Russia vs. Germany
The Russians are strong favourites for this even without Marat "Reinhold Messner" Safin who is off to Nepal climbing mountains and also he has a wrist problem as for the view on this choice. Well good for him and if he is not enjoying playing tennis and can't do it, then climbing a mountain on the Nepalese-Tibetan border isn't such a bad place to be.
There seems to be news from the Russian camp that the PMK has picked up a wrist problem and it's a question of how serious it is. If so, then he would miss the season, but this is not likely and wouldn't surprise if this was a move from the Tsar Russian Davis and Fed Cup captain Tarpishev to throw some confusion into the German camp. Andreev is playing first against Haas and then Davydenko has been named to play Kohlschreiber. Haas has been bitching about the court, but this is not a surprise and I expect Igor to get the money here and as for the second match well the PMK has never done that well in surface transition and Kohli has been the best German player on clay this season and it should be interesting to see how he handles this challenge.
The Germans have the advantage in the doubles, but it will need Haas to win both his matches to give the Germans a victory in this tie. It's not very likely, but anything can happen. The best thing is if the Germans won and the Americans did, then the final would be in Germany. Personally I think the Russians with their depth and ability to rotate their squad is a big advantage and will get them to another final.
Sweden vs. USA
The other World Group semi final between the Swedes and the Americans, who have done battle a few times in the past in the Scandinavium and the Americans have lost every time. The usual happens the Americans have the individual stars and the Swedes are better as a team and the Swedes have won these matches. 1984 was famous in Swedish tennis history and the team of Wilander, Sundström, Edberg and Järryd defeated John McEnroe, Connors and Fleming which was the Dream Team as names go, but they behaved like absolute arse clowns and were a disgrace to the sport.
Wilander is now the captain of the Swedish team and maybe he could use that as a motivational tool for this team, and they will need it especially since their best player and the key to this tie Robin "The Toad" Söderling is out for the rest of the season with a wrist problem. Toad wanted them to choose clay, but with hindsight it was good that they stuck with the ice rink they used against Argentina.
The Swedes have Pim Pim Johansson coming back from another shoulder problem, sure he is lacking matches, but this is their best chance of Sweden winning and there won't be many rallies at all and if he beats Roddick on Day 1, then it could set things up. Thomas Johansson will need to play out of his skin and at home in Davis Cup is the best possible time. The serve is going to be a huge factor, so the ability to concentrate and take those half chances are the key for the Swedes. It will be a difficult task with Roddick and the Bryan Bros, the Swedes have to get it to a 5th match and James Blake isn't necessarily the guy you want to play away from home to win a vital 5th match.
Looks like a Russia vs. US final lets hope that is not the case.
20 comments:
i have no hope for germany against the russians. if davy isn't injured and plays both matches, this means almost two guaranteed points for russia and i don't know how the germans should win all the other matches. plus, haas is his usual self, moaning and complaining even before it has started.
in the other tie, pimpim is the sphinx and the x-factor. no one knows his current form, but i fear it's not enough to beat one of the two top players from US. doubles will also be interesting with both teams having excellent players.
I don't think German has the advantage on double. Kohlmann is out and Waske is not playing well lately (I think he's also injured). But I admit I don't know much about Petzschner.
And for the other tie. I believe Roddick will win both matches and the Bryans will get the job done. So whether Blake will win another 5 setters really won't matter.
Poor Swedes. I'm rooting for them (and will be able to see them for the first time this year...). I hope Joachim Johansson plays very well coming off this injury. ToJo playing pretty out of his skin vs ARG earlier in the year so it's possible it could happen.
Haas moaning about something wouldn't be Tommy Haas and him losing on clay to Udomchoke is always a sign of mental frailty that isn't far from the surface.
I wonder if the PMK will play or not, but the Russians can chop and change their line up. Andreev should get the job done here.
The Americans are huge favourites here, but if Pim Pim can pull of a surprise win, that could give some positive energy to ToJo.
