I thought I was going to have all day to make a post about the Davis Cup, but somehow, Austria and Israel are already underway - the wonders of time zones and intercontinental play. So I'll take a look at what we can expect this weekend.
Of course, we're at the Davis Cup World Group semifinals, with four teams remaining. Argentina plays France and Serbia plays the Czech Republic. Despite not featuring the biggest Davis Cup nations - well, mostly Spain - from recent years, this is a pretty great line-up.
Unfortunately for Serbia, their best and linchpin player may not be at his freshest, having just played in a tough but losing grand slam final, which was even delayed a couple days. You've got to give the Serbs their doubles point, with Nenad Zimonjic on their team, against relatively weak Czech opposition on that front. But the tie will come down to precisely two factors - the first is how tired Novak Djokovic is after the past two weeks, and whether Radek Stepanek is finally back near his top form. He was on a prolonged injury layoff this year, and hasn't played particularly well since. But if he can get one point, and Tomas Berdych (who should be quite well-rested, losing in the first round at the U.S. Open) can win both his singles matches, I see a victory in the cards for the Czechs. But if Djokovic can build on his recent success, then there's no reason that this tie shouldn't go the Serbs' way. The home field advantage may help Tipsarevic and Troicki, who could be the players that determine the victory.
The other tie is arguably more difficult to call. The Argentine squad may be without Juan Martin Del Potro, but David Nalbandian has been the player of the year for the Davis Cup, thus far. He's absolutely dominated in the first two rounds, winning three singles matches and a doubles match. He hasn't even dropped a set yet, going 12-0 in those four matches. But he doesn't have the strongest back-up, as three of the four players for the Argentines are clay-court specialists. If Nalbandian can win both of his matches, I think that the Argentines may be able to get one more point - but that's no easy task. I think that this tie may come down in no small part to how well Frenchman Michael Llodra can play, since he was forced to retire in the third round of the U.S. Open against Tommy Robredo. But he had beaten Tomas Berdych earlier in the tournament. This one will be exciting, especially the matches featuring David Nalbandian - can he win a Davis Cup this year all on his own? The Argentines are also going for their third straight win on the road, which is tough to imagine.
While those two rubbers are undoubtedly important, there's a lot more Davis Cup action taking place this week, what with the World Group play-offs. These teams are playing each other for a chance at playing in the main tournament next year, and there are some big match-ups to look for.
As I noted, Austria and Israel are already in action. This tie should will down to one player - Austrian Jurgen Melzer. He's the best player in the arena, but he's also the only Austrian player of note. If this were in Austria, I'd give it to them easy. But it's more difficult in Tel Aviv. Dudi Sela already won the first point for the Israelis, and despite being down a set, Harel Levy is playing quite well. You may remember last year when they defeated Sweden and Russia, so the Israeli players seem to thrive in the Davis Cup format. While Austria is the slight favorite just based on the quality of their players, this could be an upset due to more intangible factors.
The U.S. is probably the biggest team in the playoff. The Americans haven't been in the World Group playoff since 2005. This time, they're playing at altitude in Colombia. Now they may be playing on red clay, which will favor the Colombians from the back of the court, but the thin air will allow the big serves of Isner, Querrey, and Fish to fly through the air. Despite less-than-stellar records on the surface, all three of the American singles players (soon-to-step down coach Pat McEnroe wanted to ensure we got those singles points, rather than getting a sure-fire doubles point with the Bryan Brothers) can play tennis on any surface. The Colombians have some solid players - Alejandro Falla nearly ousted Federer at Wimbledon, recall? But the rankings of their top two players are in the 60s, and that should be enough difference in the quality of play. It's not a sure thing, but the Americans haven't dropped out of the World Group since 1988, and I don't see it happening here, despite the lack of Roddick or the Bryans for the U.S. team.
The other notable absence at the Davis Cup playoffs is Roger Federer, who won't be playing for Switzerland against Kazakhstan. While you may think that it should be an easy win for the Swiss, the Kazakh contingent is deceptively talented. Andrey Golubev is in the top 50, and Kukushkin and Korolev are both in the top 100. Switzerland also has three players in the top 100, but one of them won't be showing up for the tie. This is the first World Group playoff for Kazakhstan, and once again - the big issue will be how Stan Wawrinka's feeling, after his long run at the U.S. Open. There's some upset potential here as well, though.
