[henwal_of_sweden]

Swedish Davis Cup captain Thomas Enqvist would like Nick to play Davis Cup for Sweden if possible, since Nick have swedish parents.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportblade...icle6457658.ab

I don´t know how serious this statement is, but for us in Sweden it would be really great to get a player like Nick , specially now when Swedish tennis is virtually only Robin Söderking.

[ace ventura]

Wow what an amazing offer for Nick ,,,,

[Matchu]

Originally Posted by henwal_of_sweden

Swedish Davis Cup captain Thomas Enqvist would like Nick to play Davis Cup for Sweden if possible, since Nick have swedish parents.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportblade...icle6457658.ab

I don´t know how serious this statement is, but for us in Sweden it would be really great to get a player like Nick , specially now when Swedish tennis is virtually only Robin Söderking.

Wow with the form Nick has been in lately it wouldn't even suprise me if he goes and plays for Sweden given he is still a long way off making the Australian Davis Cup team.

[Audacity]

Huge offer for Nick if it is indeed true. He is looking like a top 100 prospect for the future so it would be dissapointing if he does choose to play for Sweden.

[StatRacket]

Originally Posted by Matchu

Wow with the form Nick has been in lately it wouldn't even suprise me if he goes and plays for Sweden given he is still a long way off making the Australian Davis Cup team.

It's crazy to think that Sweden's second highest ranked player is 28 year old Andreas Vinciguerra ranked 242. Lindahl is 239.

[jmf07]

Definitely a tempting offer for Nick but I'm a bit surprised Sweden is chasing him. Sure he is in good form and looks like a decent prospect but they have Soderling, Vinci and Pim Pim and they don't have any problems with their Doubles. Plus they will have Daniel Berta in a couple of years.

His Australian DC prospects look doomed as long as Woodbridge is at the helm it seems (Woodbridge didn't seem to have a high opinion of him when commentating in Sydney) and with him not being one of Tennis Australia's favs I think it would be hard for him to reject such an offer from a top tier DC team.

[jmf07]

An australian article on it.

Stockholm syndrome: Swede talkers eye off our Davis Cup orange boy LINDA PEARCE
January 26, 2010
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One for the future ... Lindahl beat Bernard Tomic in a wildcard play-off last month to earn a place in the main draw for the third time. Photo: Getty Images

Australia may be forced to fend off a Swedish recruiting raid on promising youngster Nick Lindahl, as two of the faded powers of world tennis prepare to jostle for the allegiance of the Malmo-born athlete whose family emigrated to NSW when he was three months old.

If Australia's tennis stocks have become depleted in recent years, then one of the leading nations of the 1980s has fallen on even harder times. With Joachim Johansson and Andreas Vinciguerra both beset with injuries, world No.8 Robin Soderling is the only Swede in the men's top 200.

Lindahl, ranked 235th, would thus become an instant No.2. Ola Lindahl, a business consultant, his wife Linda and sons Davis and Nick live in lakeside Eleebana, 10 minutes from Newcastle, having migrated from Sweden in 1988.

''Why couldn't he be able to do like [Greg] Rusedski?'' asked Sweden's Davis Cup captain Thomas Enqvist, a reference to the native Canadian with the English mother who represented Britain for the majority of his career. ''But it's important where he has his heart.''

Enqvist's deputy, Magnus Larsson, told Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet: ''We're interested. No doubt about that. We're not going to Australia, so the federation will have to act.''

Larsson said contact had been made with Johan Sjogren, the sports director of the Swedish Tennis Federation.

Lindahl could not be contacted yesterday, although his coach Marc Kimmich said he was unaware of any approach. Nor was there any comment from Tennis Australia, although the athletic Lindahl is not the type of player it would wish to lose. The 21-year-old travelled to Switzerland as a hitting partner, or ''orange boy'', for the Davis Cup team in early 2006, although is yet to earn squad selection, and is not considered a contender for the March tie against Taiwan.

A finalist in the Australian Open boys' event in 2006, Lindahl beat Bernard Tomic in a five-set final of the wildcard play-off last month to earn a place in the main draw for the third time, but lost to Finn Jarkko Nieminen while troubled by a shoulder injury in the first round. He qualified for the Brisbane International this month, and was granted a wildcard into the Sydney International.

Two weeks ago, Soderling, the French Open runner-up, was asked at Kooyong's AAMI Classic about the flagging fortunes of both Sweden and Australia, and replied that his country's small population was part of the reason it had been difficult to unearth and develop players of the quality of Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander or Stefan Edberg, or even the recently retired Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman.

