© 2012
Daily
Tennis News Wire -
This may be the toughest Davis Cup round of all.
Tough, because the really weak teams have been weeded
out, so a team can't coast. But the season is well
advanced, and a lot of people are injured, and no one
really wants to get hurt in a quarterfinal. In a
semifinal or a final, sure, they'd turn up; big things
are at stake. But for a quarterfinal? What's the fun of
that?
So Spain, e.g., was without Rafael Nadal even before
Nadal turned up lame. Their team is David Ferrer and
Nicolas Almagro for singles, with Marcel Granollers and
Marc Lopez for doubles. To be sure, they're hosting
Austria on clay, and Austria has a team consisting of
Jurgen Melzer, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Alexander Peya,
and Oliver Marach. And the toughest match (Almagro
versus Melzer) is first, so the Spanish will have to
sweat a little. That lineup all but hands the Spanish
two points right out the door. But, still, it would have
looked better with Nadal....
Serbia is also without its big gun; Novak Djokovic won't
play. That means they are left with Janko Tipsarevic and
Viktor Troicki for singles, Nenad Zimonjic for doubles,
and Ilija Bozoljac for dead ties. (They're listing
Bozoljac and Zimonjic in the doubles. We'll see.) And
they have to face the standard Czech team of Tomas
Berdych, Radek Stepanek, and two-guys-who-won't-play (in
this case, Cermak and Rosol). On clay, in the Czech
Republic. That frankly looks like trouble for Serbia.
The Americans originally had all their top players --
Mardy Fish, John Isner, and the Bryans. The French did
not; they had Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Michael
Llodra, and Julien Benneteau. But they also had the
choice of ground, and they chose clay. Even with Gilles
Simon missing, that felt as if the French had the edge.
Then the withdrawals started: The French lost Gael
Monfils to a stomach problem. The Americans answered by
losing Fish to fatigue. Fish's replacement is Ryan
Harrison. And the French, after Monfils pulled out,
snagged Simon after all. On the whole, that feels as if
it tilts the balance even more toward the French.
Argentina, which is hosting Croatia on clay, also has a
full squad: Juan Martin del Potro, Juan Monaco, David
Nalbandian, and Eduardo Schwank. Croatia answers with
the Marin Cilic (who is still getting his form back),
Ivo Karlovic, and not much else -- officially it will be
Cilic and Lovro Zovko in the doubles. Argentina probably
did the best shape of any of the quarterfinalists to get
their full lineup onto the court. It is interesting to
note, though, that they are listing Nalbandian rather
than Monaco in singles (and Nalbandian with Schwank in
the doubles). Is there something going on that we don't
know about?
As usual, the interesting zonal ties are mostly in the
Europe/Africa zone. Israel will be hosting Portugal, and
Israel has probably the best singles player in the tie
in Dudi Sela, and the better doubles team in Ehrlich/Ram
-- but they don't really have a #2 singles player.
Portugal has two singles players in Rui Machado and
Frederico Gil. So that could be interesting.
The British must once again field a Murray-less team
against Belgium. Their doubles team of Fleming/Hutchins
should do well against a Belgian team of Rochus, Darcis,
and Bemelmans, but it doesn't seem likely James Ward and
Dan Evans can win two singles points.
The Dutch clearly have the advantage over Romania, but
it is by no means clear whether South Africa (minus
Kevin Anderson) or Slovenia is stronger.
KEYWORDS: Davis Cup Preview
