[fanancic]

Who will win?

I hope that it will be croatia but i think that it will be difficult...
But they have a very good team and if ljubicic and ancic are not injured I think that they will win...

[Checho]

Croatia is the Big Favourite unless the Germans pick clay.

Come On Croatia!!!

[Jimnik]

Croatia would win on clay. Ancic is better than any of the German players on clay and grass. Ljubicic is the best indoor player.

Germany's best option is to play on an outdoor fast hard court, but this probably isn't possible.

[Neely]

Originally Posted by Jimnik

Ancic is better than any of the German players on clay and grass.

On grass yes, but on clay even Kiefer would have a shot against Ancic. And Haas would be the favourite against Ancic to win if both can deliver their normal performances.

Originally Posted by Jimnik

Germany's best option is to play on an outdoor fast hard court, but this probably isn't possible.

true, this would be never possible

[shotgun]

Germany will probably pick indoor clay. Could go either way but I'd give Croatia the edge. Ljubicic thrives on the DC environment and they have beaten Austria (can be compared to Germany) comfortably this year.

[Jimnik]

Originally Posted by Neely

On grass yes, but on clay even Kiefer would have a shot against Ancic. And Haas would be the favourite against Ancic to win if both can deliver their normal performances.

You must be joking. Ancic is one of the top clay players in the world. You really think a clay clown like Kiefer has a chance against him? Even Ljubicic would beat Kiefer on a clay court. And how can we be sure that Kiefer would play at all? The guy does not feel any loyalty towards the Davis Cup cause.

Ancic's weakest surface is a fast hard court whereas Haas, Kiefer and Becker are all very comfortable playing on hard courts. There is no reason why Germany should pick any other surface.

The biggest problem for Germany is having to play the tie indoors.

[Checho]

Originally Posted by Jimnik

You must be joking. Ancic is one of the top clay players in the world. You really think a clay clown like Kiefer has a chance against him? Even Ljubicic would beat Kiefer on a clay court. And how can we be sure that Kiefer would play at all? The guy does not feel any loyalty towards the Davis Cup cause.

Ancic's weakest surface is a fast hard court whereas Haas, Kiefer and Becker are all very comfortable playing on hard courts. There is no reason why Germany should pick any other surface.

The biggest problem for Germany is having to play the tie indoors.

On an outdoor fast hard court Croatia has defeated USA with Roddick, Agassi and the Bryans.

Germany has no chance on hard, Ljubicic and Ancic are better players than the germans on every fast surface.

Do you think Ancic is one of the top clay players in the world???? Are you Kidding, right??

There are a lot of players better than him on clay including Haas, and Mayer is a clay specialist. I´m not saying that Mayer is better than Ancic on clay but he knows very well the surface and he can beat him.

On clay, that tie would be very even, but on fast courts Croatia will win very easily.

I hope that the germans listen to you and pick hard because a croatian victory is better for Argentina.

[Jimnik]

Originally Posted by Checho

On an outdoor fast hard court Croatia has defeated USA with Roddick, Agassi and the Bryans.

Germany has no chance on hard, Ljubicic and Ancic are better players than the germans on every fast surface.

Do you think Ancic is one of the top clay players in the world???? Are you Kidding, right??

There are a lot of players better than him on clay including Haas, and Mayer is a clay specialist. I´m not saying that Mayer is better than Ancic on clay but he knows very well the surface and he can beat him.

On clay, that tie would be very even, but on fast courts Croatia will win very easily.

I hope that the germans listen to you and pick hard because a croatian victory is better for Argentina.

Do you know anything about Ancic? Have you seen his game? Have you seen his results? Can you produce any facts or reasons why Ancic is better on hard courts than on clay?

You're one of these people who automatically assumes that because he has a big serve-volley game and becasue his best results come on grass that he must be a better fast court player. Has it ever occured to you that a player could prefer both grass and clay to hard courts?

Tommy Haas on clay? Are you kidding? Does this ring a bell: http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=86723? His clay record includes losses to such clay specialists as Mardy Fish and Ivo Karlovic.

Check your facts before making such assumptions. Clay is the only surface on which the Croats would be garanteed a 5-0 victory.

[Checho]

Originally Posted by Jimnik

Do you know anything about Ancic? Have you seen his game? Have you seen his results? Can you produce any facts or reasons why Ancic is better on hard courts than on clay?

You're one of these people who automatically assumes that because he has a big serve-volley game and becasue his best results come on grass that he must be a better fast court player. Has it ever occured to you that a player could prefer both grass and clay to hard courts?

Tommy Haas on clay? Are you kidding? Does this ring a bell: http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=86723? His clay record includes losses to such clay specialists as Mardy Fish and Ivo Karlovic.

Check your facts before making such assumptions. Clay is the only surface on which the Croats would be garanteed a 5-0 victory.

Tommy Haas has won 1 title on clay and he has reached the final in Rome 4 years ago.

Besides he has betean many guys on clay like Gaudio, Moyá, Nalbandian, Corretja, Ríos, Safin, Bruguera, etc.

On the other hand Ancic has never won anything on clay and he never defetead anybody.

But the thing is that Ancic chokes every time he plays singles in davis cup, and it's probably that he will lose against Haas on every surface.

Ancic dosn't care, the main problem for Germany is Ljubicic and the best surface to play Ljubicic is clay.

Ivan plays well on clay but he is better on fast courts.

And at last, only on clay the germans can win the doubles.

Croatia is the favourite on clay too, but they are more favourites on fast courts, no doubt about it.

[Jimnik]

The reason Ancic loses in Davis Cup is because he has to play on hard and carpet courts all the time. As I've said many times already, he is better on grass and clay than on hard courts. He is not a fast court player.

The best surface to play Ljubicic, is on grass, not clay. Again, check your facts. Ljubicic has had some decent results on clay recently whereas grass is the only surface on which he always loses.

This is why Croatia is strong on every surface. Ancic is strong on clay and grass whereas Ljubicic is strong on hard and carpet. So they can win 2 singles matches, plus the doubles, on any surface.

[El Legenda]

You can put ljubicic on quick sand..as long as its indoor....he will win

[Jadranka]

What a question .. Croatia

[Jadranka]

Mario and Ivan = the best team

[JMG]

It's not sure if Kiefer will be fit for the tie, he's out for the season already.

[Neely]

Originally Posted by Jimnik

You must be joking. Ancic is one of the top clay players in the world.

I don't deny Ancic can win on clay, at least he did so this season, but it needs a lot more than only one great season on clay with a few quarters or a semi to be called a TOP player on clay.

Originally Posted by Jimnik

Tommy Haas on clay? Are you kidding? Does this ring a bell: http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=86723? His clay record includes losses to such clay specialists as Mardy Fish and Ivo Karlovic.

Well, if you want to play "show me the most pathetic loss of this player" then there would be plenty of links for Ancic's former performances, too
Besides, injuries or sickness can happen to a player always and that's sometimes behind the scoreline.