GB vs. Croatia
The Brits are the favourites for this tie considering what they could have been facing. This is a depleted Croatian team guys like Ancic missing cause of a shoulder problem and Karlovic still seething over the shabby treatment he received in 2005 when it came to finances and pulled the plug when his team needed him this time around. The Croats have big Ljubo who basically won the DC for Croatia in 2005 with his strong performances throughout the year and the talented youngster Marin Cilic who has already played a DC tie and it will be tough on the grass this is for sure.
Henman in his last Davis Cup tie will want to go out on a high and Andy Murray will want to salvage something from a difficult season and both are better on the grass surface than the Croats, though some rumours are flying around that this could be moved indoors and we know that big Ljubo would rather that than on the grass, where his poor returning can get exposed. If they play on grass, it will be interesting to see and the Croats have to be at 1-1 to at the end of Day 1 to have any chance of preserving their status in the World Group, that was a very profound statement for sure. I think the Brits will win if it's outdoors, if there is a roof, then Croats chances are much higher. We do know Henman has had some big chokes at Wimbledon before.
Czech Republic v Switzerland
This tie will be held indoors on a fast surface and the teams are quite evenly matched and if a couple of players one each on both sides played in their 1st round ties, then they wouldn't be in the position of fighting for World Group status, yes this means Federer and Stepanek especially. They had their reasons no doubt, but that's for another time.
The Swiss have Federer, Wawrinka, Allegro and Chiudinelli. The Czechs have Berdych, Stepanek, Dlouhy and Damm in their team more than likely.
This tie is actually more interesting that the WG semi finals in a lot of ways and the doubles will be key. Stepanek and Federer will be starting off this time around and Federer has said that "Thunder Lips" can be a bit annoying with the antics, but he will need to be vigilant as Stepanek while having a poor DC record, enjoys the low bouncing fast carpet surface and will use his variation and antics to try and upset Federer who has lost a DC match since 2003 against Hewitt, but then again he has probably played 3 of them. Berdych will need to put the Ostrava nightmare behind him losing to Roddick on clay and he loves playing indoors and Stani Wawrinka is no easy match either way and how Stepanek plays as much as the previous result could impact on how Berdych plays against Wawrinka. He could relish the challenge and turn on a good show or he could freeze and then the Czechs be down 0-2.
Personally I'd like to see the Czechs win, mainly cause the Federer superman come to save the Swiss World Group status is a bit much and it would be good to see that get punished, but the feeling is here that they will get the job done, though it would be good to see Berdych play a blinder and liven things up.
Romania, even though they are away from home, they should be too strong for the Japanese, though Suzuki can definitely cause some problems with his kamikaze game and has to many players, even though he is on the decline.
Slovakia have a very young team and the Koreans have the veteran Lee and not much else to back him up. I think the Slovaks will get the job done and Miloslav Mecir should come out of the retirement and play in the singles.
6 comments:
I would love to have the Brits winning this one for Henman. And if Andy Murray is fully recovered, they have their chance.
Let's annoy the hell out of Federer, the sexy one. lol.
I doubt the Japaneses and Koreans will have a miracle.
Federer is stupid. The best tactic to secure Switzerland's world group status, would be for him to appear in, and help his country win their 1st round ties, so that they don't have to feature in these play-offs. You'd think that Switzerland would have beaten the Netherlands, Australia and Spain, in the past 3 years, and all at home, if Federer had been playing, and then he wouldn't have had to bother about the Davis Cup for another year.
That being said, I hope Switzerland do win for the sake of Stan the man.
I agree that it would be good for the Czechs to win and sure Stepanek has had his problems in the past with the Czech management, this was not the case for Federer, who knows he has the power and whether he plays or not has a great role in the overall result. If they lose this tie, what will happen then.
Suzuki has given the Japanese a 1-0 lead and he doesn't play as much these days, but still can play some good tennis.
Stepanek winning against Federer would be great for the tie. Fed has to lose a Davis Cup match at some point.
Henman will want to have a fitting farewell to his career and Wimbledon is the perfect place for that.
Romania and the Japanese are 1 all, the Romanians have a good doubles team.
Good to see the Czech duo winning the doubles, Navratil's risky decision paid off and now it's up to Stepanek beating Wawrinka, as Berdych's chances against Federer are next to none in a best-of-five sets match, even with indoor carpet being in theory the best surface for him.
Looks like quite a few new teams will make the World Group next year, Peru, Japan, Serbia, South Korea and Great Britain coming back.
Stan the Man needs to be a hero today, always if Federer does his job and beats Berdman
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