Davis Cup

[annie]

Yep, i do believe so too miss Annie...

GO RUSSIANS!!!

[avalon]

Oooh, just found out Australia will play Belarus in Melbourne in April, As much I will go to watch to Australia win, it will also be a good chance to perve on Max

[SAFINNO1]

Just read what James Blake said bout the Russian 5

Q. We hear a lot about the Russian women, but the Russian men have been making some news on the ATP Tour. Can you comment on them.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I've played a few of them. They're very impressive.

Andreev has made great strides. His forehand is unbelievable, it's one of the biggest on tour. He's just proven that he's a solid player who's moving up pretty quickly.

Nikolay Davydenko just kind of sneaks under everyone's radar. He's No. 5 in the world. People don't give him a lot of credit as being a contender for Grand Slams or Masters Series, but he seems to be in the mix come Round of 16s or quarterfinals every tournament. He's someone that can be dangerous if he does get hot.

I think everyone knows about Marat Safin, one of the most talented guys on tour. On a good day for him, he can obviously win Grand Slams. He's a Hall of Famer, he's unbelievable.

Who else is out there? Youzhny.

Q. Tursunov?

JAMES BLAKE: Tursunov. I mean, I still look at him as American, so...

I mean, he strikes me as a California surfer kid. So I don't necessarily think of him as Russian, but I guess he is. He's a great player but, like I said, I think of him as American.

Youzhny is a good player. He hasn't had as much success lately as he did a couple years ago. But he obviously has talent, so he can get right back up there and will have some confidence soon probably.

[Annie]

wow thanks a lot Ily..that is one hell of a read and coming from someone like James...makes me incredibly proud ;D ;D ;D

[Annie]

From a March edition of Tennis + magazine

My boys at the official reception after their win over Holland

[SAFINNO1]

LOL NIce Pic

[Annie]

Another one from the same magazine also taken in Holland. Before an official match started they did an exhibition on one of the squares in Amesterdam ;D ;D

[ruth]

Why does James Blake think of Tursunov as an American?

[Annie]

Mitya has lived in America since he was a kid. He has a house in California and speaks English like a proper American ;D ;D ;D

[avalon]

And he has such a beautiful smile ;D [what is it with these Russian boys ]

[Annie]

For those supporting other teams rather than (or together with LOL) Russia, here are nominations for them

Croatia: Ivan Ljubicic (playing captain), Mario Ancic, Sasa Tuksar, Marin Cilic (Ivo Karlovic refused to play)

will play in Zagreb on a hard court

Argentina: Agustin Calleri, David Nalbandian, Jose Acasuso, Juan Ignacio Chela



Australia : Paul Hanley, Lleyton Hewitt, Wayne Arthurs and Chris Guccione

will play at Koyoong Stadium in Australia against

Belarus: Max Mirniy, Vladimir Voltchkov, Sergey Tarasevich and Alexandr Zotov

and last pair of the world group are:

USA: James Blake, Andy Roddick and the Bryan brothers

will play at Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, USA against

Chile: Fernando Gonzales, Nicolas Massu, Adrian Garcia and Paul Capdeville

[marats]

Great stuff , Annie !

[nicole1224]

thanks for the info Annie! Good luck to the Russian team!!!

[annie]

thanks for everything.......and goodluck to the boys!!!

[Annie]

Guccione to lead off for Australia against Belarus

It has been a long time since the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club hosted a tie of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. In fact it is 13 years since the competition came to this historic facility; back in 1993 when Australia defeated the USA. The records indicate that Australia has not lost a Davis Cup tie for 60 years at Kooyong, which was built in 1926 and hosted it’s first Davis Cup in 1946.

This weekend Australia will take on Belarus in the quarterfinals and Max Mirnyi (BLR), who is spearheading Belarus, says it would indeed be an honour to break such a record. The quarterfinal draw is as follows:

Chris Guccione (AUS) v Max Mirnyi (BLR)
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) v Vladimir Voltchkov (BLR)
Wayne Arthurs / Paul Hanley (AUS) v Max Mirnyi (BLR) / Vladimir Voltchkov (BLR)
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) v Max Mirnyi (BLR)
Chris Guccione (AUS) v Vladimir Voltchkov (BLR)

Mirnyi will have the opportunity to put his nation on that record-breaking path when he plays Chris Guccione (AUS) in the first rubber on Friday. Mirnyi says he is not fussed about playing first and added that after the three days – rather than before - would be a better time to maybe suggest if it was good or not playing first.


Guccione excited by opening tie

For Guccione, it is a whole new experience as this is the first time he will open a Davis Cup tie and it is something that really excites him. He says there is a bit of added pressure but there is so much pressure anyway that it doesn’t matter.

“The crowd’s going to be behind you, no matter what, first, second, whatever day, so I’m really looking forward to it,” said Guccione. “I’ve never played Max before, but I’ve seen him play a fair bit. I’m hitting the ball great so I’m feeling pretty confident.”

The second singles has Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) taking on Vladimir Voltchkov (BLR) and here too the players are not concerned about when they play, however Hewitt suggested it might have been better for him to play first.

“I could have gone first and got us off to a good start and put some pressure on Mirnyi against Gucc in a must-win match, but anyway I’m going to go out there and play my game,” said Hewitt. “Other times I’ve gone out there and played second and done the job, whether we’ve been 1-0 up or 1-0 down.

“I still feel there’s pressure on Max in the first match. If Gucc gets off to a good start and puts some pressure on him then it will be nice to go out there 1-0 up, that’s for sure.”


Friendly banter between on-court rivals

There is a little bit banter going on between Hewitt and Voltchkov. The Belarussian had said that Hewitt doesn’t have one big weapon to hurt his side. The Australian struck back by saying that Voltchkov’s ranking of 457 “doesn’t hurt us”. Voltchkov laughed and complimented Hewitt on “a good answer”.

The Australians will have Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley (AUS) in the doubles taking on Mirnyi and Voltchkov and in the reverse singles on day three it will be Hewitt against Mirnyi followed by Guccione against Voltchkov.

“It is very physically enduring (playing all three days) and given that everything goes well and Vladimir and I have done it for so many years now, we know what it takes to play three days in a row and what it takes to win so, we believe we have enough physical stamina to go all the way,” said Mirnyi.

“We’re here to play good tennis, we are out here to win and we will give it 110%.”