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Davis Cup 2015

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matt_897

matt_897

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First round gets underway Friday. We have a tough tie versus the Czechs even though they are understrength with Berdych and Stepanek out, we won't have Kyrgios. Going to be interesting to see who we play and how it all goes. here's the 8 ties that are going to be played (home teams first):

Germany vs. France
Great Britain vs. USA
Czech Rep. vs. Australia
Kazakhstan vs. Italy
Argentina vs. Brazil
Serbia vs. Croatia
Canada vs. Japan
Belgium vs. Switzerland

The GB vs. USA tie will be shown on Foxtel as well. 7Two will show the australian tie live, from 1am Saturday morning
 
This will come back to haunt me but I think we are a sneaky chance to go deep this year based on the top players that have made themselves available for other nations and the draw. It's is also our turn for home ties against a number of countries in our half.

I am not suggesting we will win it but this is the best chance we have had to win a few ties in the main group for a long time.

As for Round 1, Tomich needs to play two singles and Groth and Hewitt in the doubles. I just can't decide on the other two singles spots. I am leaning toward Groth on day one and Hewitt day five. That means Kokkinakis misses out. Either way if Groth and Hewitt play doubles, neither can play both singles.
 

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Dannnnnnnnnn said:
Kokkinakis playing singles, what the hell are we thinking?
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A lot of people were predicting Kokkinakis to get the nod in singles so it's not a huge surprise but not one I necessarily agree with. I would have gone the same line-up that Redline posted (Groth on Day 1 and Hewitt on Day 3) but perhaps Kokkinakis has been showing a bit of form in practice. I am a bit worried that their expectations of Kokkinakis might be a bit too high at the moment after what Kyrgios has achieved. You only have to look at what happened to Kubler after Tomic's success to see how quickly Tennis Australia can lose their marbles over a promising player. Kokkinakis' two big wins this year were against players who were in very poor shape and since then he has qualified for three ATP tournaments but the opposition was nothing remarkable and he still lost in straight sets to Lajovic and Kudla. He still has a big chance against Rosol with the form Rosol has been in but you throw Groth in there and it's even money where as Kokkinakis is a bit of an outsider imo. Perhaps they wanted to save Groth for the doubles but with the way he and Rosol play it's highly unlikely that their match would take too much energy out of the tank. Fingers crossed this decision was motivated by the form shown in practice and not other things.
 
Beavis07 said:
A lot of people were predicting Kokkinakis to get the nod in singles so it's not a huge surprise but not one I necessarily agree with. I would have gone the same line-up that Redline posted (Groth on Day 1 and Hewitt on Day 3) but perhaps Kokkinakis has been showing a bit of form in practice. I am a bit worried that their expectations of Kokkinakis might be a bit too high at the moment after what Kyrgios has achieved. You only have to look at what happened to Kubler after Tomic's success to see how quickly Tennis Australia can lose their marbles over a promising player. Kokkinakis' two big wins this year were against players who were in very poor shape and since then he has qualified for three ATP tournaments but the opposition was nothing remarkable and he still lost in straight sets to Lajovic and Kudla. He still has a big chance against Rosol with the form Rosol has been in but you throw Groth in there and it's even money where as Kokkinakis is a bit of an outsider imo. Perhaps they wanted to save Groth for the doubles but with the way he and Rosol play it's highly unlikely that their match would take too much energy out of the tank. Fingers crossed this decision was motivated by the form shown in practice and not other things.
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I agree. I'm still bullish on Kok but he's the kind of player that will take some time. I'm not sure he's ready. This is a real chance to win and I'd be more confident backing Groth in the singles than Kok. Would love for Thanasi to prove me wrong though.
 
Beavis07 said:
He still has a big chance against Rosol with the form Rosol has been in but you throw Groth in there and it's even money where as Kokkinakis is a bit of an outsider imo. Perhaps they wanted to save Groth for the doubles but with the way he and Rosol play it's highly unlikely that their match would take too much energy out of the tank. Fingers crossed this decision was motivated by the form shown in practice and not other things.
Click to expand...
According to the books, Kokki v Rosol is also even money.
 

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Really looking forward to this. Although I rate Vesely, Tomic would have to be favourite, and Rosol has been in extremely ordinary form for a few months now, so you'd think Kokkinakis will have his chances.

I'm still kind of surprised Lleyton isn't playing singles though. I know we need him fresh for the doubles, but even so.
 
The decision makes sense, I would never of picked Groth because he is much better utilized in the doubles which is where this tie really comes down to. Would of been tempted to go for the jugular with Hewitt on Day 1 because he would be a good matchup against Rosol but this could work too. Good test for the youngster. Hewitt can be use for rubber 5 if needed...
 
I am happy with this as I prefer to see the matches spread out over the whole squad (if possible) rather than overloading one or two of the players. Seems they've judged the Groth/Hewitt combo to be best for doubles therefore Thanasi gets a gig in the singles. He always seems very competitive to me so I don't think he'll embarrass us.

Looking forward to it, just wish it wasn't on at 1.00am :$
 

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