Czechs Look to Cash In on Spanish Injuries in Davis Cup
Posted on February 6, 2004
Tennis-X will preview two matches per day of the eight first round match-ups leading to the first-round World Group matches for the 2004 Davis Cup, finishing with the first ball hit on Friday. Today's features are Spain at the Czech Republic, and Canada at the Netherlands:
SPAIN vs. CZECH REPUBLICSite: Brno Exhibition Center, Hall B, Brno, CZE
Surface: Carpet indoors (Taraflex)
Ball Type: Wilson US Open Extra Duty
Spain's depth will be sorely tested this weekend with their top two players sitting out with injury in Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya. Getting the likely start in singles will be former French Open winner Al Costa, and Davis Cup rookie Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, who may also team with Tommy Robredo in the doubles.
On the Czech side, Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek will carry the singles duties, with a possible appearance from Czech teen Tomas Berdych. The doubles is up in the air, with the Czechs going with Novak-Berdych and captain Cyril Suk and Martin Damm on separate occasions last year.
Novak trails Costa 1-4 in their career head-to-head, while Stepanek is 0-1 vs. Costa. Novak was a perfect 4-0 in singles last year against Russia and Thailand.
"Everything depends on whether Jiri is fit and focused," opined former No. 2-ranked Czech Petr Korda. "He is the one holding the torch in a big way right now."
This could be the biggest test all year for Spain, which is in the weaker lower half of the 2004 draw, and would face the middling Dutch team in the second round with stars Ferrero and Moya back in the fold if they can muddle through.
SPAIN 2003 DAVIS CUP RESULTS
d. Belgium 5-0, World Group 1st rd.
d. Croatia 5-0, World Group QF
d. Argentina 3-2, World Group SF
l. to Australia 3-1, World Group F
CZECH REPUBLIC 2003 DAVIS CUP RESULTS
l. to Russia 3-2, World Group 1st rd.
d. Thailand 4-1, World Group qualifying
CANADA vs. NETHERLANDS
Site: MECC Maastricht, NED
Surface: Red clay indoors
Ball Type: Dunlop Max TP
Ever seen a Canadian play on clay? It's not pretty.
The Canucks have never won a World Group match in over 100 years of Cup play, and won't be breaking any new group against the Dutch on red clay. The Canadian team upset Brazil in last year's World Group qualifying round with a scrappy team of youngsters featuring up-and-comer Frank Dancevic. Doubles specialist Daniel Nestor is the only player with previous World Group experience, when Canada briefly reached the elite status when he was just coming up on tour in the early '90s.
"I took it for granted before -- I thought we'd always be (in the World Group). Little did I know we'd spend the next 12 years in South America," Nestor chuckled. "I'm really appreciative now -- it?s huge. It means more exposure for Canada and for tennis, it?s exciting. Obviously we?re the underdogs. On paper, we?re playing a team that's much better than we are. But all four of our guys have shown that they can rise to the occasion and I wouldn't be surprised if we can pull off a few singles wins."
You have to love that Canadian enthusiasm. On paper, you're going to get your asses handed to you. On paper, you should be playing in Euro/African Zone 12 instead of the World Group. The singles choices for Canada look to be Dancevic and Simon Larose.
The Dutch team of Martin Verkerk, Sjeng Schalken, Raemon Sluiter and Paul Haarhuis is also more comfortable on hardcourts, but chose the red dirt with the knowledge that putting a Canadian on clay is tantamount to someone attempting to play tennis on a hockey rink. Verkerk is also coming off his runner-up effort last year at the French Open, and will be forced to bring those skills to bare since he has failed to string more than two wins in a row together since that dramatic run.
Canada has beaten the Netherlanders in both their previous meetings, in 1969 in zonal play on clay, and in 1990 in World Group qualifying on hardcourt, but chalk this one up for the Dutchmen.
NETHERLANDS 2003 DAVIS CUP RESULTS
l. to Switzerland 3-2, World Group 1st rd.
d. India 5-0, World Group qualifying
CANADA 2003 DAVIS CUP RESULTS
d. Peru 5-0, American Group I SF
d. Brazil 3-2, World Group qualifying
WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
All four seeds in action advanced Wednesday in Tokyo in (2)Lindsay Davenport (d. Vento-Kabchi), (5)Chanda Rubin (d. (Q)Grande), (7)Jelena Dokic (d. (WC)Black 6-1 in the third), and (8)Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova, who is finding her legs again with a straight-set win over Russian Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova.
Qualifiers had their day, with three moving into the second round in Belgian Els Callens (d. Krasnoroutskaya), Janette Husarova (d. Tanasugarn), and Japan's Akiko Morigami (d. Asagoe in the all-Japanese match-up). In doubles, the top-seeded Navratoliva-Raymond rolled the Slovak combo of Krizan/Srebotnik 6-1, 6-0.
On Thursday at Tokyo, the seeds were given a tough time but only one fell in (3)Elena Dementieva, losing to Russian countrywoman Tatiana "The Pocket Baseliner" Panova for the third time in their last four meetings. Escaping in three sets were (5)Chanda Rubin (d. (Q)Morigami 6-3 in the third) and (7)Jelena Dokic (d. (Q)Husarova 6-1 in the third), while moving on in straight sets were (1)Venus Williams (d. Obata) and (4)Ai Sugiyama (d. (Q)Callens).
"I felt a lot of support from the crowd even though I was playing Obata," said Venus, who threw down five aces during the match. "I don't always feel appreciated. I don't need to be everyone's hero but I like to be respected...I thought my serve was good today, I was holding serve fairly easily and got a lot of points off my serve." R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to V.
Maggie Maleeva was the only unseeded winner on the day, taking out fellow un-seed Laura Granville. In doubles, wildcards Davenport/Morariu ousted (2)Huber/Sugiyama, while two seeds advanced in (1)Navratilova/Raymond (d. Grande/Lee), and (3)Black/Stubbs (d. Vanto-Kabchi/Widjaja in three).
Today's quarterfinal matches in Tokyo line up as Dokic vs. Panova, Hantuchova vs. Davenport, Sugiyama vs. Maleeva, and Venus vs. Rubin in an all-American encounter.
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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Since 1900, the U.S. Davis Cup team is 27-0 in first-round matches at home...The Bryan brothers are looking forward to some TV time this weekend in the U.S. during coverage of the Davis Cup: "In doubles you usually don't play for big crowds," Mike Bryan said. "You usually never play on TV. So for us, playing doubles in the Davis Cup is as big as it gets."...The Australians are rightly petitioning the ITF for the Davis Cup finalists to receive a bye the next year in the first round, since the way the calendar is set up, only those two teams have to play twice in roughly a 14-week period...The one-handed backhand is back in vogue with Aussie Open winners Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne, but Martina Navratilova says "If I was teaching someone to play these days, I would teach the two-handed backhand and one-handed slice and one-handed volley. The two-hander is just a more secure ball."...Stefan Koubek on the U.S. vs. Austria D-Cup match being held at the Mohegan Sun Casino: "I had no idea. Sounds good, though. At least we can have one week of fun after practice and win some money."...Greg Rusedski's hearing for his positive steroid test is next week, good luck Grinning Greg, just use the Bart Simpson defense: "I didn't do it."...The Tennis Channel is now in 29 states in the U.S...The Aussie press is worried for their Davis Cup squad after singles-opener Mark Philippoussis was crushed in practice by Lleyton Hewitt; maybe ask Pat Cash's advice on the matter?...Still three weeks shy of his 23rd birthday, Lleyton Hewitt is a match short of equaling Adrian Quist's all-time mark of 24 singles wins for the Aussie Davis Cup team.