Davis Cup News

Written by: Staff on 31st January 2014

Davis Cup News

epa04026304 Sam Querrey of the USA returns to Fabio Fognini of Italy during their third round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2014. EPA/MADE NAGI |

* Defending champion Czechs may have more work on their hands than they thought

* Belgium, Australia, Spain, Serbia down 0-2 in Davis Cup

* Americans down 0-2 after Querrey collapse

Davis Cup

Given the disastrous fortune they suffered leading up to this tie, Canada is probably in about as good a position as it could hope for against Japan — they’re tied 1-1. Kei Nishikori opened the contest by routinely beating Peter Polansky 6-4 6-4 6-4. But Frank Dancevic, whose best tennis these days seems to come in Davis Cup, answered by topping slumping Go Soeda 6-4 7-6 6-1. Although the Japanese are the favorites in both reverse singles matches, the Canadians are the favorites to win the doubles, so there is at least some hope left for the visitors. Had Canada lost both these matches, it would for practical purposes have been over, at least barring the faint possibility of Vasek Pospisil recovering enough to play the reverse singles. And that doesn’t seem likely; the latest word is that he probably can’t even play the doubles (which probably means Polansky will play with Daniel Nestor).

Kazakhstan probably doesn’t deserve seeding in this field, but having been lucky enough to draw Belgium, they are one win away from returning to the quarterfinal. Mikhail Kukushkin opened the tie by beating Ruben Bemelmans 6-4 6-7 6-2 6-3. Then came the real drama as Andrei Golubev edged David Goffin 7-6 3-6 4-6 6-2 12-10. That tie can’t really be considered over, since any of these guys can have a really good, or really bad, day, but obviously the Kazakhs are in very good shape.

By contrast, Australia is probably out of it. It was of course no surprise that Richard Gasquet beat Nick Kyrgios 7-6 6-2 6-2; after all, they were playing on clay. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga doesn’t like clay much. He still beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 6-2 7-6. That was the best chance the Australians had. This looks likely to be over in four.

Spain, it appears, needed Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer more than it realized. Because they’re also down 0-2. Pretty dramatically. Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber opened the tie with a routine 6-2 6-4 6-2 win over Davis Cup rookie Roberto Bautista Agut, who would never had played had not so many players above him bailed out — but then Florian Mayer and Feliciano Lopez played a classic, with Mayer winning 7-6 7-6 1-6 5-7 6-3. The Spanish still look like the favorites in the doubles — assuming Marrero/Verdasco are healthy, anyway — but who are they going to play in the reverse singles?

The Czech Republic may have more trouble than expected against the Netherlands. Admittedly they’re 1-1, but in a rather troubling way. Robin Haase opened the tie by beating Radek Stepanek 3-6 6-4 6-7 6-2 6-1. Tomas Berdych evened things up by trouncing Igor Sijsling 6-3 6-3 6-0 — but that leaves the question of the doubles. Ordinarily the Czechs would play Berdych/Stepanek; they always say they will play some other team, but they never do. Now — Stepanek has already played five sets, and appeared to run out of gas, and the Czechs want him to play doubles and reverse singles? He did draw the fifth match of the tie, but still…. Do they play Stepanek in the doubles? Do they substitute? Things are clearly more interesting for them than they would have liked.

The Swiss probably should be glad Roger Federer joined their team, because Stanislas Wawrinka may be a little low on energy. Or maybe his his wrist is hurting; he said there was a little pain, but it looked like more than that. He may not have what it takes to play all three days. Dusan Lajovic actually took a set off of him; the score was 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6. But it isn’t likely to matter, because Federer had already put Serbia down 0-1 by beating Iilja Bozoljac 6-4 7-5 6-2. An odd arrangement of matches, that, since Lajovic and Wawrinka are the top players for their teams; it should have been Federer against Lajovic. But anyway…. The Swiss are up 2-0, and Wawrinka probably won’t have to play on all three days, because he and Federer can clinch it in the doubles.

Andreas Seppi really is in a bad slump. The good news is, Italy may not need him. After Seppi lost 4-6 6-0 6-2 6-1, Fabio Fognini picked up the Italians by beating Juan Monaco 7-5 6-2 6-2. Now we wait to see who plays doubles for Italy….

The first match between the Americans and the British went just as expected: Andy Murray beat Donald Young 6-1 6-2 6-3. The second match, between Sam Querrey and James Ward, wasn’t as straightforward. Sam Querrey wasn’t at his best, but he wasn’t broken through three sets, and led two sets to one and 4-2. And then — thud. Eight games in a row for Ward before Querrey broke for 1-4 in the fifth. It was a brief respite. Ward won the last two games, making the score 1-6 7-6 3-6 6-4 6-1, and the Americans were down 0-2. The Americans should still win the doubles — but now Querrey will have to beat Murray for the Americans to survive. And what are the odds of that after

******** SCORES ********

DAVIS CUP

Czech Republic hosts Netherlands (Indoor Hard)

Friday: Tied 1-1

R Haase def. R Stepanek 3-6 6-4 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-1

T Berdych def. I Sijsling 6-3 6-3 6-0

Japan hosts Canada (Indoor Hard)

Friday: Tied 1-1

K Nishikori def. P Polansky 6-4 6-4 6-4

F Dancevic def. G Soeda 6-4 7-6(7-2) 6-1

Germany hosts Spain (Rebound Ace)

Friday: Germany leads 2-0