all surfaces; a couple of lefties rise to the challenge for Spain; both captains resign. Otherwise, it was a conventional weekend.

To Steve's question: I do think Argentina got too cute for its own good. The great run of Davis Cup, of course, is that the home team picks the surface. It only makes sense to play to your strength. But often we see countries try to out-think themselves and it backfires. To counter Nadal, the Argies picked an indoor surface. Problem was, when Nadal was a non-starter, that advantage vanished. But it seems to me the real decisive factor was esprit d'corps (or the Spanish equivalent). The Spaniards were a unit; the Argentines got along worse than The Police at the end of the Synchronicity Tour.

Again, for the Spanish speakers. Or, longer but lower quality.

Jon, I give all the credit in the world to Feliciano Lopez (and to a slightly lesser extent Fernando Verdasco), but can we also give a mini-shoutout to David Ferrer? Instead of pouting and sulking on the sidelines after being benched, Ferrer helped Verdasco mentally prepare for his match and was cheering loudly for his teammate in between sending text message updates to the absent Nadal. That pretty much encompasses what this Spanish team has been about all year -- putting aside personal disappointment for the good of the team.
-- J.W., Austin, Texas

• Amen. And Ferrer is the classic grinder, one player who REALLY could have used the additional week off.

What did you think about Emilio Sanchez Vicario (btw, when did he adopt Vicario?) essentially telling Rafa to stay home from the Davis Cup final? I think Patrick McEnroe would welcome an injured Roddick to the U.S. bench, and would view it as leadership if he wanted to be there. Cultural difference or feud?
-- Scott, Salt Lake City, Utah

• To your first question, what a nice cultural tradition those Spaniards have, acknowledging their mother's family, without the self-conscious hyphen. This is TOTAL reckless speculation (ah, life on the Internet), but I wonder if it didn't go down like this:

Nadal: I could really use a vacation next week.

Manager: Right on. ... Oh wait, how would it look if your teammates are fighting to the death in Argentina during Davis Cup and you're luxuriating on some beach in the Seychelles?

Nadal: Not the Seychelles. Mauritius.

Manager: Same difference. Anyway, people are going to wonder Where's Rafa? Guys like Scott of Salt Lake City, Utah, are going to question why he wasn't on the bench cheering.

Nadal: There's a lake in Utah? I thought that was a dry state. (Wait for laughter.) And what's the deal with the Utah Jazz? It's like the Madrid polka. And what's up with Orrin Hatch? I mean, I know times are tough, but --

Manager: Enough! You're watching too much Seinfeld, hombre! Anyway, here's what I'll do. I'll explain the situation to Emilio. We'll get him to demand you stay away. He doesn't have to worry about you being a distraction. Something like that. You get to go on vacation. Everyone wins!

Nadal: Vamos!

By becoming true in 2009, which one of these events would most strengthen Roger Federer's GOAT claim?

A. Winning two Slams in 2009.
B. Winning Roland Garros.
C. Winning the Davis Cup for Switzerland.
D. Regaining the No. 1 ranking.
E. Finishing the year as No. 1
F. Defeating Nadal enough times to even his personal record against him.

Though it is hard to pick against A and F, my choice is B.

And which one do you think Federer would like the most?
-- Daniel, Santa Fe, Argentina

• If Federer were to win Roland Garros -- irrespective of whether he'd be tying or breaking Sampras' record -- I think the GOAT discussion would be over. By this point, I think the rankings are not particularly important, as Federer has already set the record for consecutive weeks at No. 1. Yes, returning to the top spot would speak well to his mettle, pride, etc. But it's not essential. Davis Cup would be a nice feather in his proverbial cap, too, but remember Pete Sampras almost single-handedly led the U.S. to the Cup in the mid-'90s, so that wouldn't distinguish Federer. And, true, Federer's case would be bolstered if his record were better than his current 6-12 against his rival. But as we've said in the past, that record is a bit distorted by Nadal's recurring inability to face Federer down on surfaces other than clay. (See: 2008 U.S. Open for a recent example.)

In this week's Ad-In Ad-Out, you (and apparently some mailbag readers) suggested that Novak Djokovic should enter a couple of challengers to pass Federer for No. 2 in the year-end rankings. There is one big problem with this idea -- Djokovic is prohibited from doing this. On page 67 of the 2008 ATP rulebook, it states that players ranked in the top ten 21 days before the first Monday of a Challenger tournament are prohibited from entering, accepting a wild card, and/or competing in a Challenger tournament. (On a side note, there are also restrictions for players ranked 11-50. They can only enter a Challenger by way of an ATP-approved wild card in $50,000-plus Challengers and the number of total wild cards they can receive is limited.) This is probably something a lot of tennis fans don't know. So in the end, Djokovic will remain at No. 3.
-- Karly, Albany, N.Y.

• Yes, no No. 3 player could take a wild card to a Challenger. But it's still fun to ponder.

I wonder when tucking the tennis ball under our skirts, does the heat generated from our body cause the pressure in the ball to change, thus causing the ball to bounce differently. Not forgetting, we do perspire and the ball may get a bit damp?
-- Esther, Singapore

• And we thought a spitball was a gross concept.