Andy Roddick should lead the US to a Davis Cup final against Spain this weekend with the Americans at home to surprise package Belarus and Spain hosting under-strength France in the semifinals.
In play-off matches to decide the other countries who will compete in next year's World Group, Australia play Morocco, Chile's Olympic champions face Japan, Croatia play Belgium, Paraguay are at home to the Czech Republic, Slovakia face Germany, Austria are against Great Britain, Romania play Canada and Russia face Thailand.
US captain Patrick McEnroe will be counting on Roddick and Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish in Charleston, South Carolina.
All the statistics point America's way. Roddick has a 3-0 winning record over the Belarus No 1 Max Mirnyi and Mardy Fish defeated Mirnyi when the pair met for the only time at last month's Athens Olympics.
Mike and Bob Bryan have also beaten Mirnyi and his partner Vladimir Voltchkov in doubles.
However, McEnroe is the first to admit that anything can happen in Davis Cup tennis.
"It's completely different from any other tournament because you play for your country and you sometimes have big surprises," he says.
With that firmly in mind, McEnroe will do everything he can to foster the type of camaraderie the European golfers showed when they beat the US in the Ryder Cup last week.
And he know he needs to push Fish.
"Mardy is a good kid but he needs to be pushed and I intend to keep on pushing him," he said.
"That's part of my job. Sometimes that can irritate him but that's OK. If it takes me to irritate him to keep pushing him, that's what I'm going to do. I do it because I believe in him and I believe he can get more out of what he has."
Voltchkov is the unknown quantity in this tie that will be played on a slow hardcourt.
The 26-year-old, a shock Wimbledon semifinalist in 2000, has been suffering from a wrist injury recently.
But the Belarus players, who have taken their young country to the semifinals of this 104-year-old competition for the first time, have nothing to lose.
France face a Mission Impossible in Alicante.
Spain won the competition in 2000 playing exclusively at home on their favorite clay court surface. This year they have beaten the Czech Republic 3-2 away, and then the Netherlands 4-1 at home.
And with Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo in their side they look too good for the French who are without injured No 1 Sebastien Grosjean.
France have Arnaud Clement, Fabrice Santoro, Mickael Llodra, Julien Benneteau and Paul-Henri Mathieu, who has not played Davis Cup for France since losing the fifth and deciding match of the 2002 final against Russia.
The absence of Grosjean should hand hosts Spain a major boost, former French Open champion Moya believes.
With home advantage Spain should start slight favorites despite a poor overall record in the competition which they have won only once, defeating Australia in Barcelona four years ago.
The Aussies gained revenge in last year's trophy match.
"It's better for us that Grosjean hasn't made it because he is dangerous.But his absence also puts the pressure on us as it makes us clearer favorites," Spanish media on Wednesday quoted Moya as saying.
World number 10 Grosjean has been laboring under a left thigh injury but he has also been struggling for form independently of his fitness problems.
"I think we have a good chance to lift the Davis Cup this year," added Moya, who failed to make the team for the 2000 victory but who has since bounced back into the fold.
"I said at the start of the year Davis Cup was my top priority," said the 28-year-old, who briefly was world number one in 1999.
Spain have a 4-1 head-to-head advantage over France but the hosts have consistently underachieved in the tournament, which, following its 1900 inception, was dominated by the US, Britain and Australia until France won six titles in a row from 1927.
Spain are keeping faith with the squad which defeated the Netherlands in the last round on Majorca, with Moya and Ferrero taking the singles berths and Robredo and up-and-coming star Nadal pairing for the doubles.
The pair impressed with their recent run to the US Open doubles semifinals.
"I hope the fans pack the venue and get right behind us from the opening rubber," Ferrero, a mainstay of the 2000 triumph, told AS sports daily.
However, the French captain is relying on that similar esprit de corps from the Ryder Cup to carry through to the Davis Cup as he contemplates playing the out of form Clement in the singles even though he is coming off a first round loss in Bucharest to the 272nd ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic.
"To beat them [Moya or Ferrero] in the Davis Cup is another thing."
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
RSS