Davis Cup Preview: Netherlands at Slovaks

Posted on July 12, 2005

The Davis Cup quarterfinals begin this weekend and Tennis-X will preview one tie each day leading to the beginning of play on Friday. Squaring off in the quarterfinals this weekend are the Netherlands at the Slovak Republic, Argentina at Australia, France at Russia, and Romania at Croatia:

Netherlands at Slovak Republic
Site: Sibamac Arena, NTC -- Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Surface: Hard indoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Fort Duck

Got to love the clean play of the Fort Duck, eh? No Top 25 competitors means a shaky tie this weekend in Bratislava, where Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty attempts to lead the Slovak crew of Karol Beck, Karol Kucera, and Michal Mertinak into the semifinals, under the tutelage of captain Miloslav Mecir.

"Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, who is 3-0 career vs. The Dominator, leads the charge for the Netherlands with Peter "Nuclear" Wessels, and potential doubles players Dennis Van Scheppingen and Rogier Wassen.

The Slovaks are still riding high after shocking the defending champ Spaniards in the opening round, and take an advantage of their own in the head-to-head, with Kucera leading Sluiter 2-1, and Wessels 1-0 in career meetings.

The Netherlands received a free pass into the quarterfinals when world No. 1 Roger Federer said 'no thanks' to Switzerland's opening-round match. This is the Dutch's third consecutive away tie, where they will find the Slovak home court advantage to be the deciding factor.