Davis Cup Surprises (to me at least)

So I guess I don't know much when it comes to predict Davis Cup.  I only predicted one tie correctly of the four quarterfinal matches.  For the second straight Davis Cup weekend, we had some epic doubles rubbers, this time with both North American rubbers going down 15-13 in the 4th.  Read below for my wrap up as the semis and World Group playoffs were set.

World Group Quarterfinals

CAN 3 ITA 1 - Here's the one I did predict correctly, thanks to Canada's big names coming through.  Raonic won his singles rubbers and Nestor/Pospisil came through in the doubles, 15-13 in the 5th.  Seppi got the only Italian point, coming from two sets down to beat Pospisil.

SRB 3 USA 1 - For the second consecutive tie, the Bryans brothers lost the doubles, this time 15-13 in the 5th and it cost the Americans the tie after Querrey came from 2-1 down to beat Troicki.  Djokovic won his two singles matches and Zimonjic/Bozoljac pulled the massive upset.

ARG 3 FRA 2 - Monaco came up big to beat Simon on day 1 and then Nalbandian/Zeballos won the doubles to put Argentina up.  Tsonga kept France in it but then Carlos Berlocq became the hero with a live 5th rubber win over Simon in 4 sets.

CZE 3 KAZ 1 - Stepanek sat out day 1 but Hajek and Rosol still won the two singles matches over Golubev and Kukushkin, which I thought was a shocker.  The Kazakhs salvaged the doubles but then Rosol clinched the tie over Korolev, who subbed in.

Semifinal lineup:  Canada at Serbia, Argentina at Czech Republic

Europe/Africa Zonal Group I

Promotion ties:

GBR 3 RUS 2 - In an absolute coup, the British came from 2-0 by winning the doubles and getting massive upsets from Ward and Evans.  Daniel Evans (#325) won the 5th rubber over Evgeny Donskoy (#80) in straight sets.  The other three singles matches went 5 sets.  (Donskoy had come from 2 sets down to beat Ward 8-6 in the 5th on day 1.)  Now the Brits hope Murray will show up for the playoffs.

POL 3 RSA 1 - Janowicz won both his singles for the Poles while the South Africans salvaged some pride from de Voest beat Kubot on day 1.

NED 5 ROU 0 - Hanescu nearly came from 2 sets down on day 1 against Sijsling but that was the only bright spot for the home side.

UKR 3 SWE 2 - This tie took an unlikely turn when world no. 642 Eriksson beat Molchanov.  Then the Swedes won the doubles to go up 2-1.  Eriksson then won the first set from Dologopolov, but the Ukrainian won the next 6 sets to make playoffs.  Sergiy Stakhovsky came off the bench to win the live 5th rubber over Arvidsson.

Relegation playoffs:  South Africa at Slovenia (loser plays Russia), Sweden at Slovakia (loser plays Romania)

Americas Zonal Group I

Promotion ties:

ECU 3 CHI 2 - Capdeville won singles and doubles to put Chile up 2-1 after only their 16-yr-old Garin fell 9-7 in the 5th to Campozano.  But then Capdeville was injured and had to pull out of the potential clinching match and Emilio Gomez defeated Garin in 4 sets in the live 5th rubber to move Ecuador to the playoffs.

COL 5 URU 0 - Falla and Giraldo were no match for the Uruguayans, but the doubles match did last 5 sets.

Relegation tie: Chile at Dominican Republic

Asia/Pacific Zonal Group I

Promotion ties:

AUS 3 UZB 1 - There was no heroic effort from Istomin but instead Tomic was the hero, winning both his singles matches and Hewitt/Ebden won the doubles in Uzbekistan.

JPN 3 KOR 2 - This was too close for comfort for Japan after they won both singles on day 1.  The Koreans won the doubles and then world no. 445 Lim stunned no. 86 Soeda to force a live 5th rubber.  Japan was rescued by Tatsuma Ito, who lost only 6 games in the 5th rubber against Cho.

Relegation playoffs:

CHN 5 TPE 0 - Without their best players, the Taiwanese came up short.

IND 5 INA 0 - With Devvarman and Bhambri on singles, India didn't lose a set.

Relegation tie:  Indonesia at Taiwan

Europe/Africa Zonal Group II

Promotion playoffs:

FIN 3 IRL 2 - This actually was a sweep after Heliovaara beat McGee in 5 sets set the tone for the visiting Finns.

BLR 3 MON 2 - Monaco went up 2-1 when they won the doubles.  Gulbis evened the tie but then Lisnard had to retire in the live 5th rubber against Andis Juska.

MDA 3 BIH 1 - Radu Albot won three ties for Moldova, including a 5 set win over Dzumhur in the clincher.

POR 5 LTU 0 - Without Berankis, Lithuania had no shot.

Relegation ties:

BUL 3 EST 0 - Even without Dimitrov, Bulgaria cruises past a Zopp-less Estonia

BLR 3 TUN 2 - Jaziri did his part in the singles, but came up short in the doubles against Mirnyi/Bury.  Egor Gerasimov won the live 5th rubber over Abid, 6-4 in the 5th.

LUX 4 HUN 1 - Gilles Muller won three ties for Luxembourg, climaxing with a 9-7 in the 5th win over Balazs (Attila the Hun) in the clincher.

CYP 3 BEN 2 - Baghdatis won his first singles and doubles but didn't play on day 2 but Klegou won two ties for Benin.  16-yr-old Petros Chrysochos came through for the hosts in the live 5th rubber, dropping just 2 games against Yakpa.

Promotion ties:  Finland at Latvia, Portugal at Moldova
Teams relegated to Zonal Group III:  Benin, Estonia, Hungary, Tunisia

Americas Zonal Group II

Promotion playoffs:

ESA 3 MEX 2 - In a real stunner, El Salvador swept Mexico to make the group final, with Arevalo brothers combining to win 2 ties each.

VEN 4 PER 1 - An easy sweep for the hosts.

Relegation ties:

BAR 3 PUR 1 - Darian King won three rubbers, dropping just one set, to keep the nice Barbados story going as they stay in Group II

GUA 4 HAI 1 - Diaz-Figueroa won three rubbers for the hosts, including a 5-set doubles match.

Promotion tie:  Venezuela at El Salvador
Teams relegated to Zonal Group II:  Haiti, Puerto Rico

Asia/Pacific Zonal Group II

Promotion playoffs:

NZL 4 PAK 1 - This tie was awarded to New Zealand after the court was deemed unplayable with Pakistan having won the first rubber and leading in the second.

PHI 4 THA 1 - Udomchoke won the only point for the Thais but lost the 4th rubber to Gonzales.

Relegation ties:

SRI 3 LIB 2 - Dineshkanthan Thangarajah won the live 5th rubber for Sri Lanka over Alayi to overcome the two points won by Lebanese no. 1 Beidas

KUW 3 SYR 2 - Ghareeb won three matches for the hosts.

Promotion tie:  New Zealand at Philippines
Teams relegated to Zonal Group II:  Lebanon, Syria

Lithuania, Tunisia, Benin, Haiti, and Syria are making immediate returns to the lower groups.

World Group Playoff teams:  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine