Davis cup is probably the only event in the tennis calendar where the professional gladiators with rackets play to nationalistic fervor. The best of five format makes for a riveting game and watch with ebbs and flows being a constant feature of matches. While upsets on the ATP tours are a rarity these days, conditions suited to the hosts and partisan support make them much more likelier in the cup. You wouldn't see these competitors hugging and singing like small boys at any other competition. While some stars like Federer are wary of playing for their country, others like Djokovich have carried the flag above their professional dreams. The whole here is bigger than the sum of the parts and a well balanced team like the Czech republic is always a stronger bet than teams with one big star. With four singles and one doubles match to decide the winner, it takes a lot of camaraderie and strategy to land the coveted trophy.
The world group quarters this year featured Canada, Italy, USA, Serbia, Argentina., France, Kazakhstan and the Czech republic. Some of those are the usual suspects at this stage of the competitions while there are others like Spain who are conspicuous by their absence. Canada on the back of some sterling displays from rising star Milos Raonic upset the Spanish giants in the first round and followed it up with another win over the Italians at the quarters stage. They would be up against Serbia in the semis and getting past that obstacle would pose much larger questions for the North Americans than their previous two outings. Serbia has a few world class caps in Novak, Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic. They have been champions in 2010 and are always front runners to reach the latter stages of competition. They got better of traditional power houses USA with the Bryan brothers also losing out on the doubles rubber. France has a strong contingent with Tsonga and Gilles Simone spearheading their campaign. However, with Argentina hosting the tie, the slug fest went the distance. Carlos Berloq pulled off an unlikely upset against Simone to take the South Americans to the last four stage. The defending champions Czech Republic were always the favorites against underdogs Kazakhstan but with the withdrawal of Tomas Berdych, they may have had a hitch or two. They still had a smooth sailing other than losing the doubles match. We are here with the semis line up and my projection would be a Czech versus Serbia finale with Serbia coming out tops.
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