Ginepri Leads Off for U.S., Nadal for Spain in Davis Cup Today

Posted on February 7, 2004

Youth serves today in Davis Cup action, with Andy Roddick and Cup rookie Robby Ginepri leading off for the U.S., and 17-year-old Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal debuting for Spain in the absence of injured superstars Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya. Spain is not the only country being tested in the opening round of World Group play, with the defending champion Aussies facing an upstart Swedish squad led by a now-healthy Thomas Enqvist, and Russia in a tester with the Beast-led Belarussians, featuring Max "The Beast" Mirnyi.

The losers this weekend will be looking at the World Group qualifying round later in the year and possible banishment to the Davis Cup zonal nether regions (see: Germany, Great Britain, Brazil this year), while the winners will secure a spot in the 2005 World Group and move on to the quarterfinals. Here is a look at the announced starting squads for the eight first-round match-ups in the World Group, with singles play beginning today:

Sweden at Australia
Friday
Mark "Scud" Philippoussis (AUS) vs. Thomas Enqvist (SWE)
Almost a must-win for Sweden with the rookie Soderling following against former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. Enqvist trails Flipper 2-3 in the head-to-heads, dropping the last two meetings.
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Robin Soderling (SWE)
The Swedish rookie will have to play way over his head to win this first-time meeting.

Saturday
Wayne Arthurs/Todd Woodbridge (AUS) vs. Jonas Bjorkman/Joachim Johansson (SWE)
The intrigue lies with Woodbridge and Bjorkman, regular partners on tour, now playing each other, and Joachim "Lleyton's sister's boyfriend" Johansson competing against the Aussies. Another must-win match for the Swedes.

Sunday
Philippoussis (AUS) vs. Soderling (SWE)
Flip beat the Swede in their only meeting last year on hardcourt at Shanghai.
Hewitt (AUS) vs. Enqvist (SWE)
A barn-burner if it goes this far.

Austria at USA
Friday
Robby Ginepri (USA) vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (AUT)
A nerve-tester for the American in his D-Cup debut. Ginepri beat the Tuna in three sets in their only meeting last year on grass at Newport.
Andy Roddick (USA) vs. Stefan "Tony" Koubek (AUT)
Should be no problem for A-Rod, with the Austrian struggling of late. Roddick leads the series 3-0, never allowing more than three games to the Austrian in a set.

Saturday
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) vs. Julian Knowle/Alexander Peya (AUT)
Austrian low-wattage doubles specialists in a huge uphill battle against 2003 year-end No. 1s.

Sunday
Roddick (USA) vs. Melzer (AUT)
Should be a dead rubber by this point -- Roddick and Tuna have never faced each other on tour.
Ginepri (USA) vs. Koubek (AUT)
Another first-time meeting.

Russia at Belarus
Friday
Vladimir Voltchkov (BLR) vs. Igor Andreev (RUS)
What the hell are the Russians doing, debuting the 20-year-old Cup rookie Andreev over veterans Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko? This one could backfire big-time on captain Shamil Tarpischev. "Andreev looked good in practice, he is young, ambitious and in the end I felt like he would have the best chance against either Mirnyi or Voltchkov," Tarpishchev said.
Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (BLR) vs. Marat Safin
Word was Marat might bail with exhaustion after his Aussie Open run, but he posts for this mouth-watering big-hitting battle with The Beast.

Saturday
Mirnyi/Voltchkov (BLR) vs. Safin/Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
Youzhny thrown into the mix after he was expected in singles, this one could go either way, with the nod to The Beast's doubles experience and Safin's general lack of skills in doubles.

Sunday
Mirnyi (BLR) vs. Andreev (RUS)
This would be a bad loss for The Beast if BLR is still in it at this point.
Voltchkov (BLR) vs. Safin (RUS)
This would be a walk for Safin if it comes down to the fifth match.

Argentina at Morocco
Friday
Mounir El Aarej (MAR) vs. Guillermo "The Wizard" Coria (ARG)
Younes El Aynaoui is out with injury for the Moroccans, and Coria is back from injury to make his debut for Argentina, a deal-breaker for the Moroccan team. The No. 428-ranked El Aarej will get housed in this his singles debut for Morocco. Why not throw in team captain Karim Alami, or is he too fat?
Hicham Arazi (MAR) vs. David Nalbandian (ARG)
Can Arazi continue his strong play from the Aussie Open, where he knocked out Philippoussis?

Saturday
Arazi/El Aarej (MAR) vs. Lucas Arnold/Agustin Calleri (ARG)
Another bad look for the Moroccans, as El Aarej lost in both of his doubles appearances last year, one each with El Ayanaoui and Arazi. Should have went with Arazi/Alami.

Sunday
Arazi (MAR) vs. Coria (ARG)
If Arazi beat Nalbandian earlier, he can be a hero again.
El Aarej (MAR) vs. Nalbandian (ARG)
Ouch.

Switzerland at Romania
Friday
Andrei Pavel (ROM) vs. Michel Kratochvil (SUI)
Pavel beat the Swiss easily in their only other meeting at Roland Garros in 2002. Should be 1-0 to the home team.
Victor Hanescu (ROM) vs. Roger Federer (SUI)
Fed should lay the law down in this first-time meeting -- book a 1-1 tie after day one.

