The final tennis event of 2012 begins tomorrow in Prague, when the Czechs has selected a fast indoor carpet court for the Davis Cup final against Spain. The Czechs have their usual team of Berdych and Stepanek, ranked #6 and #37 in the world with Rosol and Minar in support but it is doubtful they will get any action. The Spanish, playing again without Nadal, counter with Ferrer and Almagro at #5 and #11 in the world. They also have perhaps the secret weapon, Granollers/M.Lopez doubles team, which just won the World Tour Finals on Monday.
In my opinion, this rubber comes down to two matches, the doubles match which pits Berdych/Stepanek and their 11-1 Davis Cup doubles record against the aforementioned Spanish team, which is very hot at the moment, and the fourth rubber between Ferrer and Berdych in the battle of the no. 1s. Ferrer leads their head-to-head 5-3 and believe would need to clinch the tie there because I like Stepanek in a do-or-die match against Almagro on this surface (Stepanek leads head-to-head 2-1). I expect the tie to be split after the first day where Berdych leads the head-to-head over Almagro 8-3 (4-1 in '12) and Ferrer leads Stepanek 6-3 and beat the Czech deep in the 5th set in final in '09 when Ferrer was slumping and Stepanek was near his highest ever rank.
If you asked me a week ago I would have guessed the Czechs win in 5 without beating Ferrer, but now I'm going to say the Spanish win in 4 due to their doubles team. Granollers/M.Lopez is a much better combo than Verdasco/F.Lopez ever was. However, Stepanek is ranked no. 4 in the world in doubles so that should be a good match and I wouldn't be shocked if the home side won. I also question if Berdych will be up to the test mentally. At any rate, I expect an entertaining final with plenty of good tennis.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment