Davis Cup 2011: World Group, Czech Republic vs. Kazakhstan
4th seeded Czech Republic are slated to take on first time World Group qualifiers Kazakhstan in their first round Davis Cup tie today at the CEZ Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The two teams have never faced each other before in this competition.
Kazakhstan’s appearance in the cup comes after the huge upset they created last year when they thrashed Switzerland 5-0. That particular tie would give them the belief required to take on any opponent at all, and there opposition here is no easy one.
The home challenge is led World no.7 Tomas Berdych who is a lethal player, capable of handling the challenge of even the best couple of players in the world. He should be more or less comfortable on home ground, as he’d have acclimatised to the conditions
very quickly. The Czech no.1 has been having injury problems recently; just a couple of weeks ago in Dubai he had to retire against Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. Other than that though, he’s been playing good. Since the start of 2011, he has made it to
the quarters of every tournament he’s played. Two of his defeats have come to the massively in-form Djokovic, and he’s made two semifinals to date this year. As an experienced Davis Cup campaigner, Berdych will hope to keep his good streak going and get his
country to at least the quarters as well. Statistically, Berdych is a very strong doubles player in Davis Cup ties. In the 11 times he’s played a doubles match at the event, he’s only lost once. Besides his fearsome singles’ ability, this little fact makes
him essential to the Czech effort this year.
Jan Hajek, World no.101, is the man supporting Berdych here. The Czech no.2 is 27 years old and first played Davis Cup tennis in 2009. His record in the tournament has been fair; he’s won as many singles matches as he’s lost. Form will play a huge role in
determining the outcome of Hajek’s matches, but as he’s playing at home, he’ll have a definite edge over any similarly-ranked opponents.
Jiri Vesely is only 17. He’s also both the singles and the doubles reigning boys champion at the Australian Open. An immensely talented junior, the young man is seen by most as a revelation on court. Although he’s only 847th in the world currently,
he plays a level of tennis far above both his rank and his age. Any exposure he gains at this event will surely be beneficial to him later on, and his talent will certainly be appreciated by the home crowd, should it get displayed.
The home delegation is rounded off by Lukas Dlouhy. A doubles specialist, he’s ranked 11th in the world. An established doubles player is essential for Davis cup success, and Dlouhy fits the bill for the Czech Republic perfectly. He’ll be able
to pair up with either Berdych or Vesely to great success, and a good doubles tie can only mean well for their team.
The Kazakhs are making their first visit to the world group this year round. As first time qualifiers and traditional tennis minnows, they face quite a distinct lack of any big names in their roster. Andrey Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin are both top 100
players though, ranked 43rd and 63rd in the world respectively. This puts them above three of the four Czech players, but the fact that Berdych is the leader there counts for a lot. Yuriy Schukin and Evgeny Korolev complete the away team,
and they’re ranked 127th and 231st in the world respectively.
While the only overwhelmingly quality player in this tie is Tomas Berdych, the all-round strength of both teams makes for an interesting encounter. Home advantage and form will count for a lot come match day, as will the doubles tie. Czech Republic seems
slightly likelier come out on top here, but Kazakhstan might just cause a minor upset here like they did last year against Switzerland.
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