TENNIS – The Draw of the 2015 Davis Cup World Group first round took place this afternoon in Dubai. The Draw offers some interesting matches like the re-match of last year between Great Britain and the USA, a South-American battle between Brazil and Argentina and a clash between neighbouring countries Serbia and Croatia. This year’s finalist France will host Germany. The Swiss team, who faces France in next November’s Davis Cup final, will start the 2015 campaign in Belgium. Diego Sampaolo
This year’s Davis Cup finalist France will open their campaign in Germany from 5-8 March. A French star-studded team led by Jo Wilfred Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils beat Czech Republic 4-1 in the semifinal last year week qualifying for the Davis Cup final four years after losing 2-3 against Serbia in Belgrade. France will fight for Davis Cup glory on 22-23 November on French soil
The winner between France and Germany will face either Great Britain or the USA in a quarter final match which will take place the week after Wimbledon.
Great Britain and the USA will renew their battles in the first round for the second consecutive year after the match played in 2014 in San Diego and won by a British team led by Andy Murray. Next March they will meet on British soil. Last year Great Britain beat the US team 3-1 to reach the quarter final for the first time since 1986.
Switzerland, who will play their first Davis Cup final since 1992, has been drawn against Belgium led by David Goffin. who contributed to the 3-2 win against the Ukraine in last weekend’s Play-Off with two singles wins. Switzerland beat Belgium 4-1 in the last Davis Cup match in 2008 in Lausanne.
One of the most intriguing clashes of the first round will be the Latin-American battle between Argentina and Brazil. The match, which will be held in Argentina, will be the first Davis Cup match between these two countries since 1980. Brazil beat Spain in last week’s Play-off.
The winner of the match between Brazil and Argentina will face either Serbia or Croatia. It is early to know who will play next March but there could be a potential match between 2014 Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic and 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic.
Czech Republic, twice Davis Cup champions in 2012 and 2013, will host Australia, a strong team featuring rising star Nick Kyrgios who reached the quarter final at Wimbledon this year
Kazakhstan, who led 2-1 against Switzerland after the double but lost 2-3 in this year’s quarter final, will host this year’s semifinalist from Italy. It will not be a easy match for the Italian team who will have to make a long travel to Astana to face a team led by two strong Davis Cup players Andrei Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin. Kazakhstan took part for the first time in the World Group in 2011 and qualified for the quarter finals three times in 2011, 2013 and 2014
The winner of the match between Kazakhstan and Italy will face either Czech Republic or Australia in the quarter finals.
The other first round match pits Japan against Canada. This match could feature 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori and 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist Milos Raonic. The winner of this match will face either Switzerland or Belgium.
The 2015 Davis Cup World Group Draw
Germany vs (1) France
Great Britain vs (7) USA
(2) Czech Republic vs Australia
Kazakhstan vs (6) Italy
(5) Argentina vs Brazil
(4) Serbia vs Croatia
(8) Canada vs Japan
Belgium vs (2) Switzerland