Saturday
Pavel/Gabriel Trifu (ROM) vs. Yves Allegro/Federer (SUI)
Bring in the "doubles experts," Trifu and Allegro who don't do jack on the regular tour. This match demonstrates the lack of depth on both teams, with this match up in the air.

Sunday
Pavel (ROM) vs. Federer (SUI)
This is man-or-mouse time for Pavel, who could be in a position to clinch the tie or extend it to the fifth match.
Hanescu (ROM) vs. Kratochvil (SUI)
This would be the ugliest deciding match in D-Cup history.

Croatia at France
Friday
Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (CRO)
Baby Goran, who trails Clement 0-1 in their career meetings, get the nod over the gentle giant "Dr." Ivo Karlovic.
Thierry Ascione (FRA) vs. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
With Sebastien Grosjean out with a pulled groin, Ascione gets to make his debut? What about Escude, or Llodra, or Richard Gasquet, or Fabrice Santoro? Oh, that's right, captain Guy Forget kicked the Aussie Open doubles winner off the squad. Our bad. Ascione, that's a real shaky call there Guy.

Saturday
Nicolas Escude/Michael Llodra (FRA) vs. Ancic/Ljubicic (CRO)
The Croats will bring the heat on the serve, but the French are the more experienced pair.

Sunday
Clement (FRA) vs. Ljubicic (CRO)
This will likely be a must-win for Croatia to extend it to the fifth and deciding match.
Ascione (FRA) vs. Ancic (CRO)
If it comes down to this and Ascione gets rolled, Forget should leave his resignation on the desk.

Canada at the Netherlands
Friday
Sjeng Schalken (NED) vs. Frank Dancevic (CAN)
Dancevic can't dance on clay.
Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk (NED) vs. Simon Larose (CAN)
The Berzerker should pull on his French Open runner-up experience to straight-set the challenger-level Canadian.

Saturday
Paul Haarhuis/Verkerk (NED) vs. Daniel Nestor/Frederic Niemeyer (CAN)
The Dutch dig Haarhuis out of retirement for the clinching point against the battle-tough Nestor and the shaky Niemeyer. Needless to say, Niemeyer will be hitting A LOT of balls.

Sunday
Verkerk (NED) vs. Dancevic (CAN)
Dead rubber. Dutch will probably insert "Everyone Loves" Raemon Sluiter.
Schalken (NED) vs. Larose (CAN)
Dead rubber. Dutch will probably insert a fan from the crowd.

Spain at Czech Republic
Friday
Jiri Novak (CZE) vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal (ESP)
A bold choice by the Spaniards, throwing out the 17-year-old Nadal for his debut, but it makes sense if you consider that The Prodigy housed Novak a few weeks ago in Auckland.
Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs. Tommy Robredo (ESP)
Tommy the R. won their only previous meeting last year on clay, but this could go either way.

Saturday
Novak/Stepanek (CZE) vs. Nadal/Robredo (ESP)
A real tight affair, with the experienced Czechs against the new-sensation Spanish teaming, giving Alex Corretja the boot in doubles.

Sunday
Novak (CZE) vs. Robredo (ESP)
Should be a walk for Novak, who has dominated the Spaniard 3-0 in their previous meetings without dropping a set.
Stepanek (CZE) vs. Nadal (ESP)
If it gets this far, it will be an intriguing first-time meeting in front of the screaming Czech crowd.

EARLY FRIDAY RESULTS

Australia vs. Sweden tied 1-1
Enqvist (SWE) d. Philippoussis (AUS) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Get ready for a media manure-rain to come down on Flipper, who has now lost six straight sets in his last two matches. Flip thrashed by Enqvist's return game.
Hewitt (AUS) d. Soderling (SWE) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
The ever-steady Aussie ties the all-time Australian singles win record for Davis Cup matches, and schools the rookie Swede in the process.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW

Venus Williams hit another snag in her comeback from injury Friday when she was forced to pull out of her quarterfinal match in Tokyo against fellow American Chanda Rubin with a muscle strain on her lower right leg. "Basically, I originally had the issue in Australia," Williams said. "Today, it was very difficult for me in practice to move or play in any way, shape or form that was normal for me. It's the lower right leg, below the knee and basically, it's hard to move...I was getting various treatments from the tournament doctor but things just didn't click for me."

Joining Rubin in the semis were (2)Lindsay Davenport (d. (8)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova 6-2, 6-2), (7)Jelena Dokic (d. Tatiana "The Pocket Baseliner" 6-1, 6-1), and unseeded Maggie Maleeva (d. (4)Sugiyama 6-1, 6-1). Nice blow-outs.

Saturday's semifinals in Tokyo line up as (2)Davenport vs. (7)Dokic, and (5)Rubin vs. Maleeva. The doubles semis are Navratilova/Raymond vs. Black/Stubbs, and Likhovtseva/Maleeva vs. Davenport/Morariu.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Gavin Hopper, the 47-year-old former coach of Mark Philippoussis and Monica Seles is in court, alleged to have committed "three offences of indecent assault and two acts of gross indecency" with a complainant aged 14-15 between July 1985 and April 1986...Former U.S. Davis Cup coach Tom Gorman is now the director of client services for the YES Network, whatever the hell that is. Gorman has the most Cup victories of any U.S. captain with 18...Goran Ivanisevic has been awarded wildcards to play in Milan and Rotterdam later this month...Lindsay Davenport now has a 10-match winning streak in Tokyo.