Russia v Serbia --- Davis Cup : Round 1

The Russians have a big tradition in the Davis Cup. They have always been a tough nation in tennis. The team of Russia is the 2006 champions and the 2007 runner-up, where the Europeans were defeated by the USA.
This time, Russia's first 4 will most probably be Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov and Marat Safin. They have an experienced Davis Cup team.

On the other side, the Serbian team is for the first time in the World Group after the upsetting of Team Australia in the play-offs. It was a suprise for most of the tennis world by considering only Australia's tradition in the Davis Cup, but we must consider the fact that Australia did not have any other player but Hewitt, and that was a Hewitt in a bad form of play. They rely on the 2008 Australian Open champion : Novak Djokovic (he is 11-3 in the Davis Cup), Janko Tipsarevic (25-9 record), Victor Troiki and Nenad Zimonjic. They played some matches in the Davis Cup, but never before in the World Group.

I don't think that Djokovic will be able to get them trough a tough team and a tough crowd in Russia.