Davis Cup - World Group Playoff - GBR v Austria - 19-21 September 2008

Count Zero · Tennis legend

RE: Davis Cup - World Group Playoff - GBR v Austria - 19-21 September 2008

Salmon · Tennis legend

John Lloyd said: I firmly believe that I have picked the team that stands the best possible chance of getting us back into the World Group in 2009."

We may as well as quit if Andy injures himself (may it never happen) as Jamie will play singles then. As much as I like Jamie and think him to be a player capable of being fringe Challenger level in singles, he doesn't have the experience to do anything against a top 300 player in a Live rubber.

And Jamie/Ross are far from guaranteed a win against Knowle/whoever they play. They won't even be the favourite, actually.

I bet that that was extremely difficult to figure out, so we should excuse them.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

I just don't get the team that's been selected....

Presumably we aren't going to play Ross and Jamie in the doubles, as they don't play together and have no experience of partnering each other, but if not, then I don't know why both have been selected.

Surely Andy +1 is the most likely way to win the doubles tie, as I think that's the crucial rubber, as Murray should win his 2 singles matches, as everyday of the week I'd take Knowle/Melzer to beat Hutchins/J Murray, but not neessarily Andy and Jamie, or Andy and Ross.

It's a huge confidence boost for Boggo though, not to select any other player, as Lloyd is saying that he trusts Boggo to play a 5th rubber, if it comes to that, as Ross can't play singles, as Jamie Murray shouldn't be playing live rubbers.

Boggo vs. Peya will be the 5th rubber, and he's saying that he thinks Boggo will win (or that he's the best chance of winning that match), even if the press get on his back after losing to Melzer (which I expect he will do).

I still think we'll get 1 rubber out of the doubles and Boggo, but not so confident after seeing the selection (and maybe the fact we've gone with this team shows that there's no depth available to win matches at ATP level)

I'd have picked Goodall ahead of Ross to be honest, as he can play doubles if needed, and he'd be a decent back-up singles player

Count Zero · Tennis legend

if alex loses but plays like he did against bolleli then i really hope he doesnt get critiscised, just have to keep him away from the media. the lta bods didnt get on his case following that match just the press - like the question right afther the match about having his funding cut - just a b*tchy (was a female who asked) one for the sake of knocking the sport.

peya is a winnable match, but it will come down to pressure, would be great if we go into that martch 2-1 up (so its played at 4th match - is that possible?)

i agree is a strangish selection and poor josh is left out again, i think ross played with jamie in argerntina didnt he? i think maybe ross got a bit tight, but perhsp this timer with a biot more epxerince on the tour he could do better. however i's stil be verry suprised if they played, the way i see it:

at 1-1 then he will want AM in there to give us a best chance to take a 2-1 lead remvoing some of the pressure from boggo

at 2-0 he will want AM to see if we can wrap it up.

and at 0-2 then he will need andy to pull off a miracle and hope boggo holds firm.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Count Zero wrote:

if alex loses but plays like he did against bolleli then i really hope he doesnt get critiscised, just have to keep him away from the media. the lta bods didnt get on his case following that match just the press - like the question right afther the match about having his funding cut - just a b*tchy (was a female who asked) one for the sake of knocking the sport.

peya is a winnable match, but it will come down to pressure, would be great if we go into that martch 2-1 up (so its played at 4th match - is that possible?)

i agree is a strangish selection and poor josh is left out again, i think ross played with jamie in argerntina didnt he? i think maybe ross got a bit tight, but perhsp this timer with a biot more epxerince on the tour he could do better. however i's stil be verry suprised if they played, the way i see it:

at 1-1 then he will want AM in there to give us a best chance to take a 2-1 lead remvoing some of the pressure from boggo

at 2-0 he will want AM to see if we can wrap it up.

and at 0-2 then he will need andy to pull off a miracle and hope boggo holds firm.

4th match will be Murray vs. Melzer (number 1 vs. number 1), so it would come down to Boggo in a 5th rubber.

I think the doubles match is a must win really, as I'd fancy Boggo to beat Peya normally, but maybe not in a DC 5th rubber given he's previous DC performances.

I'd expect it to be 1-1 after day 1, so they'll go with Andy and Jamie in the doubles (unless Andy and Ross beat Nestor/Zimonjic today, in which case they'd be the better option) to try and get the doubles win and take the pressure off Boggo.

Even at 2-0 up, Andy will play to try and stop it going into a 3rd day.

And if we're 2-0 down, then it means Andy has lost to Peya, which none of us can even comprehend something as bad as that happening

seagull · Hall of fame

FD - please check your pm's

Count Zero · Tennis legend

ooo ooo can i check my pm's?

oh i did, nothing there :(

James · Satellite level

Seagull - Come on now, share it with the class...!

A rather baffling decision from J Lloyd there however it may turn out to be an excellent one if Hutchy and Andy turn out to be an immense dubs pairing; by winning their R2 match, or at least taking it to 3 sets. And although having two dubs specialists may seem pointless, would having Boggo and Goodall be of any more use, is the latter capable of beating any of the Austrian team? Especially considering the circumstances under which he would play...

steven · Tennis legend

I hope everyone's getting in training to sing Boggo's coming home when he beats Peya!

Count Zero · Tennis legend

i know most of the words, i can mumble the rest.

edit: could print out lots of lyric sheets and give to the murray bunch (if they'd agree to sing it - after all its not about murray) that huge group of them could make some noise if they acted in unison.

-- Edited by Count Zero at 16:06, 2008-08-29

Count Zero · Tennis legend

theres an article in the dialy mail, with a few comments from lloyd:

He (alex) is fired up for it and wants to show everyone what he can do,' said Lloyd. 'We think he can play well in the Davis Cup even though he has had some experiences that he has not enjoyed as much as we would like. He has learned a lot and we saw glimpses of what he can do against Argentina in February.'

Lloyd did, though, admit that his options were disappointingly limited in a men's game that is not showing the same gradual improvement being seen among the British women.

'Unfortunately, nobody has really broken away from the pack this summer, which is what we wanted to happen,' he said. 'Alex has had the best summer and I didn't think anyone else had done enough to justify making it a bigger squad.'

link to full article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-1050725/Depth-problem-Lloyd-forced-Davis-Cup-gamble-Bogdanovic.html

Count Zero · Tennis legend

the article also includes this line:

....there is no place for improving British No 3 Josh Goodall until he mends a few fences with potential team-mates.

so maybe something going on there we dont know about?

Count Zero · Tennis legend

a bit of investigation, aparently josh had a major falling out with the murryas over the queens dub's WC's. aparently he was furious ross got one ahead of him and blames the murrays

wolf · Tennis legend

Count Zero wrote:

a bit of investigation, aparently josh had a major falling out with the murryas over the queens dub's WC's. aparently he was furious ross got one ahead of him and blames the murrays

Ross didn't get a wild card for Queens, he played in Warsaw that week. The queens wild cards went to A.Murray/Vallverdu & Hood/Nadal.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

this is what the article said:

The damage has yet to be repaired from a major falling-out that took place last year at the Queen's Club Artois tournament over the allocation of doubles wild cards to British players.

Goodall was furious not to receive one ahead of Ross Hutchins and blamed Murray for lobbying on Hutchins' behalf. The two are long-time friends and were playing together in the first round of the US Open doubles against Thai brothers Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana.

With Jamie Murray siding with his brother, Goodall, who also narrowly missed out on a wild card for this year's Wimbledon, has found himself out in the cold.