Title: Davydenko defeats Chela
trisco - December 1, 2006 09:45 AM (GMT)
Nikolai Davydenko has postponed his honeymoon for at least a week to lead Russia in this weekend's Davis Cup final against Argentina.
World No. 3 Davydenko, who married his longtime sweetheart Irina Vasina last Saturday, said winning the cup would be the best present he could get from his teammates.
Russia, undefeated at home in the Davis Cup since 1997 and also featuring former world No. 1 Marat Safin, Mikhail Yuzhny and Dmitry Tursunov, is considered the hot favorite on a fast indoor court at Moscow's Olimpiisky Sports Complex against the clay-court specialists from South America.
The Argentines are countering with David Nalbandian, Jose Acasuso, Agustin Calleri and Juan Ignacio Chela.
Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev is taking nothing for granted, saying: "When you have two evenly matched teams, each has a 50-50 chance."
Thursday's draw pitted Davydenko against Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the opening singles match.
He has a poor record against the 33rd-ranked Chela, taking only two sets in losing to him three times on clay and twice on hard courts .
Thursday's draw also saw two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin of Russia, ranked 26th, drawn against David Nalbandian.
Safin has a 6-2, head-to-head record against Nalbandian -- including a four-set semifinal win on carpet in 2002.
Tursunov and Yuzhny are scheduled to play Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in Saturday's doubles.
Sunday's potentially decisive reverse singles should see Davydenko up against Nalbandian, and Safin taking on Chela, but team captains can change their lineups until one hour before play and Tarpishchev could employ a similar strategy to the one he used in the 3-2 semifinal victory over the United States in September.
Then, on the last day of the three-day tie in Moscow, he brought in a fresh Tursunov against U.S. No. 1 Andy Roddick for the decisive point.
World No. 3 Davydenko, who married his longtime sweetheart Irina Vasina last Saturday, said winning the cup would be the best present he could get from his teammates.
Russia, undefeated at home in the Davis Cup since 1997 and also featuring former world No. 1 Marat Safin, Mikhail Yuzhny and Dmitry Tursunov, is considered the hot favorite on a fast indoor court at Moscow's Olimpiisky Sports Complex against the clay-court specialists from South America.
The Argentines are countering with David Nalbandian, Jose Acasuso, Agustin Calleri and Juan Ignacio Chela.
Russia captain Shamil Tarpishchev is taking nothing for granted, saying: "When you have two evenly matched teams, each has a 50-50 chance."
Thursday's draw pitted Davydenko against Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the opening singles match.
He has a poor record against the 33rd-ranked Chela, taking only two sets in losing to him three times on clay and twice on hard courts .
Thursday's draw also saw two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin of Russia, ranked 26th, drawn against David Nalbandian.
Safin has a 6-2, head-to-head record against Nalbandian -- including a four-set semifinal win on carpet in 2002.
Tursunov and Yuzhny are scheduled to play Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in Saturday's doubles.
Sunday's potentially decisive reverse singles should see Davydenko up against Nalbandian, and Safin taking on Chela, but team captains can change their lineups until one hour before play and Tarpishchev could employ a similar strategy to the one he used in the 3-2 semifinal victory over the United States in September.
Then, on the last day of the three-day tie in Moscow, he brought in a fresh Tursunov against U.S. No. 1 Andy Roddick for the decisive point.
trisco - December 1, 2006 04:13 PM (GMT)
Nikolay Davydenko gave Russia an early 1-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup final after beating Juan Ignacio Chela in the opening rubber.
The world number three, who lost all his five previous matches against Chela, claimed a 6-1 6-2 5-7 6-4 win.
Davydenko dominated the first two sets, breaking Chela twice in the opener and twice more in the second.
Chela took the third but Davydenko restored took control in the fourth to win in just over three hours.
The home side will now pin their hopes on former world number one Marat Safin against David Nalbandian in the second of the opening day's singles matches.
Mikahil Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov will play Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in Saturday's doubles.
The world number three, who lost all his five previous matches against Chela, claimed a 6-1 6-2 5-7 6-4 win.
Davydenko dominated the first two sets, breaking Chela twice in the opener and twice more in the second.
Chela took the third but Davydenko restored took control in the fourth to win in just over three hours.
The home side will now pin their hopes on former world number one Marat Safin against David Nalbandian in the second of the opening day's singles matches.
Mikahil Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov will play Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in Saturday's doubles.
JymJilly - December 1, 2006 04:50 PM (GMT)
Thats a brilliant line up for the doubles.
It will be hard to call
It will be hard to call