The 16 countries who qualified for the World Group of the Davis Cup for 2010 will kick off their campaigns in the next couple of days. Here’s a look at the first-round ties and how the teams line-up against each other.
Spain v Switzerland
Spain are searching for three straight titles, while the Swiss retained their place in the World Group for 2010 courtesy of victory over Italy in the play-offs.
The excitement of a potential Davis Cup clash between rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer when the draw was announced late in 2009 has come to nought, with neither player available for this first round tie – Nadal through injury and Federer’s intentions not to play in the Davis Cup were reported in January.
Luckily for the Swiss, they now have a handy back-up for Federer in Stanislas Wawrinka, whose ranking peaked just inside the Top 10 in 2008. No, it’s not a like-for-like replacement but against a depleted Spain side, which is also missing Fernando Verdasco and the in-form but now injured Juan Carlos Ferrero, it’s not such a bad match up.
However, with or without Nadal and Verdasco in the team, the Spaniards proved in 2009 they had the manpower to cover the absence their two top players. Add to that the home court advantage they take into this tie, and the fact they’ve won 20 straight ties on clay in the lead-up to facing the Swiss, and Spain should be one step closer to another Davis Cup title defence after this one.
France v Germany
The French team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau, which play host to Germany in this one, simply seems too strong for their first-round opponents.
World No. 30 Philipp Kohlschreiber leads the German charge, in a team that also includes world No. 39 Benjamin Becker, world No. 58 Simon Greul and 32nd ranked doubles player Christopher Kas.
Both teams made their 2009 exits at the hands of teams who would eventually go on to contest the Davis Cup final, with the Czech Republic defeating France 3-2 in the first round and Spain sending Germany packing with a 1-4 loss in the quarterfinals.
The Germans may have made it further than the French at last year’s Davis Cup, but at least on paper, Guy Forget’s French team looks to have too much firepower for Germany in this first round tie.
Russia v India
Russia’s original team nominations look set to change, with an injured Nikolay Davydenko unlikely to be fit in time for their opening tie against India.
Russia’s team captain, Shamil Tarpischev, has indicated that Davydenko’s wrist injury means “his chances [of playing] are very, very small” but Tarpischev continued, “we have a home-court advantage, it's a slow court so our chances are still very good”.
Davydenko’s probable replacement is world No. 38 Igor Andreev, while 13th ranked Mikhail Youzhny, who has been in pretty good form of late, will lead the charge in singles.
In contrast, India’s team doesn’t boast a player inside the top 100 ranked singles players, but if Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi team up for the doubles you can almost pencil that rubber in for India. When the pair were playing as regular doubles partners on the ATP circuit, they won a total of 23 doubles titles together and each has gone on to successful doubles partnerships since ending their regular pairing. Paes may now be 36, but he is also India’s most successful Davis Cup player.
It will take more than victory in the doubles rubber for India, who this year move up from Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania zone to make their first appearance in the Davis Cup World Group since 1998, to win this one, and it’s hard to see the Russians dropping a singles rubber here.
Argentina v Sweden
Sweden will play host to Argentina for their first-round tie as the South Americans look to repeat the form that took them to the final in the Davis Cup World Group in 2008.
Sweden have been Davis Cup champions seven times over the history of the competition but had to fight their way past Romania in the play-offs to secure their place in the World Group for 2010, after falling in the first hurdle in 2009. By contrast, Argentina has never won a Davis Cup title but has recent form in its favour, having finished runner-up in 2006 and 2008.
However, the Argentinians are sending a team which has been crippled by injuries to their two top players in Juan Martin del Potro and Juan Monaco. They could receive a late boost with the potential return of David Nalbandian from a leg injury in time for the first round tie.
That still leaves Swedish No. 1, and world No. 7 Robin Soderling head and shoulders above any other player in this tie based on a combination of rankings and current form. The problem for the Swedes, however, is that Soderling is virtually a one-man show with their second highest ranked player not even featuring in the top 200.