While the Swiss top player may be sitting out, the top Australian player is back. Lleyton Hewitt is here to help his country face the Belgian team, for a chance to get back into the World Group. If you can believe it, the Australians haven't been in the World Group since 2007. The last chance they had they were forced to play Chile without Hewitt in action, and were soundly defeated. I like their chances much better this time, as they'll only have to face the Belgian squad, which has Olivier Rochus as its top player. I'm surprised the Belgians picked outdoor hardcourt as the surface, since Hewitt loves that surface and young Aussie player Carsten Ball's serve should work wonders on it. I pick the Aussies here.
The Germany-South Africa contest might have been tight, but unfortunately, the South Africans are lacking their top player. Young giant Kevin Anderson won't be in action, and while the Germans don't have Tommy Haas either, Philipp Kohlschreiber should be able to shoulder the load against Rik de Voest and Izak Van Der Merwe.
The match-up between Sweden and Italy could be interesting. Italy has a pair (or perhaps a trio) of midlevel players, while Sweden has one top five player. In the Davis Cup format, you might prefer to have a few good players rather than just one great one (just ask Australian or Great Britain) but I'm not so sure.
I'll admit to being unable to muster too much excitement about the other two ties being contested this weekend. But I lean towards Brazil over Indian (Tomaz Bellucci is headed for the top 20) and I have no idea who's going to win between Romania and Ecuador, but no matter who wins, everybody else in the World Group is hoping to get them in the first round.
Showing posts with label czech republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label czech republic. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Newport Mid-Week and Davis Cup Preview
Some interesting things happening in Rhode Island. Top seed Sam Querrey was felled by an absolutely inspired Dustin Brown - the Jamaican lost only one point off his first serve and served at 67%. Querrey may not have been at his absolute best, but credit to Brown for playing the best I've ever seen him. Unfortunately, he was unable to sustain that level, and fell rather tamely to Brian Dabul in the next round.
Rajeev Ram, the defending champion, was also upset in the second round to South African Raven Klaasen, who has a career ATP-level record of 5-2 over the past 8 years. I'm willing to bet that all of those matches are either in Davis Cup play or in the Johannesburg event. Credit to him for getting that win, but he also fell to Olivier Rochus in the quarterfinals.
Nicolas Mahut looked to be nursing a back injury in his second-round match against Frank Dancevic, but he didn't quit. He played it tough, but he seemed to be in pain whenever he went up to serve, and he ended up losing in two sets. All the same, is this guy an iron man or what?
In addition to Rochus, the only seed left in the draw is Mardy Fish, who has looked dominant, so far. I'm hoping he'll see young American Ryan Harrison in the semifinals. Harrison demolished Slovakian Karol Beck, seeded sixth, in the first round. I'm seeing a Mardy Fish-Olivier Rochus final, but since they're the only two seeds remaining and this tournament has been seeing quite an exodus of its top players, that may not play out.
In addition, tomorrow marks the first day of the second round of the 2010 Davis Cup. There are some interesting match-ups, but also some big-name players who are sitting this week out with injury. Let's look at who's in action:
France and Spain are two of the most dominant nations in tennis today, but both teams are missing their top players. Nadal and Tsonga are both on the sidelines, and unfortunately for France, Spain's B-team is more impressive than the second squad that France is putting up for action. The first singles match of the day is Gael Monfils and David Ferrer, which is an extremely appetizing match, and France's chances will depend largely on how well Monfils can play. He's the best player that's active on the French side, but his record in Davis Cup has not been great. After his first rubber with Ferrer, Michael Llodra takes on Fernando Verdasco. Since France is playing at home and on a hard court, I think the big-serving Llodra has an outside chance against "Hot Sauce," but it will depend in large part on his first-serve percentage. If Spain finishes day one with a 2-0 lead, the French are toast.