Russia and the US are big favourites, I don't see any real chances for Germany, as for Sweden, they need to somehow make it to a deciding 5th match but it is hard to see where they will get their 2 wins in the first 4 matches. If the Toad was playing it would be another matter.
haas vs andreev, well it was a huge beatdown. it's well known that haas doesn't like the clay, but i didn't expect such a scoreline. serve was not working, his movement was awful. andreev on the other hand dominated every rally, mainly with his huge forehand, and haas was never able to put some pressure on igor. andreev standing deep in his backhand corner and hammering his FH inside-out, haas could do nothing against it. early breaks in each set, never in doubt.
Thanks for the report on this one Fab,
I thought Andreev would win and in 3 sets, but not that easily though. Good to hear that Andreev played well and just punished Haasi with that huge forehand.
kohlschreiber levels it at 1-1, after beating davydenko in 5 close sets! ugly match, but quite a drama at the end. kohlschreiber had chances in every set to win and davydenko was playing poorly especially 2nd and 3rd set. then in the 4th kohli was leading 3-2 and had BPs, but davy saved it and broke himself the very next game. 5th set the same thing: kohli with BPs, cannot convert and gets broken the next game. davy jumped to a 4-2 40-15 lead and it was almost over, but he couldn't close it out and let kohlschreiber come back.
what i like about kohlschreiber is his attitude, he kept on fighting the whole match even after wasting many chances and he got awarded for it. this is the huge difference between him and the other german guys, like mayer for example.
Pim-pim vs. Roddick, as expected, it was ace in the wrong way. Probably two aces a game on average and average first service speed 220 km/h. Pim-pim matched Roddick game wise, maybe he won most rallies. Duck was somewhat mentally stronger and played the deciding points much better. He also became more of a dickhead as things went his way, ridiculing the ballboys. I thought I going to die of boredom at the beginning of the 2nd set, but then the crowd got into it a little more so I could stay awake.
Tojo vs. Blake, Sweden needs to beat Blake twice and first time was a success. Some proper tennis in this match, ie most rallies more than two strokes. ToJo was awesome most of this match. He was always a step ahead. Blake always plays the same way whether it works or not. The crowd got to Blake a little too I think. Awesome DC atmosphere. More like a football game. Chair ump de Jenken wasn't so good but Sweden benefited in the end so why complain?
Btw: is Pat Mac the Duck's lapdog? I saw some true puppy love in his gazes.
Thanks for the reports aphex! I hope you're having fun :) Glad to see ToJo doing a bit of lesson-teaching out there for Blake. Where were you in the crowd? I'll see if I spot you on my tape.
PMac wants so badly to be Ducko's lover, I think. He would if he could.
I'm sitting close to a bunch of Swede fans in blond lady wigs, a couple of rows above one of the entrances, Hackie.
Björkman/Aspelin vs. Bryan bros: Sweden had one realistic chance for a minibreak in the 1st set tiebreak but didn't capitalize. After that it was Bryans all the way, Björkman losing his serve three times I think. Bryans only facing one breakpoint the entire match. It was actually impressive to see the bros responding to the crowd trying to pressure them with some outrageous serve or play. Not even close.
Thanks for the reports on both ties. I'd like to see Germany getting through, I don't mind the Russians but it's always nice to see some new faces in the final. As for the other tie, it's all up to ToJo defeating Roddick tomorrow and pushing it to a 5th rubber, but I don't see it happening.
Thanks everyone for all the reports from the Davis Cup ties.
The Americans have made the final again and what a team having so much luck going their way, but they have to take advantage of it.
Stepanek not playing for his own reasons in the first round for the Czechs. It should be the Americans in the playoffs.
Just a question of who they will play, it looks like Russia, but the Germans have a break in the 4th set.
Thanks for the report, fab and MY.FAVOURITE.SWEDE :lol:
Well...at least Ducko didn't beat ToJo to win the rubber. But playing Jonas & Simon Aspelin? You know the Swedes were hurting for some help. Ouch. That was lucky, pure and simple.
Kick some ass, Russia!
Yeah, coming to the arena and seeing Björkman playing Roddick instead of ToJo, was the big wtf? moment of the week-end. The crazy wig fans who sat next to me earlier must have known about it cause they didn't even show up Sunday. So much for their fandom.
Post a Comment