I love everything about Davis Cup.
I obviously love tennis. That's what I'm writing this blog.
I'm also a sucker for international competition. Every four years, I drop everything and dive deep into the Olympics. The World Cup is what made me a casual soccer fan. I can't stand golf, particularly watching golf on television, but when it's time for the Ryder Cup, I'll watch a round or two.
The tennis community is somewhat lukewarm on the Davis Cup in general, but I'm hopeful that if you're one of the ones that's on the fence about how you feel about the event, I can get you off the fence with my five thoughts ahead of the weekend.
- This weekend will give us a look into the future of the United States Davis Cup team. Over the last five or six years, there hasn't been a ton of stability within the program. Roddick won some big matches for the US over the years, but later in his career, injuries and his choice to bypass the event took him out of the lineup at times. Mardy Fish's late-career resurgence put him back in the thick of things, but he has had trouble staying in the lineup. Sam Querrey's rise up the rankings put him in the mix, but then injuries took him right back out for over a year. Ryan Harrison has made cameos over the last couple of years, but his game hasn't come along as quickly as anyone would like.
But with Roddick's retirement, Fish's heart condition that may very well end his career and solid seasons from John Isner and Querrey, I think we know, barring something unforeseen, what the US lineup is going to look like for, hopefully, the next three years. Isner and Querrey should have five or six more years of quality play left and the Bryan brothers have said that they aren't planning on retiring until after the 2016 Olympics. It's not Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Todd Martin, but it's not bad.
- Don't look now, but Canada finds themselves in a must-win match. When the team nominations were announced, I thought the Canadians had a more than realistic chance of beating a Spain team that was going to be without Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer. Now that Nicolas Almagro is going to be out with injury, Canada is the odds-on favorite.
It's probably not fair, as a matter of fact I know it's not fair, but there will be a ton of criticism heaped on young star Milos Raonic if the Canadians don't come through. He has a reputation for wilting against the top players on tour on the big stages and losing this weekend certainly won't help change that perception.
- If you're a fan of soap operas, Argentina is the Davis Cup team for you. It seems that it's always something with them.
The most notable issue for the Argentine team, as it has been for several years now, is the power struggle at the top. David Nalbandian takes a special pride in Davis Cup. He's something of an honorary team captain in this way. He has certainly been a warrior over the years for Argentina. No one can dispute that. During this time, he has almost always been the best player on the team as well, though.
Now that's no longer the case. Juan Martin del Potro is far and away the best player on the squad and in the eyes of some, that makes him more equipped to be the leader of the team. Needless to say Nalbandian doesn't agree.
Those issues shouldn't rear their ugly head this weekend as del Potro isn't playing, but injuries and form will be an issue. Nalbandian seems to be chronically injured at this point in his career. Juan Monaco, the second-best Argentine player in the world (don't tell Nalbandian), seems to be healthy enough, but he got blown off the court in the first round of the Australian Open.They are at home and have the choice of surface, two factors that might be their saving grace against what should be a game German squad.
- Quietly, Switzerland and the Czech Republic has turned into a really interesting match. The Czechs are the defending champions, but they aren't at full strength. Radek Stepanek, who came up huge in the final last year, is out with injury.
Tomas Berdych is still there and Lukas Rosol is a solid player, but the two players behind them are ranked 192 and 272 in the world. Berdych and Rosol are going to be asked to do a lot.
On the other side of the net, Switzerland will be without Roger Federer, but with the way Stanislas Wawrinka played against Novak Djokovic in their match at the Australian Open, that might be okay. The Berdych/Wawrinka match has chance to be special.
- For Davis Cup junkies like me, it doesn't get much better than Austria vs. Kazakhstan. These two nations won't come to mind when you are thinking of tennis powers and yet, one of these teams is going to advance to the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup. I think that's pretty neat.
I think it will also be a really competitive tie. Only one player from these two teams really stands out and that's Jurgen Melzer. Melzer, at one time a top-15 player on tour, is a perfect Davis Cup player. He is a very solid singles player that will be expected to control his singles matches this weekend and he's also an accomplished doubles player, even though he isn't often asked to play doubles.
Don't count out Kazakhstan, though. This team has some fight. Just making it to the world group a couple of years ago was a huge accomplishment and staying there has been even bigger. Mikhail Kukushkin, their top player, finds himself ranked 155 right now, but he has been as high as 49 in the world and he made it to the Australian Open round of 16 in 2012. Although it probably doesn't bode well that he lost to Jurgen Melzer in straight sets in the first round of the 2013 Australian Open.
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