Davis Cup – only 8 teams left

And I believe we have the 8 best teams in the QFs.

Djokovic made sure that Russia got through. He actually showed up for the 4th rubber but after being 2 sets up and a break in the third, Djokovic started to wear out. Unfortunate for a 20-year old to have problems like this, but it seems that his health was shaky.

Sweden made the only big story. Turned 1-2 from yesterday into 3-2 and a Argentina clash in the quarters. Germany also got through with ease and will have to face a weakened Spain. It doesn’t seem like Nadal will sacrifice his clay season with a tough tie in April against the Germans. But who knows?

The tie of the Cup will be France-USA. Tsonga-Gasquet/Blake-Roddick. From Wikipedia.org it says that the tie will be played in the US. That should be plenty of motivation for the defending champs.

Anyway… we are getting closer to the important February tournaments like Rotterdam and Dubai. However, this week there are three warm-ups. Marseille, Costa do Sauipe, and Delray Beach. Djokovic is top seed in Marseille. I could not be more positive that he will pull out of this one. He obviously needs a lot of resting time.

Davis Cup Saturday

Serbia’s luck had to change at some point. I was sure that we would see a troubled Russia at home against the new GS champ Djokovic and the close-to-killing-Federer Tipsy. Djoko and Tipsy are out and Russia sails to 2-0. What a relief for DC public to see that they took the doubles today. I don’t know exactly what the plan is for the 4th rubber, but Djokovic is nowhere to be found. He should have played Davydenko to get it tied at 2-all. But if Davydenko plays Zimonjic… well 3-1 and bye bye Serbia

The Czechs sailed past Belgium and should be a threat to Russia/Serbia in QF. Stepanek and Berdych are always dangerous.

I haven’t seen any surprises yet. That bothers me! If it can be called a surprise, Sweden is truggling big time in Israel. You would think that Sweden has a better doubles team, but Aspelin/Lindstedt lost in straight sets against some inspired Israelis. I honestly thought Sela was the only major threat in this tie. Sela can tie the knot and take Israel to the QF if he passes the Johansson test tomorrow.

The only other “surprise” is actually the US-Austria tie. Isn’t anyone a tad suprised about the Americans taking it at 3-0? Slow, nasty (as described) clay court. Americans… ching ching!!! safe bet on the opponent!! Roddick did a great job yesterday and took his match in 5 sets. He actually won a 5-setter on clay, against Melzer who is not a joker on clay. Maybe he can smell a 2nd round in RG? If that wasn’t big enough, Blake won his in 4 after being down 1 set and like two breaks in the second! McEnroe must be proud of his little boys, but France waits in the QF and that’s a slightly different situation. Tsonga + Gasquet = help me!!

Davis Cup not on TV

At least not available for most viewers. I don’t understand why the broadcasters have to make the viewers angry all day long. All (or most of ) the ties are televised, but not really available to anyone. A lot of networks have started with online stream where you pay a buck or two and watch live.

First of all, why do Americans have to wait until 6pm to see US-Austria play? It’s a better time of day to attract audience, sure, but DC champs 2007 cannot be sent LIVE as well?! Can’t belive it. Now there are a lot of p2p and other types of streams that aren’t through the approval of the broadcaster, but in many cases you won’t be able to watch unless you live in one of the participating countries. Grand Slam can be seen almost everywhere, DC almost nowhere. WHY?

I really want to watch Russia-Serbia, and I see that several countries are sending this live. Problem is, I don’t live in Phillipines, India, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Serbia, Great Britain, Portugal, Singapore, USA or Russia. Wow, even the US is sending this live, but the def champs… nope.

oh well, we’ll just have to live with the fact that networks can purchase and control this and annoy millions of tennis fans. Even so, I don’t get why not more countries and their respective networks provide internet coverage, regardless of cost for viewer.

Road ahead for….

Now it’s what I like to call the first “summer” break of the season. January was tennis saturated, but left us only with the AO highlight. February is Davis Cup and smaller tournaments no top 10 players have a strong desire to participate in. But from Dubai, Rotterdam and on, 2008 is filled with action. Here is the road (predicted or desired) ahead for..

Roger Federer
People say Federer hit the top in 05 and 06, maybe even last year, but is headed down. I want to wait one more year before concluding anything. Yes, the fact that Federer was NOT in a slam final is actually close to being a historic turningpoint, BUT… it will be even more to write about if he can leave Paris with the RG title. First, he needs to defend Dubai (his second home), which he probably will. Then he needs to defend a stunning total of 80 points for all of March. Remeber, hard court = Federer = title. I think he can take one of the two masters and once again call himself the world’s best. On clay, I don’t know if winning the masters tournaments in Monte-Carlo, Rome or Hamburg will define his level of play in Paris, but beating Nadal will. If he can beat Nadal, AGAIN, in one of these it can get him closer to getting that last and complete the shelf of trophies. Wimbledon will be his again, as I don’t see Nadal in another final. People tend to forget that Nadal was close to eliminated in at least two of the matches in 2007. In New York and the rest of US Open series he is still by far the best player in the past couple of years. I would put money on RG, Wimby and USO for Federer in 2008, not so much on his much talked about competition. BUT still, watch out for the Djoker now that his chest has grown to immeasurable proportions.

