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Nominations for World Group Quarterfinals

RUSSIA v CZECH REPUBLIC
Venue: Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow (clay – indoors)

RUSSIA
Dmitry Tursunov
Nikolay Davydenko
Igor Andreev
Mikhail Youzhny
Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

CZECH REPUBLIC
Tomas Berdych
Radek Stepanek
Lukas Dlouhy
Pavel Vizner
Captain: Jaroslav Navratil

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

ARGENTINA
David Nalbandian
Guillermo Canas
Juan Monaco
Jose Acasuso
Captain: Alberto Mancini

SWEDEN
Robin Soderling
Jonas Bjorkman
Thomas Johansson
Robert Lindstedt
Captain: Mats Wilander

GERMANY v SPAIN
Venue: AWD Dome, Bremen (hard – indoors)

GERMANY
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Nicolas Kiefer
Michael Berrer
Philipp Petzschner
Captain: Patrik Kühnen

SPAIN
Rafael Nadal
David Ferrer
Fernando Verdasco
Feliciano Lopez
Captain: Emilio Sanchez

USA v FRANCE
Venue: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem (hard – indoors)

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

FRANCE
Richard Gasquet
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Michaël Llodra
Captain: Guy Forget

Spain/Germany looks like the only fairly easy tie, for the Spaniards that is :D

the other 3 look like great match-ups that could go either way.

i dunno - they're playing on hard and Kohly and Berrer have had pretty good seasons so far :unsure: it could be closer than we expect

Russia v Czech sounds very interesting. Shame they chose clay though, Stepanek is not so hot on that. They have a good doubles pair. :ok:

USA v France, beign on hard should be interesting :ok:

Feel sorry for Sweden again getting buggered over by clay to Argentina, but I hope Sweden win :pray: And the Spain v Germany one is interestign as Jo says beign on hard. Go Germany :pray:

I think the Russians should win, but considering that they're all nutcases (in the nicest possible sense of the word.....they tend to have the odd mental moment during matches) it may be close. Depends on which berdych turns up as well i expect.

Argentina should beat Sweden fairly easily on clay. :shrug: Like i said, the germany/spain one could be closer than we expect - i do wonder, actually, whether nadal may pull out at the last minute with an injury of some sort. :shrug: not meaning to put nadal down at all, but he's obviously got a busy clay season ahead of him - having just had a busy two weeks, i wonder if the davis cup will just be a bit too much for him. having said that, he played this tie last year, so maybe he factored it in to his schedule. anyway, if nadal plays it should improve Spain's chances, but i still think it might be tougher than expected.

And france vs. USA - well, it probably depends a lot on whether all the French team have good days.......but i will say that the USA doubles team may not be such a sure-thing these days. the Bryans haven't actually had the best start to the season, but every single one of those french players are pretty handy doubles players as well. and they all seem to have partnered one another in at least one tournament this year (I think) so it could be interesting.......

I agree wtih all of that. The Bryans are not invincilbe by any means, and doubles is very competitive. They should in theory beat the French, but I think it is Gasquet and someone else that have done well in doubles lately. Was ti Mahut, although he is nti playing? Anyway where is Clement to accompany Llodra as they have been really good?

actually, Tsonga has been playing a lot of doubles recently - mostly with Gasquet I think. At the AO the French had about 6 doubles teams or something silly like that...... :o they seem to mix and match a bit so they're all pretty proficient in the doubles. In fact, PHM has been playing doubles as well recently.

and actually, the french have a good selection to pick from when you think about it. as much as i may be giving Tenez and Frederic gloating rights here ;) ,

the French have 7 players in the top 50 of the singles, and another 4 in the top 100. and 9 players in the top 100 of the doubles - 3 of those in the top 20, and 6 all french teams in the top 50 of the race (that doesn't count french players who play with a partner from another country.)

All in all, those are pretty good stats - i'm not even gonna compare them with the british stats cos its embarrassing :huh:

Oh yeah, Tsonga has indeed played. I agree, the French have a wealth of talents. I love Mahut. Sadly not as consitent as some nations, but if I had to pick a country that I enjoy the tennis of most, at present I'd go for France. And I like Grosjean heaps too, and in the women's Mauresmo. :D

Go USA!!! :yahoo:

And Russia :yahoo:




(And Germany and Sweden :) )


Personally I think Forget should play MAthieu and Gasquet in the singles. Although Richard has been in poor form you can't not have him. And PHM is both a better player than JWT and in better form.

can I pick from their selection? :drool: :wub:

down girl!!!!! :rolleyes:

:P

like you dont want your pick of the Russians!

some good match ups by the look of it - can you catch Davis Cup web streaming?

no - i'll have all of them :P

i don't know about live streaming..... :unsure:

There hasn't been any mention so far on here (afaict) of the fact that Tsonga has had to withdraw from the tie because of an injury.

