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Post by emma on Apr 6, 2006 15:01:23 GMT 3
Marat goes first on friday vs Richard Gasquet ;D
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Post by Annie on Apr 6, 2006 15:47:42 GMT 3
Tomorrow:
Marat - Gasquet
Davydenko - Clement
Saturday
Llodra/Clement - Youzhny Tursunov
Sunday
Kolya-Gasquet
Marat-Clement
Grosjean is out with a back problem.
DAVAI RUSSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by reese on Apr 6, 2006 16:17:15 GMT 3
ooh I´m so jealous on you !! I would loooooove to see the matches!! Good luck!!!!!!!    (time to get all the cheering smilies back  ) |
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Post by ornthree on Apr 6, 2006 16:20:33 GMT 3
have fun! At the Match!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by lena on Apr 6, 2006 17:17:26 GMT 3
some funny pics from today pc  they laugh together, and stare up ;D  |
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Post by reese on Apr 6, 2006 17:26:56 GMT 3
Kolya and Marat look like a couple ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;DLMAO   thanks for the pics lena!! they are so sweet |
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Post by emma on Apr 6, 2006 17:29:17 GMT 3
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 6, 2006 18:05:48 GMT 3
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Post by arwen21 on Apr 6, 2006 18:13:16 GMT 3
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Post by yse on Apr 6, 2006 18:38:06 GMT 3
Ohhhhhhhhhh Thanks Lena, Safinno and Arwen ;D ;D  |
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 6, 2006 18:38:41 GMT 3
Seb Grosjean jas withdrawan that is massive news. Hopefully if Marat can beat Gasquet 1st up it will make Koyla more relaxed and enable him to sweep the floor with Clement (No Offence) DAVAI RUSSIA This will be the 1st oppurtunity i will have watched Marat since Wimby last year, so sorry school but this boy is crying wolf! |
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 6, 2006 18:40:03 GMT 3
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 6, 2006 18:41:01 GMT 3
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 6, 2006 18:51:17 GMT 3
Just in case you cant listen to the audio I have made a quick transcript for you to read!
INTERVIEWER: Marat you missed the 1st round tie is it good to be back playing Davis Cup?
MARAT: Oh yeah, it’s quite fun, a fun week for everybody as you get to spend time with the players, some of my friends from the Russian tennis federation and it’s quite fun you can play some soccer and enjoy a few days practising and then it’s an interesting weekend.
INTERVIEWER: Having won the Davis Cup in 2002, does the Davis Cup fire burn just as hot as it did before?
MARAT: Yeah of course because I think we have a good chance this year if we can pass the French I think the rest of matches we are playing at home and we will definitely be the favourites and that’s how we should win the Davis Cup this year.
INTERVIEWER: You start against Gasquet, it’s going to be a difficult one?
MARAT: Well any Davis Cup match is going to be difficult even Nikolay and Clement will be a tough match as Clement is playing fairly well right now. Were playing in France and the public will be behind the French team and we’ll see but we’ll see how Gasquet starts tomorrow and how I feel on the court and everything depends on who starts the best.
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 6, 2006 18:51:39 GMT 3
Safin to start Russia's French challenge
With his shoulder-length thick curly hair and seven-day beard, Marat Safin looks as if he would be more at home at a 1960s love-in than opening Russia's Davis Cup by BNP Paribas quarter-final in Pau. But with Richard Gasquet’s name first out of the hat at the draw, Safin will open a tie scheduled to feature the following matches:
Richard Gasquet (FRA) v Marat Safin (RUS)
Arnaud Clement (FRA) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA) v Mikhail Youzhny/Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
Richard Gasquet (FRA) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Arnaud Clement (FRA) v Marat Safin (RUS)
Clement replaces Grosjean on opening day
The chances of that line-up remaining unaltered seem slim. France's captain Guy Forget has taken a gamble by including Sebastien Grosjean in his four-man team, despite a back injury keeping France’s most experienced player out of the opening day’s singles. “I hurt it on Sunday in Miami,” Grosjean said, “and I couldn’t practise for two days. But it’s getting better, I’m having treatment four times a day, and hopefully by Sunday I can play if I’m needed.”
Though Forget made it clear Arnaud Clement was his third-choice singles player, his need to call on the studious mathematics graduate’s singles skills couldn’t have come at a better time. After two years posting more success in doubles, Clement has bounced back to form in singles this year, winning the title in Marseille and putting up good showings against Tommy Haas and Roger Federer at the Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. His back up to 54th in the rankings.
Clement and Nikolay Davydenko have the strength and playing styles to play a lot of tennis, but whichever way one looks at it, France’s chances seem heavily dependent on Gasquet beating Safin in the opening rubber. If he wins, then France can probably count on the doubles, and if Grosjean were fit on Sunday, a home win would be a distinct possibility.
Safin remains unknown quantity
But Safin is the unknown quantity of the weekend. Playing for the first time since the 2005 first round because of a persistent knee injury, the tall gypsy-like figure seems happy to be back in the team variant of this individual sport. But his form over the past few weeks leaves little clue as to how he will play against Gasquet. He beat Nikolay Davydenko in his first match back, but has failed to string his results together, losing to Olivier Rochus, Jarkko Nieminen and Tim Henman. As such, he could be vulnerable if Gasquet can find the form that saw him beat Tommy Haas in France’s first round away win against Germany.
Safin may also be drafted into the Russian doubles team. Though Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov have been nominated, Safin and Youzhny are generally recognised as Russia’s best pair, and even Youzhny admitted: “We can change the nominated pair up to an hour before,” a suggestion that Safin might well play doubles if he doesn’t have too long a match against Gasquet on Friday.
Forget had said that Safin was worried about facing France's number one, but the Russian hit back saying that he was full of confidence.
”I don't know why I would not be serene," Safin replied about his match with the 19-year-old.
”I've beaten him twice already. He is the one to be nervous, I'm not. And I'm more experienced than he is.”
On the basis of recent form, Russia have to be slight favourites on a fast indoor carpet court laid on wood. They beat France in Moscow nine months ago, and the last time the two teams met in France was the 2002 final, when Youzhny delivered Russia’s finest hour with a fifth rubber win over Paul-Henri Mathieu from two sets down.
But not for nothing have the French chosen Pau. The sleepy but picturesque town in the foothills of the Pyrenees is a hotbed of sporting passion, and the 7000 spectators in the Zenith Palais des Sports will make as much noise as if they were supporting one of the fiercely supported local rugby teams. The last time the French played in Pau was in the 1999 semifinals, when Belgium were beaten in two days. The same fate is unlikely to befall the Russians, but even with their first-choice team, they know they are up against a deceptively good team.
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Sixpack guard 
