Davis Cup First Round Complete

The first round of the Davis Cup for 2010 is (nearly) complete, and things went largely as expected. The favorites breezed through and most of the tight ties were tight. The only home teams to lose were Belgium, facing last year's finalists the Czech Republic, and Sweden, who fell to an Argentina that was energized almost exclusively by David Nalbandian. While his return had not been very impressive thus far, this bodes well for the next phase of his career. The Americans put up a really tough fight against the Serbians, but in the end, the red clay and the away team status kept them from making it to the next round.

Chile has not yet wrapped up its tie with Israel, but I think that Gonzalez or Massu should be able to pick up the final point tomorrow.

Now, we head back to the United States for the double Masters Series hardcourt tour. This is a ten-day tournament, so it has a weird schedule and starts on (I think) Thursday, this week. I'll take a look at the draw as soon as I see.

A few random notes - Cyprus and Bulgaria both won their ties, entirely on the play of Marcos Baghdatis and Grigor Dimitrov. Australia kicked butt, even sans Lleyton Hewitt.

Also, Mario Ancic made it to the final of a Futures tournament in Texas this week, then lost to 372nd rank Artem Sitak. Maybe it's a bit too early to call it a comeback?