The Swedes also have a new captain for this tie after Mats Wilander retired from the post in October 2009. Former Swedish Davis Cup player Thomas Enqvist, a member of the cup winning teams of 1997 and 1998, leads the team in 2010.
Sweden’s chances rest firmly on Soderling’s racquet, and while it seems pretty safe to pencil in his two singles rubbers the question is whether they can find a third.
Ecuador v Croatia
Ecuador hasn’t been in the World Group since 2001, but veteran Nicolas Lapentti starred in the team’s Play-off tie against Brazil to book a place in the World Group for 2010.
Croatia, meanwhile, are a team that looks as though it is on the up-and-up after reaching the World Group semifinals in 2009 and the quarterfinals the year before. For Croatia, the rise of 21-year-old Marin Cilic into the top 10, and the 2010 form of 6ft 10in ace machine Ivo Karlovic mean they are well placed to take full advantage of their home advantage in this tie.
Ecuador’s progression to the World Group looks like it has given 33-year-old Nicolas Lapentti a reason to keep picking up the racquet, after he was reported to be considering ending his career had his country lost its Play-off tie last year.
The former world No. 6 then single-handedly set about ensuring his playing future with his two victories in the singles rubbers and a doubles win with brother Giovanni enough to push Ecuador into the World Group for 2010.
It might be a bit too much to expect Lapentti to perform the same heroics when the team travels to Croatia for their first round tie.
Serbia v USA
Novak Djokovic will lead the Serbs against a new look USA in their first-round tie. Andy Roddick has pulled out of Davis Cup duties for the year to focus on the Grand Slams, and James Blake is another notable absence from the singles line-up for Patrick McEnroe’s team.
The changing of the guard for team America will see John Isner and Sam Querrey shoulder the singles duty, while Mike and Bob Bryan will anchor the side in the doubles.
After drawing the short straw in 2009 and travelling to Spain for a first round meeting with the defending champions (which ended in a 1-4 defeat), Serbia will be relieved to be playing host to the USA here.
The Bryan brothers would have to enter the doubles rubber as favourites, so Serbia will need to perform well in the singles to win this tie, and both Isner and Querrey are potentially capable of causing an upset against Djokovic.
Serbia’s No. 1, however, will be boosted by his Dubai title defence over the weekend, a win that was achieved despite some slow starts in his matches across the tournament. Assuming Djokovic does what is required in his singles rubbers, then the responsibility will fall to world No. 35 Viktor Troicki to take a singles rubber from the USA in what should be a tightly contested tie.
Chile v Israel
The recent earthquake in Chile means this tie has been postponed by one day, and will now start on March 6th, while all eight ties in the opening round will observe a minute’s silence in memory of the earthquake victims.
Israel was an unexpected semi-finalist in the 2009 Davis Cup, in the team’s best ever performance in the competition, and the hero of that performance, Dudi Sela, is back in the team in 2010. In contrast, Chile was knocked out of the 2009 Davis Cup by Croatia in the first round but are fielding a team led by Fernando Gonzalez in this intriguing tie.
Gonzalez did not play a Davis Cup match in 2009 after he was ruled out of the team’s first round tie against Croatia with a back injury. His return will boost the Chileans’ cause and coupled with the home advantage might be enough to get them across the line.
Belgium v Czech Republic
Last year’s runners-up, the Czech Republic, will travel to Belgium for their first round tie in 2010.
Belgium defeated Ukraine to book a place back in the top 16 Davis Cup nations for 2010 after spending 2009 in Group One of the Europe/Africa zone.
While Belgium has produced two of the top women’s tennis players of the past decade, they’ve not had the same success with the men and here they send four players ranked between world No. 59 and world No. 136 onto the court.
The Czechs on the face of it have more firepower to call on with the likes of world No. 17 Radek Stepanek and 25th ranked Tomas Berdych among their team.
Yet Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, the world No. 87, secured victory over Stepanek at San Jose a couple of weeks ago in what has been a worrying run of early exits for the 31-year-old beginning at the Australian Open that has seen his ranking dip towards the bottom end of the top 20
That said, the Czechs should take an away victory here, but it’s by no means a fait accompli.
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