The Most Intriguing Matches to Watch at Davis Cup 2016
The 2016 Davis Cup quarterfinals get underway Friday and although most of the top-ranked players will sit this round out, there will still be some sweet rubbers to watch.
Serbia hosts Great Britain in Belgrade. Neither Andy Murray nor Novak Djokovic will play for their countries. However, Murray did make the trip to cheer his team on.
Watching from the sidelines will be difficult for Murray. The Wimbledon champion told the Telegraph's Simon Briggs, “I obviously would have loved to have played. But it was going to be quite a tight turnaround and after chatting to my team I wasn’t going to be able to do it. I am happy to be here and just try and help, but it’s tough not to want to hit some balls."
The Brits are defending Davis Cup champions who must rely on Kyle Edmund and James Ward to handle Djokovic-less Serbia. Janko Tipsarevic, a former No. 8, heads up the Serbs.
In Pesaro, Italy, Fabio Fognini and Juan Martin del Potro, headline this tie between the Italians and Argentinians. Del Potro is Argentina's best player, but he is being reserved for doubles, for now.
The U.S. hosts Croatia in Beaverton, Oregon. Led by John Isner, the Americans are trying to move into the semifinals for the first time since 2012.
The Czech Republic welcome the French to Trinec for an indoor, hard court tie. The French team, coached by Yannick Noah, lacks its usual all-star lineup—Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Giles Simon won't be playing.
However, they have Wimbledon quarterfinalists Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille. The French also have the men's doubles champions, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. Jiri Vesely and Lukas Rosol are slated to play singles for the Czech Republic.
The lack of the game's biggest names and the scheduling—squeezed in between Wimbledon, the U.S. Open Series and the Olympics—makes it easy for tennis fans to ignore Davis Cup. They'll be doing themselves a disservice.
The atmosphere in these smaller venues will be electric and some of these matches are too good to ignore. The following are the most intriguing matchups to watch this Davis Cup weekend.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Lukas Rosol
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This match pits the game's lovable Tsonga against Lukas Rosol, one of the most hated players on the ATP World Tour.
Tsonga is 17-6 in Davis Cup play. The veteran Frenchman is 6-2 on hard courts and 11-3 indoors in Davis Cup play. Rosol is 9-8.
Tsonga leads the career head-to-head 3-1. Rosol won their last meeting in three sets in Vienna last year.
Expect some hard-hitting. Tsonga is coming off an epic quarterfinals showing at Wimbledon in which he pushed Murray to a fifth set; Rosol lost a long five-setter to Sam Querrey in the first round.
The French vs. Czech Republic Doubles Duel
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Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert just won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon. It's their second Grand Slam title. They are now ranked No. 1.
Still, they'll have a tough time against doubles specialist Radek Stepanek and his partner Adam Pavlasek.
Pavlasek, 21, is ranked No. 711 in doubles and No. 111 in singles. However, Stepanek excels in doubles and has won 18 career titles. He partnered with Nenad Zimonjic to reach the third round at Wimbledon, where they lost to brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.
If this tie comes down to doubles, the Czechs could substitute Pavlasek with Jiri Vesely, who lost to Tomas Berdych in the fourth round at Wimbledon. Berdych, the Czech Republic's best player, is not on this team.
The Czechs will be mindful that it was the French who knocked them out in the semifinals in 2014. The Czechs were two-time defending champions at the time.
Lucas Pouille vs. Jiri Vesely
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In a matchup between two of the best up-and-coming players on the tour, 22-year-old Pouille vs. 23-year-old Vesely should be a fun watch.
Both men left Wimbledon having gone further than expected. Pouille reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Berdych, who had beaten Vesely in the previous round.
It will be a contrast between Pouille's fundamentally sound Gasquet-like precision and Vesely's booming big-shot power.
Although ranked No. 21, Pouille's name rarely comes up in the "next big thing" conversation. Here's a chance for fans to see a player under 25 who plays old-school tactics in the baseline-bashing era.
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Jack Sock vs. Marin Cilic
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Marin Cilic was on the losing side of one of the most memorable moments at Wimbledon. The 2014 U.S. Open champion held a two-set lead over Roger Federer before the Swiss master came roaring back.
Cilic will have to put that painful loss behind him if he and his Croatian teammates hope to get past the U.S. team. Cilic, No. 12, is the highest-ranked player in this tie.
Cilic is 32-5 against American opponents, including a 5-0 record against Isner.
But Cilic is taking nothing for granted. He told DavisCup.com, “It’s going to be my first match (against Sock) and it’s in the Davis Cup, especially that it’s a quarterfinal group. It’s obviously a big occasion. And it being the first day it’s going to be a live rubber before everything is decided. He’s very dangerous and has a lot of potential. I’m hoping I can get a first point for Croatia.”
John Isner vs. Borna Coric
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In the other match against the Croats, Isner's serve will be tested against the talented teen Borna Coric.
Coric, 19, is on a three-match losing streak. However, those loses have come to compatriot Ivo Karlovic, David Goffin and Roberto Bautista Agut, respectively.
Isner is coming off a marathon loss to Tsonga at Wimbledon. That match is indicative of Isner's game. His serve is difficult to break. However, he finds it difficult to break a more mobile, athletic opponent.
If warranted, the more intriguing matchup could be against Sock and Coric. Right now, these guys represent the future of both their countries.
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