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  • Davis Cup preview - Russia vs. Serbia

    2/7/08 2:58 PM | Cheryl Murray
    - Neither team can be pleased with having drawn the other. This match up would have been a delicious final, but here they are, meeting in the first round.

    Novak Djokovic and the Serbian Davis Cup team heads to Moscow to take on Russia. Russia won the Davis Cup in 2006, beating the United States and they were finalists last year, losing the the US. With Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko at the helm for singles, Russia is very difficult to beat. Especially at home.

    Heading into this first round tie, Serbia lost one of it's star players. Janko Tipsarevic, the hard hitting youngster who very nearly beat Roger Federer at the Australian Open, is out of this round of Davis Cup with a thigh injury. Taking his place in the line up is Viktor Troicki. This is something of a blow to the Serb team, who will now have to rely almost entirely on Novak Djokovic.

    With Tipsarevic in the lineup, I think Serbia would have had a good shot at beating the Russians. Djokovic would certainly be favored to win both of his rubbers, and Tipsarevic is most certainly capable of beating both Davydenko and Youzhny if he has a good serving day. Without him however, the Serbian team lacks the depth of the Russians. Troicki will have a difficult time with the more experienced Russians.

    Serbia's best hope is that they can squeak out Saturday's doubles match, though this seems unlikely. Russia to prevail 3-2.

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