The second quartefinal is between Russia and Argentina, with Russia at home and again on hard courts. Since the majority of Argentine players prefer to play on clay, and last year's U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro is still out with injury, the Argentine squad doesn't look like they have much of a shot against the Russians. But they have a potential spoiler on their side - the recently-injured David Nalbandian, who saved Argentina in the first round against Sweden, is the country's only hope. He opens against Davydenko, which could be a cracker of a match. If both players are healthy, it may be the best match of the first day, but that's a big if. Nalbandian holds a slight 6-5 advantage over Davydenko, so we'll see how that one plays out. The second match of the day is Youzhny against Leonardo Mayer, which would be a big upset for Mayer.
In what is sure to be a hotly-contested, Eastern European fight, Croatia takes on Serbia, in Croatia. The Serbs have Nenad Zimonjic, so you can almost give them the doubles point already. The tie will likely hinge on whether either Marin Cilic or Ivan Ljubicic can upset Novak Djokovic. Both of the Croats had extremely lackluster Wimbledon campaigns, while Novak made it to the semifinals. He's clearly the form player here, but is he getting tired? This is another one that should be fun to watch how it plays out. Also, Serbia's number three player Janko Tipsarevic just recently got married, so maybe his tennis will be invigorated by that change in his life.
The last quarterfinal match-up is, honestly, a bit of a letdown. Chile takes on the Czech Republic, but Fernando Gonzalez, Tomas Berdych, and Radek Stepanek are all out of action. That leaves us with the scintillating match-ups of Nicolas Massu against Ivo Minar and Paul Capdeville against Jan Hajek. Considering that the match is taking place in Chile and Massu only seems to play well when he's playing for his country (see 2004 Olympics), I think the edge goes to the Chileans. But this is definitely the tie with the least star power in action.
Wimbledon's less a week gone, and things are already picking up again. Injuries aside, I love the packed tennis season, don't you?
Rajeev Ram, the defending champion, was also upset in the second round to South African Raven Klaasen, who has a career ATP-level record of 5-2 over the past 8 years. I'm willing to bet that all of those matches are either in Davis Cup play or in the Johannesburg event. Credit to him for getting that win, but he also fell to Olivier Rochus in the quarterfinals.
Nicolas Mahut looked to be nursing a back injury in his second-round match against Frank Dancevic, but he didn't quit. He played it tough, but he seemed to be in pain whenever he went up to serve, and he ended up losing in two sets. All the same, is this guy an iron man or what?
In addition to Rochus, the only seed left in the draw is Mardy Fish, who has looked dominant, so far. I'm hoping he'll see young American Ryan Harrison in the semifinals. Harrison demolished Slovakian Karol Beck, seeded sixth, in the first round. I'm seeing a Mardy Fish-Olivier Rochus final, but since they're the only two seeds remaining and this tournament has been seeing quite an exodus of its top players, that may not play out.
In addition, tomorrow marks the first day of the second round of the 2010 Davis Cup. There are some interesting match-ups, but also some big-name players who are sitting this week out with injury. Let's look at who's in action:
France and Spain are two of the most dominant nations in tennis today, but both teams are missing their top players. Nadal and Tsonga are both on the sidelines, and unfortunately for France, Spain's B-team is more impressive than the second squad that France is putting up for action. The first singles match of the day is Gael Monfils and David Ferrer, which is an extremely appetizing match, and France's chances will depend largely on how well Monfils can play. He's the best player that's active on the French side, but his record in Davis Cup has not been great. After his first rubber with Ferrer, Michael Llodra takes on Fernando Verdasco. Since France is playing at home and on a hard court, I think the big-serving Llodra has an outside chance against "Hot Sauce," but it will depend in large part on his first-serve percentage. If Spain finishes day one with a 2-0 lead, the French are toast.
