TENNIS DAVIS CUP – Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka lead host team Switzerland against Italy at the Palaexpo in Geneva where no less than 18500 spectators are expected. France hosts defending champions from Czech Republic on the famous clay court of the Roland Garros in Paris. Diego Sampaolo
Federer: “I am not surprised, but I would have expected Andreas (Seppi) to play” (English)
Federer: “It’s good to play first. Gives you more time to recover” (French)
Wawrinka: “I will never be as emotional as I was before the final in Australia” (French)
Barazzutti “Bolelli has played well at Flushing Meadows. Thats why I chose him to start against Federer” (Italian)
The Swiss team led by World Number 2 Roger Federer and Number 4 Stan Wawrinka start as the clear favourite against Italy which features Fabio Fognini, Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi.
Italy leads 3-2 in their five previous head-to-head matches. Italy beat Switzerland 3-2 in 1932, 5-0 in 1934 and 5-0 in 1980 but Switzerland won their last two matches (3-2 in 1999 and 3-2 in the Playoff in 2009).
Switzerland will play the third Davis Cup semifinal. The red-crossed team will be bidding to reach their first final since 1992 when a Swiss squad led by Marc Rosset and Jakob Hlasek lost 1-3 against the USA led by André Agassi Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe in Fort Worth. The Swiss team reached the second semifinal in 2003 when they lost against Australia. In that Davis Cup match Federer led 2-0 on sets and was 5-3 up in the third set but Lleyton Hewitt recovered to win the match.
Seventeen-time Grand Slam champion Federer and this year’s Australian Open champion Wawrinka will be looking to qualify Switzerland for the second final in Davis Cup history.
It looks the right year for Switzerland to clinch the first Davis Cup in history. It’s one of the few titles missing from the trophy cabinet of Federer.
“As a team we haven’t had much success over the past 50 years, so people in Switzerland still talk about 20 years ago when we made the final. Hopefully, they will talk about this tie in 20 years. That would be wonderful”, said Federer
Federer enjoyed a good summer in which he played one of the best matches of the year at the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic before reaching the final in Toronto and winning his third title of the season in Cincinnati. At the US Open he lost the semifinal against Marin Cilic who went on to lift his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows.
Wawrinka won the Australian Open and the Monte-Carlo Master 1000 this year but had ups and downs in the quarter final match against Kazakhstan where he lost against Golubev. Wawrinka won 19 out of 32 singles matches in the Davis Cup.
The match between the two neighbouring countries is expected to be held in front of 15000 enthusiastic spectators. No less than 3000 spectators attended the training session of the Swiss team on Wednesday.
Following Thursday’s draw Federer will play the first match against Simone Bolelli, who reached the third round at Wimbledon and the second round at the US Open and is enjoying a good period of form. At the recent US Open Bolelli lost a five-set thriller against Tommy Robredo where he played a remarkable match
Federer will team up with Wawrinka against Seppi and Paolo Lorenzi in Saturday’s double match but the teams are subject to changes. Federer will take on Fognini and Wawrinka will play against Bolelli in Sunday’s reverse matches
Italian captain Corrado Barazzuti, who won the Davis Cup against Chile in 1976 and was part of the Italian team who beat Switzerland 5-0 in 1980, opted for Bolelli instead of Andreas Seppi as the second singles player.
Wawrinka will play against Italian Davis Cup star Fabio Fognini in the second singles match. Fognini, who reached the Cincinnati quarter final recently, was the Italian hero in the previous two Davis Cup rounds against Argentina and Great Britain. Italy has not reached the Davis Cup final since 1998 when they lost against Sweden in Milan.
Geneva hosted a Davis Cup semifinal back in 1992 when Switzerland led by Marc Rosset beat Brazil 5-0
France vs Czech Republic
The Roland Garros Phillippe Chatrier court will play host the semifinal between two traditional Davis Cup teams France and defending champions from Czech Republic, who won the last two editions of this event and are bidding to qualify for their third consecutive final The Czech team are bidding to win their 12th consecutive Davis Cup match.
French captain Arnaud Clement picked a strong team featuring Jo Wilfred Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Julien Benneteau. The French team will be bidding to reach their first final since 2010. They won 9 Davis Cup titles and are the only team together with the USA able to win on all surfaces on grass, on clay, hard court and indoor.
France plays the third consecutive match at home and won seven of the last eight matches on home soil.
Czech Republic will rely on the experience of two true Davis Cup men Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek plus Lukas Rosol and young rising star Jiri Vesely.
Gasquet and Berdych will play the first match on Friday. The Frenchman leads 5-3 in their head-to-head matches but they tie 1-1 on clay. They have registered three wins apiece since the 2011 Australian Open. The Frenchman won their last match in Miami 2013 with a double 6-3 but they will meet for the first time in the Davis Cup.
Berdych lost in the quarter final against Marin Cilic at the US Open last week but boasts an impressive record in the Davis Cup.
The Philippe Chatrier will have a different look to the traditional set-up during the Roland Garros. The passionate support from the fans will contribute to make the atmosphere inside the famous tennis fans more electric in the pure spirit of the Davis Cup.
“A few things are different being here at this time but they remind you of all these situations that you go through at the Roland Garros. It’s a beautiful experience and we can enjoy the whole set-up we have here. The venue is great for that. Everything is close and very convenient. It is definitely the best place I have ever played away from home”, said Berdych
Jo Wilfred Tsonga, this year’s Toronto champion, will take on Lukas Rosol in the second Friday’s match. The Frenchman won their only match at Dubai in 2012 with 6-3 6-4.
“It’s very special playing at the Roland Garros. I have had so many good memories in Roland Garros non only as a player but also as a young kid. It’s going to be very important to play well here because I would like to have more good moments here”, said Tsonga.
Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil picked Stepanek and Vesely for the doubles match against Monfils (US Open quarter finalist last week) and Benneteau for the doubles match but the teams could be subject to changes. Berdych will take on Tsonga and Rosol will play against Gasquet in Sunday’s reverse matches.
Play-offs: The expected highlights:
Sixteen nations are bidding to secure their spot in the 2015 World Group. A Serbian team without Novak Djokovic will try to avoid relegation into zonal group matches against India in Bangalore The Serbian team will be made up of Nenad Zimonjic, Dusan Lajovic, Filip Krajnovic
A Spanish team formed by Marcel Granollers, Roberto Bautista Agut and doubles specialists Marc Lopez and David Marrero will face Brazil in Sao Paulo.
US Open champion Marin Cilic, who beat Japanese Kei Nishikori at Flushing Meadows on Monday becoming the first Croatian player to claim a Grand Slam crown since his coach Goran Ivanisevic’s triumph at Wimbledon, and rising star Borna Coric will lead Croatia against the Netherlands. US Open doubles champions Mike and Bob Bryan, John Isner and Sam Querrey will host Slovakia in Chicago.
Teenager Nick Kyrgios, this year’s Wimbledon quarter finalist, and 33-year-old Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth, who will make his Davis Cup debut, will play at home in Perth against Uzbekistan. Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil will lead Canada at home in Halifax against Colombia featuring Santiago Giraldo and Alejandro Falla
The match between the Ukraine and Belgium, which will be played on neutral ground in Tallinn, will feature Sergiy Stakhovsky and David Goffin.
Another match which will take place on neutral ground will be played by Israel and Argentine who travel to Sunrise (Florida). Leonardo Mayer, Carlos Berlocq, Horacio Zeballos and Federico Delbonis will try to continue the tradition of the Argentine team who have played in the World Group every year since 2001.
