Germany v Korea, Rep.--- Davis Cup : Day 1

Florian Mayer found out the tough way that Lee plays well in the Davis Cup. Germany is in a 1-1 tie with Korea at the moment. Kohlschreiber defeated 6-2 6-2 6-2 Jae-Sung An in a math that was pretty much forward while Mayer lost a 7-5 6-3 1-6 6-7(7) 6-3 thriller against Lee.
Lee is ranked 24 places better than the German, but the Korean played only one match in the last 2 years on clay. That is why this can be considered as a surprise. Even tough the match is tied, it's the Koreans that find themselves in a tough spot : Lee is exhausted. He will decide tomorrow morning if he will play in the doubles. If he doesn't, Germany has a huge chance of winning. And I don't think Jae-Sung An can win his second singles match. Korea's only chance is to get Lee fit, win the doubles and then it's up to Lee to win the third point. Not very likely.

Czech Republic v Belgium --- Davis Cup : Day 1

The Czechs are in front and looking strong, not losing a set in the first 2 matches. Berdych defeated Vliegen 6-3 6-1 6-4, while Stepanek defeated Steve Darcis 6-4 7-6(4) 7-6(5). Both matches had no history, as the Czech will not depend on the doubles match tomorrow, as the singles matches on Sunday will almost 100% get them the third point.

Israel v Sweden --- Davis Cup : Day 1

Israel and Sweden are 1-1 after the first day. Nobody expected Dudi Sela to defeat Jonas Bjorkman, but it appears that the 36 year old swede is starting to show his age. T. Jochansson was able to win in straight sets and get the Swedish point they needed.
I think that Jochansson will get the second point, but Bjorkman needs to get the thirs, because Ram and Elrich are looking very strong in the doubles match. This will be a close one.

Russia v Serbia --- Davis Cup : Day 1

In Moscow, Russia is up 2-0. But that is mainly because the Russians did not play the "fire match" that we expected. The Australian Open winner, Djokovic did not play today due to a flu-like syndrome, and Tipsarevic had a stomach problem.
That's why today we saw Youzhny playing against Nenad Zimonjic, a match that was won 3-1 by the Russian after losing the first set. Youzhny was not able to concentrate and made a lot of unforced errors during the first set, but then he regained his focus.
On the other side, when Davydenko was set to play against Victor Troicki everybody was sure of a 3-0 win by the Russian. The outcome was a bit more that we expected, but Russia lead 2-0 : 6-1 1-6 6-3 1-6 6-2. It could of been a great tie if Djokovic and Tipsarevic played, but now it's a matter if Russia gets a 5-0 win or not.

Romania - France --- Davis Cup : Day 1

Starting with the Romania - France tie, played in Romania, France is up 2-0 after a neat day of tennis. Richard Gasquet defeated Hanescu straight sets, as the Romanian was more concerned to gather games than win the whole match. Hanescu vas able to push the first set into a tie-break, but there it was obvious that Gasquet is just better (mentally, physically, tactically and also as a matter of skill).
So 1-0 for France, and then the 34 year old Romanian player, Andrei Pavel and the "Davis Cup Rookie" : Jo-Wifred Tsonga gave the audience a good tennis to watch. The match started with both players serving strong, and leading the game on their serve, until they reached the tie-break, where Pavel was pushed a lot by the crowd. 7-6 for Pavel the first set. But then, even tough the quality tennis continued, Tsonga startd hitting harder and harder, and it was enough for Pavel to lose a game on his serve in each of the next 3 sets to lose the match. Pavel played great, but Tsonga was better. 2-0 for France

Romania v France --- Davis Cup : Round 1

Now this is bad luck for the Romanian team. They faced France last year in the same round, and they lost 1-4. Andrei Pavel is a great player when he plays in the Davis Cup, and even better when he plays in front of his home crowd. But he is not as young as he used to be.

France has a great team. They have 7 or 8 players in the top 100 and Romania will rely on places 77 and 78 : Andrei Pavel and Victor Hanescu. The Romanian double is a young team (Mergea and Tecau). They have a great future ahead in the doubles competition, they won in 2007 the double match, bringing the only point for Romania, but even if they repeat their great performance, Romania has almost no chance of winning this one, even tough they play in front of their home crowd.