The second quartefinal is between Russia and Argentina, with Russia at home and again on hard courts. Since the majority of Argentine players prefer to play on clay, and last year's U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro is still out with injury, the Argentine squad doesn't look like they have much of a shot against the Russians. But they have a potential spoiler on their side - the recently-injured David Nalbandian, who saved Argentina in the first round against Sweden, is the country's only hope. He opens against Davydenko, which could be a cracker of a match. If both players are healthy, it may be the best match of the first day, but that's a big if. Nalbandian holds a slight 6-5 advantage over Davydenko, so we'll see how that one plays out. The second match of the day is Youzhny against Leonardo Mayer, which would be a big upset for Mayer.
In what is sure to be a hotly-contested, Eastern European fight, Croatia takes on Serbia, in Croatia. The Serbs have Nenad Zimonjic, so you can almost give them the doubles point already. The tie will likely hinge on whether either Marin Cilic or Ivan Ljubicic can upset Novak Djokovic. Both of the Croats had extremely lackluster Wimbledon campaigns, while Novak made it to the semifinals. He's clearly the form player here, but is he getting tired? This is another one that should be fun to watch how it plays out. Also, Serbia's number three player Janko Tipsarevic just recently got married, so maybe his tennis will be invigorated by that change in his life.
The last quarterfinal match-up is, honestly, a bit of a letdown. Chile takes on the Czech Republic, but Fernando Gonzalez, Tomas Berdych, and Radek Stepanek are all out of action. That leaves us with the scintillating match-ups of Nicolas Massu against Ivo Minar and Paul Capdeville against Jan Hajek. Considering that the match is taking place in Chile and Massu only seems to play well when he's playing for his country (see 2004 Olympics), I think the edge goes to the Chileans. But this is definitely the tie with the least star power in action.
Wimbledon's less a week gone, and things are already picking up again. Injuries aside, I love the packed tennis season, don't you?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Davis Cup First Round, Day 2
The first week of the Davis Cup is about to wrap up. Three of the eight matchups have already drawn to a close, and at least four of the remaining five will finish tomorrow, and I expect that the fifth one will as well.
The ones that are already done, and none of them are surprises, are Croatia over Ecuador, the Czech Republic over Belgium, and France over Germany. What may be a bit of a surprise is that neither Russia nor Serbia closed out their ties. Both the Indians and Americans fielded strong doubles teams - well, at least the Americans tried to.
Mike Bryan came down with food poisoning, which meant that the Americans' best hope of getting the doubles point was in jeopardy. Amazingly, big John Isner stepped up and replaced the ailing Bryan, and served superbly in the Americans' defeat of Zimonjic and Tipsarevic. Kudos to Isner, but he'll need to build on that confidence to have a chance in the match against Novak Djokovic, tomorrow. If he somehow manages to win, I do give the Americans of making an impossible comeback, because Querrey has a real chance against Troicki. But it's a huge ask for Isner.
India managed their doubles point against Russia, but that was really their only chance. Russia's taking this one. I expect that the coach may replace Kunitsyn with Andreev for the second singles match just to be safer, but it probably won't matter.
Switzerland has about as much chance to win both singles points tomorrow as the United States does, but it's still a chance. Don't look for a first-round upset of the defending champs this year.
Argentina-Sweden is the most interesting match-up for tomorrow. Argentina is actually up 2-1, when Nalbandian joined in for the doubles and won the point with relative ease. I'm curious to see if he'll get put in the tie for one of the reverse singles. It seems like a sure thing, but I'm not 100% on his health. This one is a toss-up.
Chile is a day behind the other matches, but it's almost certain that the tie will end tomorrow as well. Massu and Gonzalez both won in four sets. They'll team up for the doubles point tomorrow, and almost certainly will win. They're a gold-medal winning team, as you may recall.
There's still a lot of tennis to play, though, so we'll just see what happens tomorrow.
The ones that are already done, and none of them are surprises, are Croatia over Ecuador, the Czech Republic over Belgium, and France over Germany. What may be a bit of a surprise is that neither Russia nor Serbia closed out their ties. Both the Indians and Americans fielded strong doubles teams - well, at least the Americans tried to.
Mike Bryan came down with food poisoning, which meant that the Americans' best hope of getting the doubles point was in jeopardy. Amazingly, big John Isner stepped up and replaced the ailing Bryan, and served superbly in the Americans' defeat of Zimonjic and Tipsarevic. Kudos to Isner, but he'll need to build on that confidence to have a chance in the match against Novak Djokovic, tomorrow. If he somehow manages to win, I do give the Americans of making an impossible comeback, because Querrey has a real chance against Troicki. But it's a huge ask for Isner.
India managed their doubles point against Russia, but that was really their only chance. Russia's taking this one. I expect that the coach may replace Kunitsyn with Andreev for the second singles match just to be safer, but it probably won't matter.
Switzerland has about as much chance to win both singles points tomorrow as the United States does, but it's still a chance. Don't look for a first-round upset of the defending champs this year.
Argentina-Sweden is the most interesting match-up for tomorrow. Argentina is actually up 2-1, when Nalbandian joined in for the doubles and won the point with relative ease. I'm curious to see if he'll get put in the tie for one of the reverse singles. It seems like a sure thing, but I'm not 100% on his health. This one is a toss-up.
Chile is a day behind the other matches, but it's almost certain that the tie will end tomorrow as well. Massu and Gonzalez both won in four sets. They'll team up for the doubles point tomorrow, and almost certainly will win. They're a gold-medal winning team, as you may recall.
There's still a lot of tennis to play, though, so we'll just see what happens tomorrow.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Davis Cup 2010 First Round Preview
Tomorrow, the 2010 Davis Cup kicks off with all 16 teams in action. That means there will be 32 singles matches in the next three days and 8 doubles matches. Half of the teams in the World Group will be eliminated, while the rest will move on to the quarterfinals. There are some intriguing match-ups here, but with a surprising majority of the top players sidelined, maybe not the matches we would have anticipated when the draw first appeared. For example...
Spain v. Switzerland, in Spain on indoor red clay
Everyone expected this to be a meeting between Nadal and Federer. But neither player is in action this week. That leaves Switzerland with its number two man, Stan Wawrinka, in the lead spot. Thankfully, in the past year, the Swiss number 3 player Marco Chiudinelli has made some noise on the tour, and he may be a force in this tie. Especially considering that the Spaniards are down to their number four player to lead their singles. After Nadal, Verdasco and Ferrero are both out for the weekend as well, leaving David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo as the top two players. Surprisingly, Spain isn't sending out Robredo for the singles, opting instead for Nicolas Almagro. Robredo will be playing doubles, which makes sense. In addition to having the fifth highest-singles ranking, he has the highest doubles ranking among any of his countrymen. He'll be partnering with the second-highest ranked Spaniard in doubles, Marcel Granollers. For the Swiss, Wawrinka will be partnering Yves Allegro.
As Spain is the twice-defending champion of the Davis Cup scene, it's unlikely that they'll lose in the first round, despite missing many of their top players. Wawrinka needs to win both of his singles matches and hope that Chiudinelli can pull of an upset. If I were the Swiss captain, I would actually pull Wawrinka from the doubles and just consider that a lost point, rather than tiring out the team's anchor. Advantage to Spain, definitely.
France v. Germany, in France on indoor hard court
France has its top two players in action this week, which should help their chances immensely against Germany, which is without its Davis Cup stalwart Tommy Haas. The Germans are still fielding their next best options, with Kohlschreiber and Benjamin "Not Boris" Becker. It's going to be tough for them to do much against Tsonga and Monfils, though. Add to that the fact that the French have Llodra and Benneteau for the doubles, who have already won a title this year, and Germany will have a tough road to travel. Christopher Kas is a perfectly competent doubles player, but the French team will have to play well worse than their best for the Germans to have a chance here.
Russia v. India, in Russia on indoor hard court
One of the two stone-cold locks of the first round this year, Russia will never lose to India at home. Even without Safin, even without Davydenko, who withdrew with injury, Russia should have very little trouble. The Russian team is headed by Andreev and Youzhny, who should have no trouble with either Somdev Devvarman or Rohan Bopanna. Russia may lose the doubles point, as Bhupathi and Paes are both top 10 doubles players, but they will need an absolutely stunning performance to win even one singles point, much less two.
