Davis Cup 2011: World Group, France vs. Austria
Last year’s Davis Cup runner-up, France, will travel to Austria to play the host nation at the Vienna International Airport. The match shall be the first ever played inside an airplane hanger, where a clay court has been specially constructed. To date, Austria has never beaten the visiting team in a Davis Cup rubber, however they face a weakened French team with a top ten player leading their own charge.
That player, of course, is Jurgen Melzer. The 29-year-old has hit the prime of his career: rising from no.30 in the world to no.10 in barely more than a year, Melzer has slowly cemented his place amongst the best in the world. His form has been stupendous lately and he’ll feel very confident in taking on a French team which is without the services of Gael Monfils, Jo Wilfred-Tsonga and Richard Gasquet.
Joining Melzer in the host team is the 2nd time Davis Cup participant Martin Fischer. Fischer is only 138 in the world, but his only Davis Cup game so far was a victory in four dominant sets over Israel’s Harel Levy. At 24 years of age, Fischer is already a seasoned pro on the professional tour. As such, he is quite an asset to the Austrian team.
Stefan Koubek is third member of the home contingent. Ranked 206th in the world, he has been playing in the Davis cup for 12 years. The left hander has won 2 more ties than he has lost and did not participate in last year’s event. His last wins came over a year ago, and it shows a serious lack of depth in Austrian tennis that a fading 34-year-old has been included in the squad. None the less, his experience at the level plus the home court advantage will probably count for something in any matches he might play.
The last member of the Austrian delegation is the doubles specialist Oliver Marach who is ranked 12th in the world in double. With two of the singles players so outclassed in ranking by the French, it will fall on Marach and Melzer to pull Austria through.
Speaking of French talent, what better place to start than the recently excellent Michael Llodra? Ranked 27th in the world, Llodra has been in amazing nick recently. Good in both singles and as a doubles player, Llodra has won 19 of his 24 encounters in the Davis Cup. He will be spearheading France’s challenge and will probably be their candidate to take on Melzer.
Gilles Simon seems to have hit his peak as far as career rankings are concerned, but the 26-year-old is still a fearsome player on his day. While he doesn’t possess the technical perfection of Gasquet or the raw athletic prowess of Monfils, he is still a well-rounded player. Other than Melzer, the Austrians are in for a hellish day if they face him, and with so many of their weapons weakened, they shall be no problem for Simon to deal with.
The third member of the French team is Jeremy Chardy. At no.55 in the world, Chardy isn’t spectacularly impressive. However, considering that none of the Austrians except the world no.10 are even close to him in the ATP rankings, he too will have an easy time of it if asked to face them.
The final pick in France’s team is a testament to the depth of talent that the European country has. Julien Benneteau is World no.82 and an emergency replacement for Richard Gasquet, none the less; he is still inside the World top 100. As discernable, he too will be well-suited to weathering any assault the lower-ranked Austrians mount against him.
The meeting seems all but a certain victory for France at the moment. However, the Davis Cup is formatted such that the heroics of one player alone can carry a team through. If Jurgen Melzer wins both his singles matches and then helps Oliver Marach out in the doubles, Austria will definitely get through. France’s deep pool of talent would like to disagree here though, and that interjection might be enough to stop Melzer in his tracks and stop the upset entirely.
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