Davis Cup Website

RUSSIA v SERBIA
Venue: Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow (hard - indoors)

Russia
Nikolay Davydenko
Mikhail Youzhny
Dmitry Tursunov
Marat Safin
Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

Serbia
Novak Djokovic
Janko Tipsarevic
Viktor Troicki
Nenad Zimonjic
Captain: Bogdan Obradovic

CZECH REPUBLIC v BELGIUM
Venue: CEZ Arena, Ostrava (carpet - indoors)

Czech Republic
Tomas Berdych
Radek Stepanek
Lukas Dlouhy
Pavel Vizner
Captain: Jaroslav Navratil

Belgium
Olivier Rochus
Steve Darcis
Kristof Vliegen
Ruben Bemelmans
Captain: Julien Hoferlin

ARGENTINA v GREAT BRITAIN
Venue: Estadio Parque Roca, Buenos Aires (clay - outdoors)

Argentina
David Nalbandian
Juan Monaco
Agustin Calleri
Jose Acasuso
Captain: Alberto Mancini

Great Britain
Andy Murray (not any more :( )
Jamie Murray
Jamie Baker
Alex Bogdanovic
Captain: John Lloyd

ISRAEL v SWEDEN
Venue: Canada Stadium, Ramat Hasharon (hard - outdoors)

Israel
Dudi Sela
Harel Levy
Andy Ram
Jonathan Erlich
Captain: Eyal Ran

Sweden
Thomas Johansson
Jonas Bjorkman
Simon Aspelin
Filip Prpic
Captain: Mats Wilander

GERMANY v KOREA, REP.
Venue: Volkswagen Halle, Braunschweig (clay - indoors)

Germany
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Michael Berrer
Florian Mayer
Philipp Petzschner
Captain: Patrik Kuhnen

Korea, Rep.
Hyung-Taik Lee
Woong-Sun Jun
Jae-Sung An
Hyun-Joon Kim
Captain: Young-Dai Jeon

PERU v SPAIN
Venue: Jockey Club Del Peru, Lima (clay - outdoors)

Peru
Luis Horna
Ivan Miranda
Matias Silva
Mauricio Echazu
Captain: Jaime Yzaga

Spain
David Ferrer
Tommy Robredo
Fernando Verdasco
Nicolas Almagro
Captain: Emilio Sanchez

ROMANIA v FRANCE
Venue: Sala Transilvania, Sibiu (hard - indoors)

Romania
Andrei Pavel
Victor Hanescu
Florin Mergea
Horia Tecau
Captain: Florin Segarceanu

France
Richard Gasquet
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Michael Llodra
Arnaud Clement
Captain: Guy Forget

AUSTRIA v USA
Venue: Ferry Dusika Hallenstadion, Vienna (clay - indoors)

Austria
Stefan Koubek
Werner Eschauer
Jurgen Melzer
Julian Knowle
Captain: Gilbert Schaller

USA
Andy Roddick
James Blake
Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
Captain: Patrick McEnroe

My guess at the winners would be:

Serbia vs. Russia - i reckon Serbia could take this, although the Russians do seem to manage to turn up for Davis Cup. It'll be close, but if Djoko and Tipsy can win their singles matches, the Serbs then have dedicated doubles player Zimonijc......

Czech Rep vs. Belgium - Czech Rep.

Argentina vs. GB - well, even though Argentina have lost Monaco, I can't see the British team even winning a rubber here.

Israel vs. Sweden - tough one this one, but I think the Israeli's having their doubles team there will help, so I think Israel to win.

Germany vs. Korea - Germany, although they could be fairly reliant on Kohly reproducing his AO performance.

Spain vs. Peru - I read somewhere that Ferrer has withdrawn from this tie with an injury. Even so, I would think that Spain should win this.

Romania vs. France - the French should win this and should probably hang their heads in shame if they don't. That's actually a pretty formidable French team - assuming of course that Tsonga and Gasquet are both having good days. but all of them play doubles as well which gives them a lot of choices with their doubles team

Austria vs. USA - USA

Argentina have called up Sebastian Prieto as a replacement for the injured Juan Monaco for this week's Davis Cup tie against Great Britain.

Monaco, the world number 21, sustained an ankle injury on Saturday at the Movistar Open in Chile and handed the singles title to Fernando Gonzalez.

Prieto, ranked 31 in doubles, won the doubles title in Vina del Mar alongside Jose Acasuso.

Britain still face a daunting task without injured number one Andy Murray.

The highly-ranked Argentines have three other players in the world's top 60 in David Nalbandian (9), Agustin Calleri (41) and Acasuso (50).

In contrast, world number 188 Alex Bogdanovic is Britain's highest ranked player with Jamie Baker at 235.

Jamie Murray is 35th in the doubles standings while Ross Hutchins 88th.

But Argentina captain Albeto Mancini has warned his team not to be complacent.

"The guys should focus on themselves," he said. "They are in good form and should take advantage of that if they are to win this tie as convincingly as possible.

"But we have to be 100% focused. The guys know that if they play their normal game, everything will be fine."

The first-round encounter will take place at the 15,000-capacity Parque Roca in Buenos Aires from Friday, and it will be the first time Argentina have hosted a tie since September 2006.

"The Davis Cup always has a special taste and environment," said Mancini.

"We will be hosting a tie after quite a long time and playing here is fantastic for us. I hope the fans support us a lot."

Serbia vs. Russia - Russia marginal favourites. Djoko may not be in the right state to win two more 5 sets matches after his heroics in Melbourne, and Youzhny actually has a winning H2H record against him. Tipsarevic will struggle to win a match, but if they can get two singles wins, they have a good shot at the doubles too.

Czech Rep vs. Belgium - Berdych and Stepanek look on paper far superior to the Belgian team, but Vliegen has been in good form recently, winning a tournament last week, and Rochus is always tricky. Czech Republic should go through, but it wouldn't be a huge upset if they lost.

Argentina vs. GB - :lmaao:

Israel vs. Sweden - Possibly the tightest to call. Israel have home advantage, and although Sweden's players look superior, Israel have two Davis Cup warhorses in Sela and Levy. Even the doubles will be tough - Sweden have Aspelin and Bjorkman while Israel have Erlich and Ram. The Israelis' fanatical support may well play a key part too, but I'm gonna plump for Sweden by the narrowest of margins.

Germany vs. Korea - Germany really should win this.

Spain vs. Peru - Horna has always been a good ambassador for his country but to ask him to single-handedly get a win here is too much. Depending on who Spain field, it could be close, but I very much doubt they'll lose.

Romania vs. France - Unless the French have one of "those" days, which they rarely do in Davis Cup, this is no contest.

Austria vs. USA - This is a tight one. Austria being at home have naturally picked a really slow clay surface, and obviously Roddick and Blake are both clay court clowns. Melzer and Koubek can be very unpredictable, but if they play well they've got every chance of winning this - often winning Davis Cup teams exit in the first round the next year, probably since once they've won it, the desire to do so again significantly wanes.

Russia vs. Serbia
R1 - M.YOUZHNY (RUS) v N.DJOKOVIC (SRB)
R2 - N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) v V.TROICKI (SRB)
R3 - M.SAFIN / D.TURSUNOV (RUS) v N.DJOKOVIC / N.ZIMONJIC (SRB)
R4 - N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) v N.DJOKOVIC (SRB)
R5 - M.YOUZHNY (RUS) v V.TROICKI (SRB)

Czech Republic vs Belgium
R1 - T.BERDYCH (CZE) v K.VLIEGEN (BEL)
R2 - R.STEPANEK (CZE) v S.DARCIS (BEL)
R3 - L.DLOUHY / P.VIZNER (CZE) v R.BEMELMANS / O.ROCHUS (BEL)
R4 - T.BERDYCH (CZE) v S.DARCIS (BEL)
R5 - R.STEPANEK (CZE) v K.VLIEGEN (BEL)

Romania vs. France
R1 - V.HANESCU (ROU) v R.GASQUET (FRA)
R2 - A.PAVEL (ROU) v J.TSONGA (FRA)
R3 - F.MERGEA / H.TECAU (ROU) v A.CLEMENT / M.LLODRA (FRA)
R4 - A.PAVEL (ROU) v R.GASQUET (FRA)
R5 - V.HANESCU (ROU) v J.TSONGA (FRA)

You beat me to it - just saw Tipsarevic had pulled out. That's a shame, although I guess the same logic applies - Djoko needs to win both singles ties and they have a good shout at the doubles with Zimonjic.

have you got a link to where it's said he's pulled out? 'cos the Davis Cup website simply says it's a "surprise move" on the part of the Serbian captain :unsure:

Afraid the link isn't in English. But it says that Tipsarevic has a hip injury and could be out for 3 weeks. Hopefully there'll be an English link soon, but it's obvious that the Serbian coach wouldn't pick Troicki unless Tipsarevic was carrying some kind of injury.

poor Tipsy :(

Russia vs Serbia - without Tipsarevic it doesn't look so close but it's still hard to call, Russia should win, maybe 3-2? I'd probably tip Serbia in the doubles :unsure: so it's up to Djokovic to win both his singles which isn't impossible or even improbable since he's playing well and should be high on confidence.

Czech Republic vs Belgium - Dlouhy and Vizner are by far the more experienced doubles team and should win - however I don't know anything about Bemelmans and Oli Rochus is a good doubles player so that match could be closer than I think. Berdych should be expected to win both matches although Vliegen could push him. There's nothing to suggest Darcis will win either of his matches. That's a long way of saying:Czech Republic shouldn't have a problem.

