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110K views 2K replies 74 participants last post by  Brad1973 
#1 ·
I thought it might be useful to start a thread for Davis Cup discussions.

Next up is Ecuador, July 8-10.

So who do we send? (I am asking who we would send, not who Laurendeau will pick since many of his recent choices have been inscrutable, to put it politely).

Ecuador of course has long been looking forward to el bombardero: see http://www.diario-expreso.com/ediciones/2011/03/29/deportes/mas-deportes/el-bombardero-raonic/ (I like the fact that this piece suggests Raonic is the main reason for choosing clay – as if a Latin American country ever picked anything but clay against our guys!)

Apart from Raonic, Nestor is there of course, unless he is not available.

I don’t see any signs of players getting themselves ready for the clay (Pospisil, Polansky and Bester are all signed up for hard court challengers in the weeks of Wimbledon). And for the week of DC, Dancevic is signed up for Newport, where he has a QF to defend.

But really when you look at the players Ecuador has to choose from, you can understand that we wouldn’t be taking extreme measures to get ready: http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx?d=06.06.2011&c=ECU&r=0#. The remaining Lapentti is the only guy they have in the top 350, and he seems to be having problems – recently he’s been retiring from a match almost as often as he completes one.

I would encourage Dancevic to play Newport, and go with Nestor and Pospisil in doubles and bring along Polansky, with a view to playing either Peter or Vasek in the singles.
 
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#598 ·
30%?

Even if we assume that Milos only has a 90% chance to win each of his matches. That's a 81% chance to win both. multiplied by the 70% chance that we get 1 of the other 3 matches then we still have 57% chance to win.

At worst the tie is 50/50, there's no way we're the underdogs
 
#602 ·
That's 1 of the other 3 matches that we needed.

You gotta think that Milos will win his final match. Can't get overconfident though. Hopefully we can wrap it up tomorrow.
 
#604 ·
Unbelievable stuff from Frank. :worship:

Doesn't feel all that long ago when we got beat on the final day against Ecuador, or needed a guy we had barely heard of before to stay in Group 1 in Peru. Wild to see how quickly things have changed. One more point to get, hopefully Milos can cruise through, as despite tonight I'd still rather not depend on Frank in a decisive fifth rubber.
 
#605 ·
Unbelievable stuff from Frank. :worship:

Doesn't feel all that long ago when we got beat on the final day against Ecuador, or needed a guy we had barely heard of before to stay in Group 1 in Peru. Wild to see how quickly things have changed. One more point to get, hopefully Milos can cruise through, as despite tonight I'd still rather not depend on Frank in a decisive fifth rubber.
Oh c'mon, if he plays even nearly as well as he did today he will take it.
 
#608 ·
MaratandMilos;13272833[B said:
]But there's very little reason to think he will, though. This is Frank Dancevic we're talking about. He's well known for those flashes of great play in a inconsistent career. You certainly wouldn't want to put the entire tie on him, he could (and likely would) fail under the pressure of the moment as he has for much of his career.[/B]

No, the tie will most likely still comes down to Milos getting done what he should get done. He'll need to do better than today to win, but if he serves well on these courts, it's tough to see Granollers beating him. Just doesn't have the same weapons.

Would be nice to get a surprise doubles win so neither of the matches matter, though.
Typical Canadien negativity, he didn't fail today. :rolleyes:
 
#610 · (Edited)
It's Canadian. It's also not negativity (not that there wouldn't be a multitude of reasons to be negative in Frank's case), it's realism. It's not like he can be expected to just repeat perhaps the greatest performance in a tennis match he's ever had, especially considering his history of failing in big situations.

If I remember correctly, though, you were the one who said Pospisil was in better form and should have been put in over him. Fortunately for the team, Laurendeau made the right choice.
 
#612 ·
With that win, Frank will move into the top 150. If he gets a live win on Sunday, he'll move into the top 130. WG DC points are huge for lower ranked players (outside of top-100), almost meaningless for top-30 players. Say, here is a proposal. How about DC changes the rules that home team can change order of Sunday singles to whatever home team wants. This way, if we lose doubles today, we put Frank up first and he has a chance to clinch the tie and gain another 40 ranking points (a 40 points that Milos doesn't really need anyways). As an added bonus, Frank wouldn't have the pressure of a 5th rubber (if it comes to that) ... think he'd have a much better chance to pull off two massive performances in a row that way.

BTW, anyone have a link of highlights to Frank's match. I was out & he finished it so fast I missed the whole thing :-( .
 
#613 ·
Amazing Frank :worship:

When he was 2 sets 0 I bet my brother he'll lose and fortunately I lost the bet, I remembered the match against Garza in Mexico, and two against Mello (Davis Cup and Wimbledon), but this time was different.

Hope doubles can close the series today, but if not I'm sure Milos won't fail tomorrow
 
#623 ·
Yeah, I read the report. It's not PC but I've seen that too many times to get worked up. Youngsters here are using that term that way too. :tape: He could have handled the criticism way better though. :eek:

It feels like I keep jinxing the team. :sad: and now I'm worrying if Vashy has enough energy to go through 5th set.
 
#625 ·
Oh well, it will come down to Milos now. I wouldn't have it any other way and I'm sure he wouldn't either. Playing a pressure match that means something can only help with his development.

I believe he will also move to a career best #12 if he wins tomorrow and Cilic loses (to Seppi).
 
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