The Davis Cup is a unique tournament as players come together to form a team to represent their country. The fact that players are not playing for themselves and are playing for their country and their team mates can bring out the best in players. John Isner had played Roger Federer twice before their Davis Cup meeting in the previous round and had never come close to beating the Swiss star. When they met that day Federer took the first set and it looked like Isner would again fall short. However, the team mates on the sideline, the coach court side, the support of the Americans in the crowd and the honour or representing his country brought the very best out of Isner and he got the biggest win of his career and has since beaten Novak Djokovic and reached the Indian Wells final. The Davis Cup gives players a new found confidence that can catapult players to the peak of their abilities. Janko Tipsarevic has soared to the top ten since winning the tournament with Serbia a few years ago and Fernando Verdasco went on to have arguably his best year after he won the decider the year before. It's the tennis equivalent to the football World Cup or the NFL Superbowl. The pride players feel wearing their national colours is something they simply cannot get on the regular tour. Juan Martin Del Potro was in tears after losing to Ferrer in five long sets in the first rubber of last years final. People who watch the regular tour but not Davis Cup are missing out on the magic and in my opinion the quality in the weeks of Davis Cup are on a par with the quality on show in the grand slams.
Next weekend sees the prestigious event reach the quarter final stage as Spain take on Austria, France take on the USA, Serbia face the Czech Republic and Argentina play host to Croatia. This week is the first time in the history of the Davis Cup that all four ties are being played on clay. Normally teams will play on clay if they have clay specialists, like Spain and Argentina, but with the clay court season kicking off in the next few weeks the chance to play on the red dirt will attract some players who may have been considering whether they should play or not.
The pick of the four matches is without a doubt the meeting of USA and France in Monte Carlo Country Club (where the third Masters 1000 event of the season takes place the week after). This is the 16th meeting between the sides with USA leading 8-7. France captain Guy Forget has chosen to play on the clay of Monte Carlo as they look to reach a third consecutive semi final. Normally that would be a great decision against the USA but the Americans are coming off the back of a huge win over a Swiss side containing Federer and Wawrinka on clay in Switzerland. Confidence must be at an all time high for the States. France have got six players inside the top 50 in the world and that depth is generally unheard of in the Davis Cup. Tsonga and Monfils have been chosen as the singles players and they will have to face Mardy Fish and John Isner. Isner is certainly the form player of the four after beating Federer on clay in his own back yard in the last round and then beating Djokovic in Indian Wells. Picking the outcome of these singles matches is almost impossible. All four players are in the top fifteen and three in the top ten. The doubles is where we can start to predict the winner of this meeting. Bob and Mike Bryan are always going to be fancied to win their doubles match and although they do face a tricky pairing of Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra I think they should still win that one. So then the USA just need to find two singles wins. Tsonga will fancy himself to win both his matches but I remember his match with Rafa on clay last year in Davis Cup and he was crushed. He had no answer to Nadal at all and that was while Nadal's confidence was at an all time low after so many losses to Djokovic. I think Isner will beat Tsonga but Fish will fall just short. The other two ties are going to depend on which Gael Monfils turns up. He can be outstanding or he can average. If he plays the defensive game he so often does then I think both Fish and Isner could beat him. I expect him to play slightly more aggressive with his team mates and the crowd behind him and that should be enough for him to overcome Mardy Fish but John Isner is going to be the difference and I think he will defeat Monfils giving the USA the win and only their second victory on French soil, the first coming back in 1982 in Grenoble when John McEnroe, Gene Mayer and Peter Fleming defeated the French team on Yannick Noah and Henri Laconte. 3-2 USA.
The Czech Republic and Serbia face off for the eleventh time in their history next weekend on the clay of the O2 Arena in Prague. The decision to play on clay is almost certainly to try play to the weakness of the Serbian side rather than their own strengths as they don't possess any real clay court specialists. The thinking behind playing on clay for me is that Berdych should be able to defeat Tipsarevic and Troicki on clay easier than on hard courts as the Serbians much rather hard courts and so they should be able to pick up two points easily while Stepanek will have a good chance of beating both Serbians on clay too. The doubles is a clear weak spot of the Serbian side despite the presence of Nenad Zimonjic (doubles world number 6) and the transition to clay is likely to cause them more problems. The Czechs should win this tie simply because Berdych is a better singles player than Tipsarevic and Troicki, and Stepanek is likely to beat Troicki. I think this one won't reach a deciding rubber and the Czech side will wrap up the victory in the fourth match or possibly the doubles tie. 4-1 Czech Republic.
Argentina are looking to finally win the Davis Cup and currently hold the record of the most number of final appearances without a win. Last year they were beaten in the final by Spain after Del Potro was beaten in a fifth set against David Ferrer before losing to Nadal in four while Monaco was uncompetitive against Nadal. This week they have Delpo back to bolster their squad althought without him they won 4-1 against Germany. Del Potro and Monaco are likely to play the singles after Monaco's good run in Miami. I personally think Nalbandian has to be a strongly considered option. He was outstanding in Inidian Wells and at times in his encounter with Nadal he looked back to his best. The clay would be another test of his physical state but he passed with flying colours in the previous round. Argentina are unbeaten in Parque Roca and I don't see any problems for them this time around. Marin Cilic looked like he might be hitting some form last week but I still don't think he'll beat Delpo and Monaco will fancy beating him on clay too. I can't see how Croatia can win any of these matches on clay against this Argentinian side and I genuinely think Argentina will win it 5-0. They will certainly win it and the only time I could see Croatia winning a match would be a dead fifth rubber. 5-0 Argentina.
Defending Champions have got David Ferrer back in their squad for their tie with Austria. Home advantage for Spain is almost like giving them a match head start before the tie even begins. Even without Nadal the chances are no country is going to have two singles players to beat Ferrer on clay and so that's at least one win but normally two singles wins to start with. Their second man without Nadal is likely to be Almagro who is nine times out of ten going to beat at least one singles player on clay. When it comes to doubles they can compete with anyone once the red dirt is there. That's what makes them an unstoppable force at home and that's why they have a 22 game win streak at home. Austria usually have Spain's number in Davis Cup but this is without a doubt the strongest squad Spain have ever had. Nadal, Ferrer, Almagro, Lopez, Granollers and Verdasco are all able players and the fact is they can afford to rest players at any stage of the tournament once their at home. Indoor hard courts are the only way a team can really trouble Spain but until their drawn away it's unlikely they'll ever be playing on that surface. Austria have Jurgen Melzer in their side and he is the man they will look to to win both his singles matches but in reality Ferrer will beat him and Haider-Maurer without any trouble. Marach and Peya are likely to be the doubles pairing although Melzer may take the place of Peya in an attempt to win a match. On clay I'm afraid Austria will be no competition at all for Spain and it's likely we'll see Spain demolish whatever Austria throw at them. 5-0 Spain.
I would strongly recommend that everyone who follows tennis watch the Davis Cup to see the players at their best and see what it means for them to represent their countries. This week has some potentially great matches and I think the quality on show will be as good as the majority of grand slam matches this year.
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