Davis Cup Semifinals and Playoffs Wrap

World Group Semifinals

Czech Republic 4 @ Croatia 1 -- Winning the first three rubbers of the semifinal, Tomas Berdych was left with nothing more to do on Sunday than eat some tasty looking ice cream on the sidelines.  The clay surface the Croatians picked is still an inexplicable choice to me, and one that gave them little chance of winning.  Berdych and Stepanek are far more competent clay courters than Karlovic and Cilic, and the Croats are lucky their matches were as close as they were.  The Czechs will almost certainly play on clay again in the final against Spain, and should have a good shot at giving the defending champions a scare.

Israel 1 @ Spain 4 -- As expected, Spain trounced Israel to make its second straight Davis Cup final, getting the chance to defend its title at home vs. the Czech Republic in December.  Even a neutered Spanish squad without their top two players (Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco) steamrolled the Israelis.  The way Spain demolished Israel makes Russia's loss to them in the quarterfinals look all the worse.  Spain will go into the final as heavy favorites, but the Czechs should put up more resistance than the Israelis.  Berdych and Stepanek are at least capable of beating anybody on the Spanish team, Nadal and Verdasco included.  It should be a surprisingly competitive final.

World Group Playoffs:

France 4 @ Netherlands 1 -- This tie looked like it had the potential to be interesting early on, with Thiemo de Bakker stunning a sleepy Gael Monfils to put the orange clad Dutch on top early.  But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga restored order, defeating de Bakker and Jesse Huta Galung in singles and teaming with Michael Llodra to win the doubles, carrying France on its way to keeping its much deserved spot in the World Group.

Uzbekistan 0 @ Serbia 5 -- Serbia did not need the services of Novak Djokovic to dispatch Uzbekistan, with Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki taking care of business in singles before Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic finished off the Uzbeks in doubles.  Kudos are in order for Ilija Bozoljac, the craziest player in the ATP next to Daniel Koellerer, for picking up a win in the deadest of fifth rubbers.

Ecuador 3 @ Brazil 2  -- This is a pretty terrible loss for Brazil, but especially for Thomaz Bellucci, whose straight sets loss to Nicolas Lapentti was the difference maker.  Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa also should have been able to beat the Lapenttis in doubles, but the majority of the blame for this loss has to fall on Bellucci.

Switzerland 3 @ Italy 2 -- Roger Federer showed up to this tie for Switzerland, which tells you everything you need to know.  It was never clear why Federer pulled out of doubles after saying he would play it.  Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control his urge to reenact his bizarre gold medal celebration with Stan Wawrinka?

Romania 2 @ Sweden 3 -- Pretty straightforward win for Sweden, who with the much-improved play of Robin Soderling finally look like they deserve the World Group spot they've held for so long. Romania would have been an easy win for whomever they faced, so probably best to leave them out of the World Group.

Austria 2 @ Chile 3 -- The most competitive tie of the weekend was between Austria and Chile, the latter without their star Fernando Gonzalez.  Nicolas Massu is at his best when playing under the Chilean flag, and was able to defeat Stefan Koubek in four sets in the deciding fifth rubber.  Paul Capdeville also was impressive in his first live Davis Cup action, pushing Jurgen Melzer and getting a win over Stefan Koubek. Given how fun he would be as a teammate it's not surprising that Daniel Koellerer was left off the Austrian team, but as his ranking continues to rise it will be tougher and tougher to rationalize playing without him.

India 4 @ South Africa 1 -- A soft draw for both countries, giving India an opportunity to have Somdev Devvarman carry them into the World Group for the first time in over ten years.  I thought South Africa would be able to get some singles wins out of Wesley Moodie and Kevin Anderson, but instead they relied on weaker options in Izak van der Merwe and Rik de Voest, neither of whom played particularly well.

Ukraine 2 @ Belgium 3 -- Again a soft draw for both countries, which somebody had to win.  I'm willing to bet that the three games Sergei Bubka managed to win in his 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 loss to Steve Darcis set a record for fewest games won in a deciding Davis Cup fifth rubber match.   That's a choke of decidedly epic proportions.

Well below the World Group playoff level, one noteworthy result from the relegation to Europe/Africa Zonal Group I Relegation matches:

Poland 3 @ Great Britain 2 -- Andy Murray won his two matches, but #302-ranked Daniel Evans was unable to win so much as a set against his two comparably ranked Polish opponents, spelling doom for the British Davis Cup team on home soil in Liverpool. The Brits' loss sends them to the bowels of Davis Cup, Europe/Africa Zonal Group II.  Europe/Africa Zonal II, for those unfamiliar with Davis Cup structure, is the home of such tennis powerhouses as Monaco, Egypt, and Turkey.  Of all the problems that plague the LTA, this inability to stay respectable in Davis Cup might be the most telling.  For a country that hosts the biggest tournament in the world, the ATP World Tour Finals, and features the current ATP #3, not being able to find a player to defeat Michael Przysienzy is beyond inexcusable.  Tim Henman or Greg Rusedski, years into retirement, would have been able to come back and win a match in this tie easily.  This is the country that gets to wild card seven of their own into Wimbledon? Ridiculous.