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Sorry sorry sorry... My computer was down for a while, so I couldn't really update my blog anymore! Hope you don't mind.. Here are the latest updates after my latest update!

Marat lost 75 76(2) against Feliciano Lopez on Friday. Marat was very dissapointed. The weather conditions (windy,rainy and a bit hot) were really bothering him. He flew back to Moscow the next day, to practise for himself and the Davis Cup (www.daviscup.com)
Blake also lost in the second round.

Davis cup

Russian team: Safin, Andreev, Davydenko and Youhzney

French team: Gasquet, Mathieu, Llodra and Clement

Few articles from the Davis Cup site:

Battle of the greatest captains? ( http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14138 )

For the third time in three years, Russia and France meet in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, and it once more pits against each other the two most respected Davis Cup captains of the current era.The achievements of Shamil Tarpischev and Guy Forget are being written into the folklore of the 107-year-old competition with every passing year. Indeed some might say they are the greatest captains the competition has known. That is an impossible claim to substantiate, because how do you compare today’s captains with the extraordinary achievements of the legendary Australian Harry Hopman, who captained his nation for 21 years, winning the cup 16 times? Times have changed so much since Hopman’s day that it’s like comparing apples with tennis balls.Hopman never helped to run a country as Tarpischev did when he was Boris Yeltsin’s close aide in the Kremlin in the early 1990s as Russia established its fragile statehood out of the embers of the collapsed Soviet Union. And Hopman, good player though he was, never scored as memorable a victory on court as Forget’s over Pete Sampras in 1991 to give France their first Davis Cup triumph in 59 years.Hopman’s record as a captain is almost beyond comprehension, but two things must be remembered. Firstly, in his day (1949-69) the champions always went through to the next year’s final (the Challenge Round), so in all but five years of his reign Australia only had one tie to play. Secondly, he was helped by a conveyor belt of champions – from Frank Sedgman, through Lew Hoad and Rod Laver, to John Newcombe and Tony Roche – that would make Tarpischev and Forget, or any other captain, green with envy.Nevertheless, both the men who will sit courtside at the Luzhniki indoor arena have maximised the forces available to them with great tactical and man management skill – an increasingly difficult task in an age when the stars play for their country because they want to, not because they are told to. Hopman laid down laws with a draconian fist that today’s captains would never dream of trying to use.“Captains have to realise that the game has changed dramatically in that respect,” says John Lloyd, who captains Great Britain’s Davis Cup team in the Euro-African Zone 1, also over the Easter weekend. “You can’t issue orders like Hopman did. You have to accept that most players have coaches of their own and listen to their needs, but in the final analysis you have to make decisions that you believe are correct, no matter what the consequences.”Neither Tarpischev nor Forget have been afraid to make tough calls. Forget never went as far as his predecessor, Yannick Noah, who fired a player from his team because “he looked so miserable”, but he did read the riot act to some cliques within his squad after France lost to Australia in the 1999 final. By the time the French journeyed to Melbourne just two years later, Forget had created such a good team spirit that Nicolas Escude, aided by Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro in the doubles, led France to a memorable triumph over Australia on a grass court laid in the Rod Laver Arena. The way Forget fashioned that victory set him apart as a captain of the highest order.Tarpischev has vastly more experience than Forget. He first captained the Soviet Union back in 1974 when the global political and economic – let alone sporting – climate was totally different. Despite having some quality players like Alex Metreveli, it was a struggle to compete with the major tennis nations in those days, and it was not until the mid-1990s, while Tarpischev was still occupied with affairs in the Kremlin, that the new Russia started reaching Davis Cup finals. Vadim Borosov captained the Russian team that lost to Sweden in 1994, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s coach Anatoly Lepeshin was in the chair when the USA beat Russia a year later.Tarpischev had a major role to play in the 2002 final. The undemonstrative captain, who normally says little to his players during matches, persuaded the 20-year-old Mikhail Youzhny that the decisive fifth rubber was not a lost cause when he trailed France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu by two sets. Youzhny bounced back to post the only victory from two sets down in a Davis Cup final’s fifth rubber.Yet it was last September, when Russia hosted the USA in the semifinals, that Tarpischev established himself as one of the shrewdest Davis Cup leaders in history. He looked at the world No. 3, Nikolay Davydenko, for whom a claycourt had been laid in Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, decided he wasn’t fit enough to play, and dropped him (by some accounts, not everyone in the Russian camp agreed). Youzhny, taking Davydenko’s place, proved his captain right by defeating James Blake. For his next trick, Tarpischev replaced Youzhny for the first reverse singles against Andy Roddick with the unproven claycourter, Dmitry Tursunov. Right again. Tursunov produced the performance of his life, serving Roddick off the court in the first two sets before squeaking a dramatic victory 17-15 in the fifth.Tarpischev needed to be less bold in the final, but the pivotal rubber proved to be the doubles, in which his gamble of picking Tursunov to partner Marat Safin again paid off. Tarpischev’s players did the work in Russia’s second Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title, but it was a captain’s victory too for the remarkable 59-year-old.