Rafael Nadal
Has just completed his best HC slam performance. Might it bean the Dubai title again? No, Djokovic AND Federer will take him. Murray and Tsonga too, and don’t forget Youzhny. In March he will have to defend the IW title and a QF in Miami. If he wants to stick around as number 2, he must at least match that. And along came the clay. I think April-May might be the most exiting one yet. We know that Federer and Djokovic are great on clay, but can they beat Nadal? Based on last year… NO. Nadal will still rule the clay part of the season, although I think we might see Federer win one of the titles like last year. Could it be RG? At Wimby, I believe Nadal is depended on the draw. Some players he will slaughter, some he will have serious problems with. He should be happy with QF. But that’s me. I will not say what the road ahead is after that because I think he will play of confidence. If he manages to win Wimbledon, why not US Open? He is capable and is good enough. Then the question is only consistency and those silly knees. More questions than answers, and these players generally do not succeed in the long run.

Novak Djokovic
Strictly opposite to Federer, this guy needs to defend 500+350 points in March. That is easier said than done. He played on a very special level in Miami last year, can he do it again? It’s going to be hard, and if he does do it, it is safe to say that this might be another big name for many slams and years of number 1 position. Clay is the season for him to collect more points, not lose. Though I don’t see him doing well in Paris, or better, until he has no problems running around for hours. At the US Open I was afriad he would collapse against the much older Stepanek. Clay won’t be easier. Wimbledon is too far away right now. I mean, there is a difference in being number 2 and 3 seed, and Djokovic can pass Nadal before that.

And shorter versions for the slightly less of potentials

Davydenko: best year last year, plenty to defend. RG possibly SF again, but doing well in the summer is probably where his focus should be at. Last year he was losing with 12 double faults and the scandal was a fact. Stay clean and watch out for Ferrer and Roddick.

Ferrer: He had a normal “Ferrer” first half of 07. US Open and TMC were BIG victories for him and the question remains if he can stay a contender for SF and wins of bigger tournaments, or if he’s going back down and outside the top 10… The latter is more probable, considering the way Ferrer has evolved historically. Maybe he can win IW or Miami and get his great breakthrough.

Roddick: Last one.. The gap to Ferrer was considerably smaller just a two weeks ago. One thing that the Roddick critics forget is that much of last season, and especially in the fall, his focus must have been entirely on DC. Yes, he entered USO to win it, and TMC as well and played to his full potential, but DC win was his goal and that’s what he got. But what people aren’t seeing is that he didn’t play at all late fall, and the March-Apr part of last year suffered a hamstring problem which made the start of the clay season problematic. This year he needs to prove he is a contender and hunt for Wimby and USO, AND GET MORE THAN 5 points in PARIS!! And get any points in Monte-Carlo, Rome and/or Hamburg! That should be enough to blast past Davydenko and take back 4th spot. Goal: beat Federer (in order to win titles)

Vina del Mar & Davis Cup

I was supposed to write about the much anticipated final in Vina del Mar between Gonzalez and Monaco. But something that you don’t see too often happened yesterday. Monaco had to retire after his semifinal win due to injury and left Gonzo standing as champ on a W/O. How much satisfaction can you get from gettin an ATP title through a text message or through an announcement over a speaker or something. (I don’t really know how Gonzo got the message)

Anyway, this was the only tournament this week and this next week is dedicated to Davis Cup. Now here we will have some interesting matches.

Serbia will face Russia in Moscow. Russia is still top seed, but taking AO into consideration, I think it’s safe to say Serbia could win this without it being a BIG upset. Djokovic, Tipsarevic and Troicki seem to have performed over expectation in Australia and are probably riding on a confidence wave. Watch out Russia!

Great Britain will face Argentina on clay in Buenos Aires. Argentina 5-0, enough said

Then there’s Sweden-Israel on hard courts in Israel. This could get interesting as Israel has the best doubles team and Dudi Sela, who is not a clown. I think Israel can win this 3-2 at home.

Most tennis fans are probably considering USA-Austria to be a safe bet on the def champs. I AM NOT SO SURE. Austria has made a very good move of taking the event inside on what I only assume is the slowest clay court ever. We know that the Americans often struggle on this red dust. Who will bite it? Koubek, Eschauer, Melzer are all top 100 and they have doubles player Knowle on #7. This could get ugly if Roddick and Blake don’t handle the clay.

If the Americans win this, the road to another title is very long. France is a QF potential, and Spain or Germany might be waiting in the SF (IF they get there)

Oh well, Russia-Serbia is still the tie to watch.