''But I think it's going in the right way again, and we have a lot of good juniors coming up, so hopefully in a few years' time we have at least a few more guys on tour,'' Soderling said.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/s...0125-muj3.html

[ace ventura]

H would be nuts not to take up this off , as TA have pretty much made it clear they have the youngs ones now as there best generation in 20 years !!

I would still cheer for Lindahl Im sure every one would , you have to be selfish to make it in this game and use whatever resources you can get.

It is so expensive .

[save ausdecline]

Europe. He'd be able to have access to the good coaches in Europe.

[Matchu]

Originally I thought there was no reason why Lindahl wouldn't take this offer but then it hit me, if Lindahl does go and play for Sweden in Davis Cup (They play Argentina in the first round which would be difficult for Nick to win a match) and lets say from then onwards he doesn't do much for the year and maintains a ranking around the 200 mark and doesn't do much at Sweden's ATP Bastad and Stockholm.

It would then mean he would not play the Australian wildcard playoffs and would have to play qualies for Brisbane and Sydney and would almost definetly lose him a lot of fans if he was to qualify for the Australian Open. IF Nick honestly believes that he can get his ranking inside the top 100 by the end of the year then go for it but smart money says continue with Australia to continue playing Grand Slams.

[jmf07]

The Davis Cup will be an amazing experience for him though. Playing against guys like Del Potro and Nalbandian with a sell out passionate crowd behind him. And then he has the opportunity to do this year after year. Not to mention he will get to learn from some of the Swedish greats. Plus I'm guessing he would receive more funding than he is now (if he is getting any) even though the Swedish Tennis Federation isn't in a great financial position.

He may lose some Australian supporters but don't forget he will be representing Sweden. In terms of supporters they are one of the best cheersquads you could ask for. Even if he stayed Australian he would still be playing qualies of Brisbane, Sydney and Australian Open. But if he played for Sweden he would most likely get entry to two ATP tournaments.

Unfortunately it is a no brainer for him if he feels comfortable representing Sweden instead of Australia.

[Audacity]

Originally Posted by StatRacket

It's crazy to think that Sweden's second highest ranked player is 28 year old Andreas Vinciguerra ranked 242. Lindahl is 239.

I honestly see no reason why Vinciguerra isn't being chosen by Sweden to represent Davis Cup. He is a former world number 33 and in my eyes a top 50 - 75 player without question. He has only played 8 tournaments in the last 12 months, but he did qualify this week for Zagreb ATP and is a handy clay court player.

[Audacity]

Meanwhile... Lindahl has beaten the promising Henri Kontinen 6-1 6-1 in Burnie. Good work.

[jmf07]

Fantastic win

Originally Posted by Audacity

I honestly see no reason why Vinciguerra isn't being chosen by Sweden to represent Davis Cup. He is a former world number 33 and in my eyes a top 50 - 75 player without question. He has only played 8 tournaments in the last 12 months, but he did qualify this week for Zagreb ATP and is a handy clay court player.

Yeah I don't understand it either. I thought they would be selecting guys like Vinci and Pim Pim for the second position and by the time they are done Daniel Berta will be coming through. Maybe they dont want to run the risk of injury. Other than that I'm not sure.

[henwal_of_sweden]

Originally Posted by jmf07

Fantastic win



Yeah I don't understand it either. I thought they would be selecting guys like Vinci and Pim Pim for the second position and by the time they are done Daniel Berta will be coming through. Maybe they dont want to run the risk of injury. Other than that I'm not sure.

Pim Pim is not active at the moment. He and his wife (or fiancee, im not sure..) just had their 1:st kid a month ago and he have not played any tennis at all recently. To go out and play JMDP and Nalbandian is just to ask for more injuries. Vinciguerra is plagued by injuries and he cannot play to much tournies because his knees suffer to much. Then we have Daniel Berta, but i´m not sure he will make the big league unfortuantely. His game lacks to much power. His serves , both 1:st and 2:nd are just owned by his opponents.
We have a couple of more young guys that plays future-events and so on, but we really really really needs a young guy like Lindahl..

He would get WC´s to the Swedish Open in Båstad and Stockholm Open in both singles and doubles. Maybe those events could be just enough for him to win a couple of matches and get some nice points and get into the top 100 and don´t need to play the qualis at GS-events.

Then again, the moral aspect of this,, i mean it´s tennis australia who have done the hard work and deserves to "get" Lindahl, but if the guy have no chance of playing DC, then i feel it´s ok for him to play for us