Russia’s top two return to face France ( http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14135 )

Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny will be back in the Russian team for April’s quarterfinal against France, after missing the first round.By recalling world No. 4 Davydenko and Youzhny, currently ranked No. 17, captain Shamil Tarpischev is taking no chances in what will be Russia’s third quarterfinal meeting with France in three years. Also on the team are Marat Safin and Igor Andreev, the hero of Russia’s impressive away win against Chile in February."Now, we have all our top players available, which is good news," said Tarpischev, who also named last year’s surprise package Dmitry Tursunov and teenager Evgeny Korolev, hitting partner for the 2006 final, to the squad.The defending champions will host France on clay in Moscow’s Small Sport Arena "Luzhniki" on 6-8 April. Russia has won their quarterfinal clashes for the past two years, but those ties have always been a close call, Andreev clinching victory against Paul-Henri Mathieu in a fifth rubber in Moscow in 2005, and three of the four live rubbers in last year’s quarterfinal in Pau going to five sets, before Tursunov secured the win against Richard Gasquet in the fourth match.It seems the psychological impact of Russia’s come-from-behind win over France in the 2002 final in Paris has had a far-reaching effects for both nations. For France, it marked the start of a three-tie losing streak against Russia, while Russia has lifted the Davis Cup trophy twice since Youzhny handed his country its first title by recovering from two-sets-to-love down against Mathieu in 2002. Youzhny remains the only man in Davis Cup history to achieve this feat in the decisive fifth rubber of a Davis Cup final.

First Round wrap up ( http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14128 )

Defending champion Russia fought off a Chilean comeback to make a winning start to the2007 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. The two-time winner eventually overcame Chile 3-2 in La Serena after the hosts had recovered from a 2-0 deficit after the opening day.Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and USA also scored World Groupfirst round victories to secure their place in the quarterfinals, with five of the eight matcheswon away from home.For the first time in the history of the World Group, all eight first round ties were live going into the final day, although only two went on to be decided by a fifth rubber.Igor Andreev was the hero as a below-strength Russian team saw off Chile to end its ten-tiewinning streak at home in front of a packed stadium of 10,000 spectators. The 23-year-old,returning to the team after left knee surgery in April 2006, upset Australian Open finalistFernando Gonzalez 46 64 63 62 on the opening day, before defeating Nicolas Massu 62 6167(1) 64 in the decisive fifth rubber.Andreev said: “We came here to win and we did it, it was not easy. The Chileans should beproud of their players. Now we play at home against France, and I hope we can take advantageof that.”Kristof Vliegen also won a deciding fifth rubber as Belgium withstood a comeback fromAustralia to win 3-2 in Liege. Vliegen defeated Chris Guccione 64 64 64 to clinch victory forthe home team, having upset Lleyton Hewitt 46 64 36 63 64 on the opening day. Hewitt hadkept Australia in the hunt, partnering Paul Hanley to a doubles victory, before battling to afive-set singles win over Olivier Rochus.“It was a tough day with a lot of emotions,” admitted Vliegen afterwards. “I had to go out and do my best, I did my job. My heart was on the court and that helped a lot.”There were more heroics in Linz, where 18-year-old Juan-Martin Del Potro made a stunningDavis Cup debut for Argentina, defeating Austrian No. 1 Jurgen Melzer 76(4) 36 64 46 62 togive last year’s beaten finalists a winning 3-1 lead. Jose Acasuso and Guillermo Canas hadhelped the visitors to a 2-0 lead on the opening day.Del Potro said: “This is the best match of my life. My captain told me on Saturday night that Acasuso was not feeling very well, and wanted to know if I felt ready to play. I didn’t sleep well at all but I think that is normal.”USA set up an eagerly anticipated quarterfinal against Spain after securing its first WorldGroup win on a clay court for almost ten years. Andy Roddick defeated Tomas Berdych 46 6362 76(4) to give the Americans a winning 3-1 lead over the Czech Republic in Ostrava. Thisfollowed Roddick’s victory over Ivo Minar on the opening day and a straight sets win for theBryan brothers.Spain survived the late withdrawal of world No. 2 Rafael Nadal through injury to defeat Switzerland 3-2 away in Geneva. The key to the contest was Saturday’s epic doubles rubber, in which Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco defeated Yves Allegro and Marco Chiudinelli 76(5) 67(3) 67(2) 61 1210 to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Verdasco then overcame Stephane Bohli 63 63 62 to seal Spain’s victory.Two victories for Tommy Haas helped Germany to a 3-2 triumph over 2005 champion Croatia in Krefeld. He overcame an ailing Mario Ancic 26 64 64 64 on the opening day, before seeing off Ivan Ljubicic 62 76(7) 64 in the decisive fourth rubber.Robin Soderling also contributed two singles wins as Sweden scored a 3-2 victory over Belarus away in Minsk. In a dramatic fourth rubber, he saved two match points to defeat Max Mirnyi 67(8)75 67(8) 76(3) 63, having seen off Vladimir Voltchkov 63 76(3) 61 on the first day. Like Chile, this ended Belarus’s ten-tie winning streak at home. In the final contest, two victories by Richard Gasquet helped France to a 4-1 win overRomania in Clermont-Ferrand. Gasquet enjoyed straight sets wins over Victor Hanescu and Andrei Pavel, with Sebastien Grosjean coming from two sets down to defeat Pavel on day one.In the quarterfinals, to be held over the weekend of 6-8 April, Russia hosts France, Belgium is at home to Germany, USA hosts Spain, and Sweden is at home to Argentina. Australia, Austria, Belarus, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania and Switzerland allnow have to contest the World Group Play-offs on 21-23 September in a bid to preserve their World Group status. They will be joined by the winners of the Zonal Group I ties played on 6-8 April.