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Davis Cup Quarterfinals
After a memorable Wimbledon, action on tennis court is back with the 99th edition of Davis Cup. Davis Cup has always remained in shadows and never attained mass popularity. Also, this tournament has always suffered due to lack of high profile players and scheduling concerns. But despite these issues , this is the only time in tennis where fans get to cheer for their nations and this makes the tournament so special.
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Davis Cup
Coming back to this years tournament, an excellent quarterfinal line up beckons tennis fans.
Spain vs France: 4 time champion Spain will aim for a hattrick of titles when they face France at Clerront-Ferrand indoor this weekend. World no 1 Rafael Nadal will be absent from the quarterfinal tie but even without him, Spain are a very formidable unit with all four players – Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez – in the world top 25.
On the other hand France too are without their no 1 player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who decided to give this tournament a skip, and without him it will be a herculean task for the likes of Gael Monfils and Michael Llodra to defeat the two time defending champions.
France have decided not to play on Roland Garros and preferred the indoor hard courts of Clerront-Ferrand instead. “It would have been silly to face the Spaniards on clay on the Roland Garros centre court, We decided to take them on where we play really well and where they are less comfortable.” said French captain Forget. History is with Spain and they lead 5-1 head to head with the only victory for France coming way back in 1923, 87 years ago.
Team:
Spain: Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez.
Team Captain Albert Costa
France: Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, Michael Llodra, Julian Benneteau.
Team Captain Guy Forget
Fixtures:
G.MONFILS (FRA) v. D.FERRER (ESP)M.LLODRA (FRA) v. F.VERDASCO (ESP)J.BENNETEAU / M.LLODRA (FRA) v. F.LOPEZ / F.VERDASCO (ESP)G.MONFILS (FRA) v. F.VERDASCO (ESP)M.LLODRA(FRA) v. D.FERRER (ESP)
Prediction: Spain 5-0
Croatia vs Serbia:
This will be the most intriguing tie of Davis Cup which witnesses former teammates Serbia and Croatia facing each other for the first time as Croatia, the surprise 2005 champions host Serbia in Split. Playing under the flag of Yugoslavia, they reached the semi-finals three times and this will be the first time since their partition, that these two teams face each other. The Croatian challenege is spearheaded by Martin Cilic alongwith former no 3 Ivan Ljubicic who returns to Davis Cup after 3 years. But the absence of big server Iva Karlovic and Martin Ancic will surely weaken their side.
Serbia are a formidable side as well with the new world no 2 Novak Djokovic leading from the front. After their breathtaking 3-2 win against the United States, they are confident of making to the semifinals for the first time.
There will be a huge amount of pressure on the players for this tie. “It’s going to be a clash of two great nations, There’s going to be a lot of tension in the air but hopefully everything is going to go all right.” said Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Team :
Croatia: Martin Cilic, Ivan Ljubicic, Antonio Viec, Ivan Dodig.
Team Captain Goran Prpic
Serbia: Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troiki, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic.
Team Captain Bogdan Obradovic
Fixtures:
I.LJUBICIC (CRO) v. N.DJOKOVIC (SRB)M.CILIC (CRO) v. V.TROICKI (SRB)I.DODIG / A.VEIC (CRO) v. J.TIPSAREVIC / N.ZIMONJIC (SRB)M.CILIC (CRO) v. N.DJOKOVIC (SRB)I.LJUBICIC (CRO) v. V.TROICKI (SRB)
Prediction: Serbia 3-2
Russia vs Argentina:
Russia reached the quarterfinals after defeating India 3-2 in the last round and will start favourites against a depleted Argentina. World no 6 Nikolay Davydenko will spearhead the Russian challenge after missing the clash against India. He, along with Mikhail Youzhny make Russia a formidable force as they push for their first title since 2006.
Argentina on the other hand will miss their no 1 Juan Martin Del Potro and in his absence David Nalbandian will lead the Argentine campaign. Its a mammoth task for Argentina to defeat the Russians with their present side. If Nalbandian wins both his tie, the doubles match will be crucial to decide the result.
Team:
Russia: Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, T Gabashvili, Igor Kunitsayn
Team Captain Shamil Tarpischev
Argentina: David Nalbandian, Leonardo Mayer, Horashio Zeballos, Eduardo Schwank
Team Captain Tito Vazquez
Fixtures:
N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) v. D.NALBANDIAN (ARG)M.YOUZHNY (RUS) v. L.MAYER (ARG)T.GABASHVILI / I.KUNITSYN (RUS) v. D.NALBANDIAN / H.ZEBALLOS (ARG)N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) v. L.MAYER (ARG)M.YOUZHNY (RUS) v. D.NALBANDIAN (ARG)Prediction: Russia 3-2
Chile vs Czech Republic:
This tie doesn’t promise much with no top players in both sides. Czech Republic’s preparations were greatly hampered when Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych decided against playing the Davis Cup. Chile also miss their top ranked player Fernando Gonzales who has been suffering from injury for a while. This leaves 94th ranked Jan Hajek (Czech) and 98th ranked Nicolas Massu (Chile) as the only players in the tie currently in the world’s top 100. The Czechs reached the finals last year only to be outclassed by Spain 5-0 and have a good chance of making it to the last 4 this year too.
Chile on the other hand will be looking at Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu to take them through to the semifinals.
Team:
Chile: Nicolas Massu, Jorge Aguilar, Paul Capdeville, Christobal, Sarvedraa-Corvalan
Team Captain Hans GILDEMEISTER
Czech Republic: Jan Hazek, Lukas Dlouhy, Frantisek Cermac, Ivo Minar
Team Captain Jaroslav NAVRATIL
Prediction: Czech Republic 4-1
