Well, I guess my research needs a little work when it comes to Fed Cup.  Even though I was pretty sure China would come out on top in their matchup, at home no less, against what seemed like a weaker Spanish team, I was proved extremely wrong.  Spain came out and flat-out dominated China, winning the first three matches to clinch a spot in the Finals, before China’s Jie Zheng finally won a rubber.  And, so much for my comment on China having “the much stronger doubles pairings,” as they were dominated 6-2, 6-1 to finalize Spain’s 4-1 victory. (more…)

Last summer, in the beautiful green mountains of Stowe, Vermont, the USA battled the Russians and gave the eventually champions all they could handle, before falling 3-2 after an epic doubles match as thunderstorms threatened.  When they meet again this weekend, in Moscow, it will not be nearly as exciting.  The reason is simple, player participation.  For the Russians, they will yet again be featuring their two best players, both ranked top 10 in the world, Anna Chakvatadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova.  The USA on the other hand, will not have Venus Williams to do battle against the Russians.  Instead, Team USA will feature a few bright, young players such as Vania King, Ahsha Rolle and Madison Brengle.  In addition, the top ranked doubles player in the world, Liezel Huber, will join Team USA for the first time (she is a former South African who has recently gained US citizenship).   While it will be a nice chance for the future stars of US Women’s tennis to show what they can do on the international stage, it’s a shame players such as Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport or Jill Craybas will not be competiting, because as it stands, Team USA does not stand a chance…but hey, at least I am not running the VIP transportation. (more…)

Well, no one is perfect - I didn’t quite get all my picks this time.  Below are the recaps from the weekend:

Russia vs. Czech Republic (Moscow, Indoor Clay) – I picked Russia to go down to the Czech Republic 3-2.  Instead, Safin set the tone with a 4 hour, come from behind win in the opening rubber against Berdych to vault the Russians to a 3-2 victory.  One thing of note here, I am a bit surprised the Czech’s put out Stepanek with Vizner for doubles instead of Dlouhy (Dlouhy and Vizner finished 5th in the world last year), and they ended up losing the crucial doubles rubber. (more…)

Quarterfinals of the Davis Cup get underway tomorrow, here is a quick preview:

Russia vs. Czech Republic (Moscow, Indoor Clay) – In a surprise move, Davydenko is not playing singles this weekend.  Maybe he was mentally and physically exhausted after capturing last week’s Sony Ericsson Open, but he is playing the best tennis of his career, and playing a couple of streaky players like Andreev and Safin seems risky.  On the other side, Berdych is also playing extremely well and has the capability of winning both his singles matches.  I like the Czech to win, 3-2 in a tight match, for two reasons – 1. Stepanek and Berdych are a more solid pair than Andreev and Safin and 2. The Czech doubles team of Dlouhy and Vizner have plenty of experience playing together (finishing 5th in the world last year). (more…)

First round of the Davis Cup is this weekend, less than three months after the United States brought home the title in Portland, Oregon. Here are my picks:

US at Austria – Even on clay, the Austrians are simply overmatched. Jurgen Melzer and Stephan Koubek are solid singles players, and may take one of the four rubbers, but I see Blake, Roddick and the Bryans getting the Americans off to a solid start, and taking the tie 4-1. (more…)