Before, I would have said France could have a chance, but it's now really looking pretty hard for them ...

Here's my take on the line-up:

USA vs France - the US have to be the firm favorites here, all the more so with Tsonga withdrawn. You'd think that Roddick and Blake would both be able to win at least one of their singles matches (at the very least), and the Bryans seemed to be in good form in Miami, so are also very likely to win. With Andy particularly in great form after this first part of the season, it is very difficult to see past the defending champions. Of course, you cannot completely count out Gasquet taking his team to a famous victory - but it seems highly unlikely to me.

Germany v. Spain. Unfortunately, I can see next to no chance for Germany to pull off an upset here - Tommy Haas isn't even playing. :( Maybe we should not completely count out Kohly and Kiwi pulling off one or two upsets - but Germany should be happy if they keep the tie alive past Saturday.

Russia v Czech Republic - The Russians should win this fairly comfortably, but you just never quite know with them. Kolya has not been picked to play in singles, which I find quite surprising - I'd pick him above Safin to be honest. Of course Andreev is an important player for them to have on clay. Berdych and Stepanek might just pull off an upset, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Argentina - Sweden. The Argentinian team is strong, as usual, but I'm not going to count out Sweden either, with Sod in pretty good form this year, and Jonas always a danger in the doubles. If Nalby has one of his donut days, they could take this; otherwise, this is Argentina's to lose.

Oh, just realized Gasquet is also out! :yikes:

See ya later France ... :bbye:

Shame about him and Tsonga, as the French had a very interesting young squad there.

I can't beleive Russia aren't playing Davydenko. :unsure: He isn't hiddeous on clay is he? Pretty good all rounder form what I know. I know Andreev is apparently good on clay though.

Davydenkjo is of course an all courter but many (including myself) would argue his best surface is clay, 2 semis at Roland Garros and he had that amazing match against Rafa in Rome last year with Rafa winning 7-6(3) 6-7(8) 6-4-That was on clay remember.


Tarpischev is a clever captain-he may be trying to put pressure on the Czechs who will now feel they should close the tie out on day 1....

I would imagine Youzhny and Davydenko are still tired from Miami and that Andreev was able to find his clay feet better than either of those two.

Tarpischev is famous for choosing those who are looking sharp in practice-it's a clever ploy most likely. He does get it wrong sometimes but very rarely.

Go RUSSIA!!! :yahoo:

I think its a bit unfair that you completely ignore Mathieu in your analysis of USA vs Franc, assuming that just because Tsonga is out they have no chance (Which they really don't now due to losing Gasquet) because IMO Mathieu would have been a better choice for the singles BY FAR than Tsonga. He is in better form and more suited to the indoor surface.....

USA are still favourite but I woudl not be surprised of an upset. The French are good when the pressure is not upon them. Besides in double they are one of the few teams that can challenge the Brians. However Gasquet will surely mess it up again.

It is under way and Berdych vs Safin is currently 4-4 with the Russia having saved 3 Break Points.


Go Safin!!!! (but don't let Jo know I am supporting him)

Maybe.

I just think Tsonga has a greater fluctuation of form than Mathieu; i.e. if he's on song, he would be more likely to cause an upset. No doubt, Mathieu is a good player and can also cause an upset on his day, but I just somehow feel it is less likely than with Tsonga. :shrug:

Gasquet isn't playing because of blisters, apparently.

Well done Safin coming from 2 sets down to beat an in form Berdych!!!!

Safin won 6-7(5) 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4

!?!?!?!?! This guy is a joke! After all those years playing tennis, he hasn't managed to get hardened skins like everybody else on the tour.

So in fact he has already messed up!

What do you make of Gasquet at the moment Tenez? Unlike most of the bandwagoners who give up on him simply because he looks unlikely to win a Slam, I was always content to follow him just for the 4-5 matches a season where he'd play outstanding tennis - but gotta confess that even I'm losing interest in him now, as he seems to have gone all defensive. He was actually moonballing at the AO vs Tsonga.

say what SG?

:halo:

HMPH!!!!!!

"Oh my goodness what is that over there!!!!"

*As Pebs turns her head SG snatches her whip and :runs:





:P

Richard G. must have some pretty big blisters to have to pull out. :)

well i guess is got progressively harder with each match, but Spain prevails over Germany in 3 straight rubbers.

well done Safin!!! still capable of big match performances, so frustrating :) :rolleyes: