DC news
From the origanal Davis Cup site (http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14156) ,
another article.
Battle of the Captains begins with a big gamble
When two countries have played each other four times in five years, they ought to know each other fairly well. That familiarity explains one of the biggest Davis Cup gambles of the year that the French captain Guy Forget pulled off at the draw for his team’s quarterfinal against Russia.Forget had originally named a squad of five players, and most people had expected the final choice to be between Paul-Henri Mathieu and Sebastien Grosjean. But Forget has picked both men and left out Arnaud Clement. It strengthens his singles line-up but at the cost of weakening his doubles team.With Russia having decided to leave out the heroes of February’s away triumph in Chile, Marat Safin and Igor Andreev, from the opening day’s action, it leaves the draw for this tactically fascinating tie as:Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v Richard Gasquet (FRA)Sebastien Grosjean/Michael Llodra (FRA) v Igor Andreev/Marat Safin (RUS)Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) v Richard Gasquet (FRA)Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)“I wanted to do something different this time,” said Forget in explaining his decision. “We lost the last three times we played them, but we won the doubles every time, and we ran out of gas on the last day. So I wanted to have the option of throwing in somebody fresh on Sunday, that’s how the Russian team have beaten us many times. The doubles team I have isn’t as consistent as Arnaud and Michael would have been, but what’s important is not to win the doubles, but to win the tie. You have to take risks sometimes, and I’m very comfortable with my choice right now.”
Both captains are wilyBut Forget is not the only wily captain in this tie. His opposite number Shamil Tarpischev is Forget’s tactical equal, and clearly took the French by surprise by nominating Mikhail Youzhny for the first day’s singles. Richard Gasquet admitted to having psyched himself up to play Safin, but the task facing him might be easier than if Safin had played. Yet Gasquet, who made his Davis Cup debut in Moscow in the 2005 quarterfinals, admits to feeling the pressure if the opening singles is lost, so if Nikolay Davydenko beats Mathieu as expected, Youzhny could have the psychological advantage.Forget’s comments, along with Russia’s decision to leave Safin and Andreev out of Friday’s action, suggests the scheduled line-up for Sunday may well change. Gasquet is likely to play the first reverse singles for France, but the other three players cannot assume they will have an on-court role.
Mathieu probably won't play fifth rubberDespite being ranked 235, Andreev played superbly on the clay of La Serena when Russia beat Chile two months ago so offers Tarpischev an attractive option, and Forget is likely to want to keep Mathieu out of a fifth rubber, given that he has twice played a live fifth and twice lost – both of them against Russia.In September’s semifinals, the winners here will face the winner of the tie in Ostend between Belgium and Germany.
Related Links on other websites > Information from RTF> Infos en francais - FFT
Related Links on Daviscup.com > Tie Information> Scorecards and stats from this tie
Interview with Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) (MP3 format)
Interview with Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) (MP3 format)
Interview with Richard Gasquet (FRA) (MP3 format)
Interview with Guy Forget (FRA) (MP3 format)
Interview with Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) (MP3 format)
Video about draw announcing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsDDpRaJsaA
