Spain vs. Austria: Quarter-final Preview – Davis Cup WG 2012
Defending champion, Spain, will take on Austria in the quarter-final tie of the Davis Cup, World Group this weekend.
The competition will take place at the clay courts on a small island, Marina d'Or, Oropesa del Mar, Castellon near Valencia in Spain.
The hosts will be without world number two, Rafael Nadal, as he is on rest due to a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from his semi-final against Andy Murray at the Sony Ericsson Open last week.
World number five, David Ferrer, is back in the team and will be spearheading the Spanish side. He will be supported by Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers and doubles specialist, Marc Lopez.
Austrians will be led by world number 21, Jurgen Melzer, who will be accompanied by Andreas Haider-Maurer, Alexander Peya and doubles expert, Oliver Marach.
This will be the fifth meeting between these two nations at the Davis Cup. Austria won three out of those four ties but the last time they faced each other was back in 1995. Austrians defeated the Spaniards 4-1 but the former had
the advantage of playing at home.
Spaniards will surely be the favourites this time, as their best two players are ranked in the top 15. Even their third best player is ranked inside top 30. On the other hand, Austrian number two, Haider-Maurer is not even included
in the best 100 on the ATP World Tour.
Spain has won the Davis Cup title three times in the last four years. In comparison, Austrians have reached the quarter-finals after a gap of 17 years. They have never advanced to the Davis Cup final, giving their best performance
in 1990, when they reached the last four.
Ferrer, who has already won three titles in this season, is not taking the Austrians lightly. He said, "It's going to be difficult. Jurgen Melzer is a great player, who beat me on clay like he did Nico Almagro. They're (the Austrians)
among the best in the world in the doubles."
Spain, which has produced the best clay court players in recent times, has not lost a Davis Cup home tie since 1999.
However, Austrian Coach, Clemens Trimmel, is still hoping for an upset win. Trimmel said, "As we have seen on many occasions in the past, the Davis Cup often writes its own rules. Unexpected things can happen. We are quite happy
in the role of the underdog."
On the first day of this quarterfinal clash, Almagro will lock horns with Melzer in the opening rubber and Ferrer will take on Haider-Maurer in the second match on Friday.
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