Davis Cup

Hello there. It was only about a week without tennis and I'm already missing it. In next 3 days we will have Davis Cup finals where Czech will play vs Spain. I won't be doing picks just for Davis cup, but I'll write some thoughts about it.

Home team are Czechs with Berdych and Stepanek in singles (Rosol is substitution) and probably Berdych/Stepanek in doubles even thou Minar and Rosol are officially listed for doubles, but I really doubt Stepanek will not play doubles. Spain is playing with Ferrer and Almagro in singles (F. Lopez is very angry that he wasn't been choosen) and M. Lopez & Granollers in doubles. (winners at WTF in doubles in London).  Czechs have choosen very fast indoor hard court in Prague as they see their chance in fast surface (both Stepanek and Berdych prefer fast courts).

Bookies have Czechs as the favourites, but It will be a tough competition and I definitely don't see Czech the favourites just because they are hosts and with Spain as the last years winners.

The day starts at 16.00 with a clash of Stepanek vs Ferrer and then followed at 18.00 with Berdych vs Almagro.

Both favourites (Ferrer@1.19 and Berdych@1.17) look waaay to low considering the importance of the matches and that it's 5-sets match. I believe Stepanek will want to have a better start then Ferrer as I don't see him sneaking the win by getting from behind. So, a lay from the start should be quite efficient as 1st set might go into Stepanek's favour and then he can be carried on on the waves of the home crowd. In reality i more likely see Ferrer getting back after losing first set and getting win at the at 3-1 or even 3-2 for Ferrer. <

Berdych and Almagro had some nasty stuff in their recent H2H matches and this game will definitely not be a friendly match. I see tight sets (some tie-breaks too) in this match but eventually Berdych will win it, but Almagro will be certainly up for it, as he doesn't want to disappoint media as Feliciano Lopez is very angry that Almagro was choosen to play instead of him. If that was the right decision from Alex Corretja we will see today, but Almagro will try to prove that he was the right choice. Berdych to win 3-1 or 3-0 in tight sets, but Berdych will definitely trade higher then starting 1.15.

BTW: I'm also working on my new page which will see the light of the day somewhere in the middle of December with a massive over -50% discount offer for new members. Check my blog for some new info about that or drop me an e-mail to mitja.gruber@gmail.com