Team Australia vs Team Switzerland: Davis Cup 2011 World Group Play-Offs Line-up
Firing off with the Play-Offs of Davis Cup 2011 on the 16th September, team Australia announced its team line-up for their tie against team Switzerland. Both the teams made it through Group 1 to qualify into the Play-Offs and will now play to qualify into the World Group.
Prior to this tie, team Australia has won all four times the two have clashed in the Davis Cup with the last tie dating back to 2006. Expected to win once again and make it to the world group, team Australia has a strong line up against the Swiss team.
Despite the early upset in the first rubber, the Australians edged pass the Chinese team in Beijing with a 3-1 win to move into the play-offs. Taking the first point of the tie, Team China was proving to be very competitive. However, Bernard Tomic cleared the second rubber for his country and paved the way for a win surely to be confirmed by Hewitt and Guccione in the doubles match. The former world No.1 then stamped up a spot by taking away the fourth rubber.
Along with the two top shots Australia is geared up with Marinko Matosevic as well. Ranked at world No.148, the Aussie lost his first match in Group 1 stage of Davis Cup, though he is considered a boost to the team.
On the contrary, the Swiss Maestro is returning to his team as Stanislas Wawrinka holds on to his top form. Doing the entire job in Euro/Africa Group 1 tie, Wawrinka and Federer handled the Portuguese team in Bern as the two took over the first two rubbers and bagged the doubles match to book a ticket to the playoffs.
However, considering the fact that Australia is the second nation to win the most Davis Cups, their team does not give the idea that they would win. With Tomic the only rising star and Hewitt having lost his flair, the Aussies will have to bring much more than the local support if they wish to best Federer and Wawrinka.
The World No.3 is a big boost for the Swiss team; however, this is not a one man stand up show. If and only if the team shows the guts to roll off their sleeves together, the Swiss might change history turning off the Australian win switch button.
The most controversial player in the Swiss team is Marco Chiudinelli. The right hander has a 5-9 win loss ratio in Davis Cup so far. Losing both matches in doubles that he ever played, Chiudinelli has been a big liability on the Swiss team.
Statistically, Australia has a better chance to win the tie. With a 42-12 win loss ratio altogether in the Cup, Hewitt leads the records. Acting as his side kick, the 18-year-old Tomic, world No.60, is expected to win every single one of his rubbers. .
Regardless of the fact that the Swiss are over-confident of having the old dog in their line-up, it is still hard for them to conquer the Australians with their former world No.1 beating every team single headedly. It is hard to guess a win for the Swiss; however, an upset can always be expected.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and have nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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