Croatia v. Ecuador, in Croatia on indoor hard court
This would be the other lock. Marin Cilic is one of the hottest players on tour at the moment, and Karlovic is deadly on this kind of surface, with no wind to worry about on his toss. And their opponents will be the hard-working but not especially accomplished Lapentti brothers, Nicolas and Giovanni. Tough to pick the Ecuadorians to win more than a point, here.
Sweden v. Argentina, in Sweden on indoor hard court
This one looked like it could have been a rout, with Argentina's best players out of the picture, they were left with Horacio Zeballos and Leonardo Mayer leading the charge. But at the last minute, David Nalbandian rejoined the team. While his health may be an issue, he should at least give the Argentines a chance of escpaing this round and being one of the few possible home-court upsets this weekend. The Swedes have top player Robin Soderling but strangely enough, he's the only Swedish player in the top 100. For Argentina, Zeballos, Schwank, and Mayer are all inside the top 75, and Nalbandian is a former world number 3. If Nalbandian is healthy and able to play, the visiting team has a shot here.
Serbia v. United States of America, in Serbia on indoor clay courts
Tough first round for the Americans, especially without Roddick, Blake, or Mardy Fish. First-timers John Isner and Sam Querrey will face off against Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki. A win by Isner on either day would be an upset, but Querrey is the more experienced and capable clay court player. Unfortunately for the U.S., the doubles point isn't even a sure thing, as the Bryan Brothers will be facing Nenad Zimonjic, currently a part of the best doubles team in the world. If the U.S. can win the doubles, then either Querrey will need to upset Djokovic or Isner will need to upset Troicki. Otherwise, Serbia's through.
Belgium v. Czech Republic, in Belgium on indoor clay courts
This is an interesting match-up. One of the toughest home ties (the top teams seem to all have the home field advantage, except for the Czechs) the Belgians have four moderately good players on their squad, but no real stand-outs. The Rochus brothers, a recovering Xavier Malisse, and challenger regular Steve Darcis will be facing Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy. Dlouhy is an excellent doubles player, but there's not much to say about Hajek. Berdych's power will be slowed by the clay, somewhat, and Stepanek has not had a great year so far. It's tough to bet against the Czechs, as they just came back from an appearance in the finals last year, but the Belgians have a shot.
Chile v. Israel, in Chile on outdoor clay courts
The most poignant first-round match-up, for sure. After the recent earth-quake in Chile, how will the fans, the players, the stadium hold up to play there so soon? The Chileans have their best players, and they always play their best at home. Gonzalez, Massu, Capdeville and Aguilar are a tough team. The Israeli team is going to be struggling to match the effort they made last year, beating the Swiss in Sweden and then upsetting the Russians at home. This match will hinge entirely on how the Chileans, fans and players, are able to get into the tennis after such an enormous tragedy. I hope that this presents an opportunity for the country to come together for a short while and relish in international competition, the way they usually do. They actually need it now more than ever.
Spain v. Switzerland, in Spain on indoor red clay
Everyone expected this to be a meeting between Nadal and Federer. But neither player is in action this week. That leaves Switzerland with its number two man, Stan Wawrinka, in the lead spot. Thankfully, in the past year, the Swiss number 3 player Marco Chiudinelli has made some noise on the tour, and he may be a force in this tie. Especially considering that the Spaniards are down to their number four player to lead their singles. After Nadal, Verdasco and Ferrero are both out for the weekend as well, leaving David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo as the top two players. Surprisingly, Spain isn't sending out Robredo for the singles, opting instead for Nicolas Almagro. Robredo will be playing doubles, which makes sense. In addition to having the fifth highest-singles ranking, he has the highest doubles ranking among any of his countrymen. He'll be partnering with the second-highest ranked Spaniard in doubles, Marcel Granollers. For the Swiss, Wawrinka will be partnering Yves Allegro.
As Spain is the twice-defending champion of the Davis Cup scene, it's unlikely that they'll lose in the first round, despite missing many of their top players. Wawrinka needs to win both of his singles matches and hope that Chiudinelli can pull of an upset. If I were the Swiss captain, I would actually pull Wawrinka from the doubles and just consider that a lost point, rather than tiring out the team's anchor. Advantage to Spain, definitely.
