This is Davis Cup weekend and there are some interesting ties for sure and personally I love Davis Cup though some people don’t and more on that later.
I have decided to separate this in 4 different entries. Here is a brief preview of the 8 ties, some will be longer than others, so skip the ones that aren’t worth reading. These will be done in order as in the draw. The home team are indicated first. If possible with the comments, if I get any, then leave them in the relevant preview thread.
Austria vs Croatia in Graz on the clay.
This one for me has the potential to be the closest tie of the weekend. The Croats who are defending Davis Cup champions and if they manage to get through this tie, then they have the advantage of playing at home for the rest of their matches.
The Austrians did the right thing and select clay as the surface and it will be interesting to see how slow the court will be. This will be the worst surface for the Croats and the best chance for the Austrians to win, even though Thomas Muster is still a better claycourt player than Jurgen Melzer.
Ivan Ljubicic is the undoubted star of the Croats and he carried the team to the Davis Cup in 2005 and how he handles the responsibility as captain while having to play 3 matches will be a huge test for him. He is vulnerable against Stefan Koubek on Day 1. Last week he handled Koubek easily and he was at home and playing on his favourite indoor hard surface. Koubek is now at home and on the clay where he has a better chance of negating Ljubo’s power and take advantage of his movement weaknesses on the clay and can repeat his RG defeat of him.
Mario Ancic and Jurgen Melzer are the problem children in their teams, both of them struggle in Davis Cup. Ancic won the final match to win the Davis Cup, but to be fair to win the Davis Cup and Michal Mertinak was your opponent that would be considered a total dream and now the onus is on Ancic to see whether he can step up. Melzer is another individual with a shocking record, and he was the one that got Austria into the World Group while Koubek was struggling with all his issues in 2005. Their match on the first day is vital for the tie, as the doubles will be close as Melzer/Knowle aren’t muppets as doubles players.
Assuming the tie is alive, when the reverse singles are played the Austrians will be in a better position if it is Koubek to play Ancic, than for Melzer to beat Ljubicic and the worst thing is that I don’t get to see the Austrian DC captain Muster with his fiery brand of leadership and also how Ljubo will balance his role as team captain and vital part of the playing staff.
Argentina vs Sweden:
Years ago this would have been a great tie with the Swedes and their great tradition on clay and Argentina as well, but times have changed for Swedish tennis and not for the better either.
The Argentines will prepare the slowest and heaviest court possible and there might even be a bit over extra water overnight, just to make sure the courts are just right. In spite of having some injury problems the Argentines do have a strong team with David Nalbandian and my favourite player who looks stoned on the court Jose Acasuso who is making his debut after the best week of his life winning singles and doubles in Vina Del Mar as the second singles player.
Yes, Gaudio and Coria are out for various reasons. Gaudio with a shoulder problem and Coria is lacking form at the moment and as much as I think he is a weasel and whiny bitch, when he concentrates on playing tennis, then he has plenty to add to the Argentine team. Maybe the fact that Nalle and most of the other Argentines can’t stand him, at the same time W is the only result that counts at the end of the match.
The Swedes well their best 2 players on clay are Andreas Vinciguerra and Mats Wilander, but Mats is a bit old and Vinci is a bit injured. They will have Robin “The Toad” Soderling and Thomas Johansson as their singles players. ToJo is solid, but he is not a real threat on clay to these guys and as for the Toad, well hopefully he is on his best behaviour, as this guy does have a real attitude problem and isn’t even very popular among his fellow countrymen and that says something.
Argentina should win this tie comfortably and the Swedes best chance for a victory is in the doubles or scoring with the beautiful ladies in Buenos Aires.
3 comments:
I will cheer for Austria although the chance is slim.
And I have great confidence in the Argentines.
I hope Chucho is up to the challenge. He has a lot of confidence right now, and maybe a new attitude.
Luckily Nalbandian will play the first rubber, if he manages to win, Acasuso will play under less pressure. Chucho played well in Buenos Aires, and for Argentina in Dusseldorf... I hope he does the same in the Davis Cup.
Coria when fit and confident is undoubtedly the best Argentine claycourt player, and the second in the world. And the Argentine team is going to need him sooner or later.
With Cañas and Puerta already out, they can't afford the luxury of not having him on the team because of personal issues.
Nalle had a tough matcha against the Toad and with the help of the man known as Diego got the crowd going.
Chucho man that was an excellent debut and great way to show who the boss was and hopefully there will be more from him in the future.
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