The U.S. will play Belgium at Curb Event Center April 6-8 By Mike Organ
If it has to do with Belmont then Rick Byrd likely has something to do with it.
Yes he's a legendary basketball coach, but Byrd also had a hand in bringing the USTA Davis Cup quarterfinal match on April 6-8 between the United States and Belgium to Belmont's Curb Event Center.
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In fact, the process began with a phone call to Byrd from J. Wayne Richmond, managing director, major events for the USTA, who also happens to be a former Belmont tennis player from Smyrna.
Richmond called Byrd and asked if he thought a tennis match could be played inside Curb Event Center.
"When we had the opportunity to bring Davis Cup to the U.S. the first call I made was to coach Byrd and I said, 'Coach, can we fit that court into that stadium and make it work?'" Richmond said.
Byrd stepped out of his office and after pacing off the dimensions, which seemed to work, called for Steve Barrick, Belmont's director of athletic facilities, to bring a tape measure.
"That was the first step because if it hadn't met their specifications, nothing else mattered," said Byrd, whose wife Cheryl is one of the state's top amateur players in her age division.
Byrd let Richmond know and on Thursday Richmond officially announced the Davis Cup would come to Nashville for the first time in 40 years. The U.S. and South Africa squared off at Vanderbilt in 1978.
It will be a best-of-five match series with two singles matches on Friday matching the No. 2 seed from each country vs. the No. 1 seed.
Saturday's schedule will feature the pivotal doubles match and Sunday will feature two singles matches — the two No. 2 seeds and the two No. 1 seeds.
"Davis Cup is probably the largest international team competition in the sport," Richmond said. "And because of the size of this arena (5,085 capacity) people are going to get a very special experience. It'll be loud, it'll be fun and we can't to be here."
Jim Courier, a four-time grand slam title winner and former world No. 1, has been captain of the U.S. team since 2011.
Potential players on the U.S. team coming to Nashville include Sam Querrey, John Isner and Jack Sock. Querrey and Isner played in the United States' 3-1 first-round win over Serbia.
The United States hasn't won the Davis Cup since 2007 and hasn't made it out of the quarterfinals since 2012.
"Belgium will be a very good team," Richmond said. "They got to the finals of Davis Cup last year. David Goffin is No. 7 in the world, so they will be a very, very tough team."
The event will be televised live on the Tennis Channel.
"From our first touch with the convention and visitors bureau, with the Nashville Sports Council and with the Mayor's office this has been a really positive experience for Belmont," said Belmont president Bob Fisher. "Every place I called just immediately embraced it and said, 'Yes, we can do that, we should do that.' It's the reflection of Nashville's can-do attitude that we've got going now."
Former Belmont and professional tennis player Brian Baker, who at one point earned a world ranking of 52nd and returned after five surgeries to play at Wimbledon in 2016, will serve on the organizing committee for the Davis Cup match.
"Nashville will really support this," Baker said. "Nashville has shown that it's a huge sports city in general, and I think having professional tennis, especially at the highest level, will be something that a lot of people will have a lot of fun watching. Especially with it being at Belmont, where I graduated from, makes it a little extra special for me."
Tickets, which range from $240-$750, go on sale Feb. 23 and are available at usta.com/daviscup.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or no Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
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