France v. Germany, in France on indoor hard court
France has its top two players in action this week, which should help their chances immensely against Germany, which is without its Davis Cup stalwart Tommy Haas. The Germans are still fielding their next best options, with Kohlschreiber and Benjamin "Not Boris" Becker. It's going to be tough for them to do much against Tsonga and Monfils, though. Add to that the fact that the French have Llodra and Benneteau for the doubles, who have already won a title this year, and Germany will have a tough road to travel. Christopher Kas is a perfectly competent doubles player, but the French team will have to play well worse than their best for the Germans to have a chance here.
Russia v. India, in Russia on indoor hard court
One of the two stone-cold locks of the first round this year, Russia will never lose to India at home. Even without Safin, even without Davydenko, who withdrew with injury, Russia should have very little trouble. The Russian team is headed by Andreev and Youzhny, who should have no trouble with either Somdev Devvarman or Rohan Bopanna. Russia may lose the doubles point, as Bhupathi and Paes are both top 10 doubles players, but they will need an absolutely stunning performance to win even one singles point, much less two.
Croatia v. Ecuador, in Croatia on indoor hard court
This would be the other lock. Marin Cilic is one of the hottest players on tour at the moment, and Karlovic is deadly on this kind of surface, with no wind to worry about on his toss. And their opponents will be the hard-working but not especially accomplished Lapentti brothers, Nicolas and Giovanni. Tough to pick the Ecuadorians to win more than a point, here.
Sweden v. Argentina, in Sweden on indoor hard court
This one looked like it could have been a rout, with Argentina's best players out of the picture, they were left with Horacio Zeballos and Leonardo Mayer leading the charge. But at the last minute, David Nalbandian rejoined the team. While his health may be an issue, he should at least give the Argentines a chance of escpaing this round and being one of the few possible home-court upsets this weekend. The Swedes have top player Robin Soderling but strangely enough, he's the only Swedish player in the top 100. For Argentina, Zeballos, Schwank, and Mayer are all inside the top 75, and Nalbandian is a former world number 3. If Nalbandian is healthy and able to play, the visiting team has a shot here.
Serbia v. United States of America, in Serbia on indoor clay courts
Tough first round for the Americans, especially without Roddick, Blake, or Mardy Fish. First-timers John Isner and Sam Querrey will face off against Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki. A win by Isner on either day would be an upset, but Querrey is the more experienced and capable clay court player. Unfortunately for the U.S., the doubles point isn't even a sure thing, as the Bryan Brothers will be facing Nenad Zimonjic, currently a part of the best doubles team in the world. If the U.S. can win the doubles, then either Querrey will need to upset Djokovic or Isner will need to upset Troicki. Otherwise, Serbia's through.
Belgium v. Czech Republic, in Belgium on indoor clay courts
This is an interesting match-up. One of the toughest home ties (the top teams seem to all have the home field advantage, except for the Czechs) the Belgians have four moderately good players on their squad, but no real stand-outs. The Rochus brothers, a recovering Xavier Malisse, and challenger regular Steve Darcis will be facing Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy. Dlouhy is an excellent doubles player, but there's not much to say about Hajek. Berdych's power will be slowed by the clay, somewhat, and Stepanek has not had a great year so far. It's tough to bet against the Czechs, as they just came back from an appearance in the finals last year, but the Belgians have a shot.
Chile v. Israel, in Chile on outdoor clay courts
The most poignant first-round match-up, for sure. After the recent earth-quake in Chile, how will the fans, the players, the stadium hold up to play there so soon? The Chileans have their best players, and they always play their best at home. Gonzalez, Massu, Capdeville and Aguilar are a tough team. The Israeli team is going to be struggling to match the effort they made last year, beating the Swiss in Sweden and then upsetting the Russians at home. This match will hinge entirely on how the Chileans, fans and players, are able to get into the tennis after such an enormous tragedy. I hope that this presents an opportunity for the country to come together for a short while and relish in international competition, the way they usually do. They actually need it now more than ever.
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