Romania vs France - it would be a an upset for Romania to win any of their matches, especially the doubles - that said they did manage to do it last year in the exact same situation (the doubles that is, not the tie). I like the current Romanian Davis Cup team and I think they can perform in front of a home crowd, but with Tsonga playing great and with plenty of confidence it will be a tough ask. Same result as last year.

Germany vs Korea, Rep. - Germany would be expected to win. The German team doesn't look too exciting but they have the home advantage and the experience. Korea are young and unknown (apart from Lee). Unless the Koreans feel the Davis Cup magic: Germany 3-1

R1 - P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER) v J.AN (KOR)
R2 - F.MAYER (GER) v H.LEE (KOR)
R3 - P.KOHLSCHREIBER / P.PETZSCHNER (GER) v W.JUN / H.KIM (KOR)
R4 - P.KOHLSCHREIBER (GER) v H.LEE (KOR)
R5 - F.MAYER (GER) v J.AN (KOR)


Peru vs Spain - Spain have proved themselves quite capable of stuffing up Davis Cup ties, but they shouldn't here


Argentina vs Great Britain - Wise_Analyst says it well. Even with Andy Murray it would have been hard for GB to make this competitive, without him, well, need I say it...

R1 - D.NALBANDIAN (ARG) v J.BAKER (GBR)
R2 - A.CALLERI (ARG) v A.BOGDANOVIC (GBR)
R3 - J.ACASUSO / D.NALBANDIAN (ARG) v R.HUTCHINS / J.MURRAY (GBR)
R4 - D.NALBANDIAN (ARG) v A.BOGDANOVIC (GBR)
R5 - A.CALLERI (ARG) v J.BAKER (GBR)


Austria vs USA - the Austrians are all solid players but wouldn't be expected to be match for the USA. Austria have home advantage and as Wise_Analyst has said Davis Cup winners have a history of losing in the first round following victory, so Austria have a chance. But realistically: USA no trouble

R1 - J.MELZER (AUT) v A.RODDICK (USA)
R2 - S.KOUBEK (AUT) v J.BLAKE (USA)
R3 - J.KNOWLE / J.MELZER (AUT) v M.BRYAN / B.BRYAN (USA)
R4 - S.KOUBEK (AUT) v A.RODDICK (USA)
R5 - J.MELZER (AUT) v J.BLAKE (USA)

Israel vs Sweden - this will probably be one of the closest ties, certainly the hardest to call. Sweden have got to be the oldest team in the World Group, all being over 30, their singles players are much more accomplished than Israel's but neither of them (nor their opponents) have good recent form. Erlich and Ram are the Aus Open champions so I would fancy their chances against just about any doubles team, although Aspelin and Lindstedt should put up a good fight. It's rather surprising not to see Bjorkman in the doubles but given his age and that he hasn't played yet this season it's probably a good idea to rest him for the singles. Israel have home town advantage. It will be interesting to see what the old guys can do and if the young(er) guys can step up: too close to call

R1 - D.SELA (ISR) v J.BJORKMAN (SWE)
R2 - H.LEVY (ISR) v T.JOHANSSON (SWE)
R3 - J.ERLICH / A.RAM (ISR) v S.ASPELIN / R.LINDSTEDT (SWE)
R4 - D.SELA (ISR) v T.JOHANSSON (SWE)
R5 - H.LEVY (ISR) v J.BJORKMAN (SWE)

Djokovic misses opening day's action

Serbia's star player Novak Djokovic is out of the opening day's action in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie in Moscow between Russia and Serbia.

What should have been a triumphant first day in the world group for the Serbian nation has turned into a nightmare, with the withdrawal of both Djokovic and his No. 2 Janko Tipsarevic. It means Serbia must field the doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic against the world No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny, and the 31-year-old hasn't played a competitive singles match since the last day of April last year.

Djokovic has been suffering from flu-like symptoms all week. The Serbian team had hoped he would recover in time, but they gave up the fight on Friday morning as Djokovic arrived at the Luzhniki Stadium looking pale and tired. Serb officials are still hoping Djokovic will be fit for Saturday's doubles, where he is due to partner Zimonjic.

Tipsarevic has also been fighting off a stomach bug, but he is believed to have picked up another injury in training that is still being assessed, and an official of the Serbian team said he was unlikely to be available to play this weekend.

It leaves the opening day's singles as Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v Nenad Zimonjic (SRB), followed by Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) v Victor Troicki (SRB).

Serbia vs. Russia - 1-4
Czech Rep vs. Belgium - 3-2
Argentina vs. GB - 5-0
Israel vs. Sweden - 2-3
Germany vs. Korea - 4-1
Spain vs. Peru - 4-1
Romania vs. France - 1-4
Austria vs. USA - 3-2

Djokovic's first-day absence seems to have sealed Serbia's fate, but I'm going for the upset with clay court clowns USA.