Spain, Germany Among Davis Cup Teams in Trouble
Posted on February 11, 2006
 After Day 1 of the first round of the 2006 Davis Cup World Group, former powerhouses Spain, Germany, and Sweden are one loss away from contending the World Group Qualifying round later this year. Here are the results from Friday, with doubles play up today:
Argentina leads Sweden 2-0
David Nalbandian recovered from dropping the first set against Swede Robin Soderling to give Argentina the lead with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 victory Friday on the red dirt, and D-Cup rookie Jose Acasuso made a successful debut with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 drubbing of Thomas Johansson to put the Argentines within a win of clinching the tie.
"I couldn't convert my games and I was completely stunned by Acasuso's game today," Johansson said. "There was nothing I could do. I believed that in the third set I could take the lead after breaking his serve however he never budged at that point and continued to play outstandingly well."
Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri are scheduled for the Saturday doubles, and will try to put a claycourt cap on it against Swedes Simon Aspelin and Jonas Bjorkman.
Croatia leads Austria 2-0
The confidence Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic gained last year when he held his nerve to win the fifth and final rubber in the Davis Cup final showed through on Friday in Austria when the Croat, down 0-2 sets in front of a hostile crowd, turned the tables on Jurgen Melzer to put his squad up 1-0 with a five-set 6-7(2), 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win. Top 10er Ivan Ljubicic followed with an easy 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Stefan Koubek to put the Croats in the driver's seat.
It was the first win as Croatian team captain for Ljubicic, who took over after Niki Pilic resigned and Goran Ivanisevic, who lobbied hard for the post, suddenly refused to take it.
"Austrians may not know, but this is the ideal claycourt for me," Ljubicic said. "Slow, indoor court, the ball bounces high above the waist, like in Hamburg, and I played semis in Hamburg. If you serve well, claycourt is no problem. For me, everything was perfect."
The Ancic/Ljubicic pairing will attempt to wrap up the tie Saturday in the doubles against Austrian doubles specialists Julian Knowle and Alexander "I'll Make You" Peya.
Belarus leads Spain 2-0
The Spanish "B"-squad, sans top players Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero or Carlos Moya, were taken out back to the woodshed Friday on the slick indoor courts in Belarus where Max "The Beast" Mirnyi defeated Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3, and Challenger-level player Vladimir "The Vladiator" Voltchkov steamrolled Top 10er Dave Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Belarus has never lost a home tie in World Group play. The Beast/Vladiator tandem will attempt to seal the deal Saturday in the doubles against Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez and Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco.
Australia tied with Switzerland 1-1
Aussie Peter Luczak makes good on his claycourt-skills smack coming into the tie, rebounding from a slow start to eventually overwhelm Swiss No. 2 Michael Lammer 1-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 in Friday's opener. In the second singles, driven by an amped Swiss crowd, Stan Wawrinka evened the tie with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Aussie "B"-squader Chris "Penthouse" Guiccione.
The Saturday doubles will determine who takes the momentum into Sunday play, with Swiss doubles specialist Yves Allegro and George Bastl facing Aussies Wayne "The Serving Machine" Arthurs and Paul Hanley.
Russia leads Netherlands 2-0
Dmitry Tursunov, making his first appearance in a live singles rubber for Russia, delivered from a set down in the opener Friday with a 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win over Raemon Sluiter, with Top 10er Nikolay Davydenko putting the Russians within one point of advancing with a 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-4 win over Melle Van Gemerden. Dutchman Peter Wessels withdrew from the singles for the Dutch with a chest-muscle injury on Thursday.
"He [Van Gemerden] started so fast, with so much power," Davydenko said of his tight conflict. "It was like Federer with his forehand, it was unbelievable, it was manic. I have never seen someone play like that before."
The Russians will look to clinch Saturday with Davydenko and Igor Andreev facing Sluiter and Dutch doubles specialist John Van Lottum.
France leads Germany 2-0
Sebastien Grosjean took it personally when he lost in five sets to Nicolas Kiefer at the Australian Open after the German's racquet-tossing escapades, and revenge was sweet on Friday when the Frenchman straight-setted Kiefer in the opening match 7-5, 7-6(7), 6-0 on the German's home court.
"Unfortunately, I didn't take my chances in the first two sets," Kiefer said. "In the first set I was maybe a little too passive and in the second I played more aggressively and took more risks."
And in the third set Kiefer was bageled.
In the second match Richard Gasquet stunned Tommy Haas and the whole of the German crowd by coming back after a rough first set to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-3.
"Such was the indignation midway through the Haas-Gasquet match that the tie's referee Mike Morrissey called on Germany's captain Patrik Kuhnen to take the umpire's microphone and ask the angry spectators to keep their cool if Germany was not to be penalized under the Davis Cup 'partisan crowd' rule," wrote Davis Cup staff. "By saying 'I've been asked by the referee to warn you to keep quiet during rallies,' K?indirectly signalled his anger to the 10,000 spectators, and not surprisingly Morrissey and the umpire Adel Aref were jeered as they left the arena after Gasquet's three-hour 36-minute win."
Germany's long road back to avoiding the World Group Qualifying round for the second straight year begins Saturday with Haas and Alexander Waske scheduled against Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra before the reverse singles on Sunday.
Romania tied with USA 1-1
An intensely-dramatic opener saw Andy Roddick start puking after losing a tense third-set tiebreak that would have sewn up the match, and then Andrei Pavel hung around long enough where the ill Roddick gave up the match in five sets. In the late-goings Roddick seemed to get a second wind, coming back from 1-5 in the fifth set, but Pavel managed to close it out 6-4.
Roddick said he would definitely be available to play Sunday in the reverse singles, and wasn't sure what made him ill Friday, with nerves the likely cause.
"That was the worst I've felt after a match," Roddick said. "I've cramped before, but I still felt like I had energy. This time, I felt drained."
Pavel had his own problems in finishing off the American.
"I was really nervous," said Pavel, who displayed a painful inability to close out the match after saving a match point with a brilliant topspin lob. "If I didn't hold serve (at 5-4 in the fifth), I don't know what would have happened."
Pavel's 6-7(2), 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2, 6-4 win gave teammate Victor Hanescu a cushion in the second match, but the towering Romanian failed to make a dent against James Blake, losing 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-2 to level the tie at 1-1.
"We all pick each other up," said Roddick, who was hooked up to an I.V. drip after the match. "I've picked up James before and today he picked me up. That's why it's called a team...It's the worst I've felt after a match. I just went and laid down. Moving my leg or trying to get up off the floor felt like a mission. I've cramped before. But even while I'm cramping, I've still felt like I had energy. Today, I just felt drained."
Scheduled for the Saturday doubles are the American Bryan brothers vs. Hanescu/Pavel.
Chile leads Slovak Republic 2-0
Fernando Gonzalez defended the home turf in a tighter-than-expected match with a 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Michael Mertinak in the opener Friday on the dirt in Chile, then Nicolas Massu came back against Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4) to put the Chileans in a commanding 2-0 position.
On Saturday the Chile will look to make it a quick-and-painless 3-0 win with Gonzalez/Massu scheduled to face The Dominator/Mertinak.
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