Peru v Spain --- Davis Cup : Round 1

Robredo, Verdasco, Lopez and Almagro on clay, even tough not in front of their home crowd. This spells danger for me in so many ways. The all are good if not great clay players. I don't know why did the team of Peru choose to play on a surface where their opponents are very good.

Peru has Luis Horna that will struggle to get them a point, but even if by a miracle he does get them 2 points, the double match will be won by Spain.

Spain can't lose this match.

Germany v Korea, Rep.--- Davis Cup : Round 1

Germany has a good Davis Cup team, not great, but just enough to ensure them a place at least in the Quarter Finals each year, provided the fact that they don't reach a SUPERPOWER (like they did in 2006 when they met France).
They rely on Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer and Michael Berrer in a match against the team of the Republic of Korea. I think Philipp Kohlschreiber will bring them 2 points and Mayer can get one. They both are top players, and they also play in front of the home crowd.

Rep. Of Korea does not have a great Davis Cup team and never had. They lost their first 16 ties before winning their first match against Kazakhstan. Hyung-Taik Lee can bring them 1 point, maybe even 2 if he is at the top of his game. We must take in account the fact that the match is played on clay, where Lee is not brilliant.

I will put my bet on Germany, but i think this one will be a good one to watch.

Israel v Sweden --- Davis Cup : First Round

This is a tough match to predict and to analyze, because both teams are mediocre Davis Cup Teams, and none of the teams have any sure points.

The match will be played in Israel, where the home crowd will cheering for one of the best double teams in the world : Elrich/Ram. Sela and Levy are not great players, not great at all if one's opinion is allowed.

The Swedish team rely on veteran Jonas Bjorkman (a good doubles player), Thomas Johansson, Aspelin and Prpic.

Overall, i think Sweden has the better team, but not by much.

Argentina v Great Britain --- Davis Cup : Round 1

The 2006 finalist, Argentina faces an easy match in the first round of the 2008 Davis Cup. And the fact that makes this match VERY easy for the Argentinians is that the match will be played on clay, a surface where Nalbandian, Calleri and Acasuso play very well. Even tough Nalbandian lost in the third round at the Australian Open, Calleri in the second and Acasuso in the first, they played on hard, where at least the former 2 are not that great. On clay, we have a different situation.

Great Britain has only one top player available, and that is Andy Murray, a player that is 6-12 overall on clay, so i guess this will be an easy one for Argentina, especially in front of the home crowd in Buenos Aires

Czech Republic v Belgium --- Davis Cup : First Round

The Czech have a strong team for this round, especially because they are playing on carpet, a surface that is not at all common for this time of year. But the Czech like playing on this, especially Berdych and Stepanek.

On the other side, the members of the Belgian team don't like playing indoors, and when they do, they play at Challenger tournaments.

I think this one will be won 4-1 by the Czech

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.

Davis Cup : Round 1

This week the first round of the Davis Cup will be under way. These are the fixtures

Russia v Serbia in Russia
Czech Republic v Belgium in the Czech Republic
Argentina v Great Britain in Argentina
Israel v Sweden in Israel
Germany v Korea, Rep. in Germany
Peru v Spain in Peru
Romania v France in Romania
Austria v USA in Austria

Djokovic and Tsonga... the new generation ?

After the much-debated Australian Open, where Djokovic defeated Wilfred Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2), the first question to arise is if Djokovic is ready to be number 1 and if he has finally managed to put his emotions aside when under pressure.
I cannot say for sure that Djokovic is better than Federer or Nadal overall, but sometimes "Nole" can play some pretty hard tennis. He has all the qualities that make a champion, but the thing is that he has shown that he can fold under pressure. If he will manage to be a better mental player, i think it won't be long before he will reach the most desired ranking in the ATP.
The second question is if Tsonga will return to his level of play (like Baghdatis did in 2006) or if he is truly a great player. I will not bet my money on Tsonga just yet. He is a great athlete but "one Grand Slam wonders" are not that unique. I can think of at least 5 or 6 players that went a long way down after reaching a Grand Slam final. Also, i don't think Tsonga is an "all-round" player. But maybe time will prove me wrong.