Davis Cup 2012 - E-A Zone I R1 - Great Britain v Slovak Republic, 10-12 Feb

steven · Tennis legend

Davis Cup 2012 - E-A Zone I R1 - Great Britain v Slovak Republic, 10-12 Feb

seagull · Hall of fame

RE: Davis Cup 2012 - E-A Zone I R1 - Great Britain v tba, 10-12 Feb

steven · Tennis legend

GB play Slovakia AT HOME, winners to play Belgium (venue to be decided by lot)

-- Edited by steven on Wednesday 21st of September 2011 12:11:11 PM

johnnylad · Tennis legend

exciting times. Both winnable

steven · Tennis legend

It couldn't have worked out any better as far as accessible ties go - one of just two definite home ties then the only tie that wouldn't definitely be away, against a team likely to play its home ties in the most accessible capital city from a UK point of view, i.e. Brussels is even closer by Eurostar than Paris.

Of course, this just increases the likelihood of a string of away ties further down the line, but who know which teams will be in the same groups as us in future, so let's just take the accessible ties while we can.

GBR v SVK H2H: 0-1 - GB (Henman, MacLagan, Broad) lost 5-0 to Kroslak & Kucera on clay in Bratislava in April 1995. High time for revenge!

It won't be easy though - SVK's top singles players are Karol Beck WR 75 (though he hasn't played DC for them since failing a drugs test in their semi in 2005), Martin Klizan 89, Lukas Lacko 152, Ivo Klec 236 & Pavol Cervenak 266. Their top doubles players are Michal Mertinak DWR 31, Filip Polasek 37 & Igor Zelenay 61. Could be the odd close rubber in prospect!

If Muzz plays we would be slight favourites, but it would still be an achievement for Wardy to win a singles rubber or for our doubles pair to win. If Muzz doesn't play, it would require a heroic effort to win the tie, but I wouldn't say any of their players are completely unbeatable, e.g. Wardy is 0-1 v Beck (Manchester Challenger 2008, 3 sets) and 1 (grass)-1(clay) v Klec.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

if Beck is in the team they need Boggo as a consultant, he's played Beck 7 (8 if inc a W/O) times in his career!!!

beck is 5-2 in the H2H, but that ;ast 3 have all been pretty close 3 setters. i'm sure in one of them didn;t Beck get pretty fluky in a 3rd set TB or something.

steven · Tennis legend

Davis Cup 2012 - E-A Zone I R1 - Great Britain v Slovak Republic, 10-12 Feb

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
Just confirmed in an email from the ITF that if we got through to play Belgium in R2, that tie would be at home too.

Given the teams we could have faced, the chances of getting a home tie in R1 *and* a potential home tie in R2 were less than 1 in 20! So, just a little jammy.
However, if we lost to Slovakia and they then lost to Belgium, we would play Israel or Portugal away in a relegation tie in September ... but if we lost to Slovakia and then Belgium lost to them too, Belgium wouldn't have won a match either (you have to win your first match, even if it is in R2, to avoid the relegation bracket), so we would play Belgium AWAY on 14-16 September, with the LOSER of that tie playing Israel or Portugal away on 19-21 October and the loser of that tie getting relegated.

Arcane or what? disbelief

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

Arcane maybe, but it does give us an 'extra life' - win any one of 3 ties to stay up.

steven · Tennis legend

So finally, the definitive guide to GB's DC possibilities in 2012:

10-12 Feb

GB play the Slovak Republic at HOME

6-8 Apr

Two possibilities:

a) no tie until Sep <if we lost to SVK in Feb>

b) GB play Belgium at HOME <if we beat SVK in Feb>

14-16 Sep

Various possibilities:

a) no tie (and no more in 2012) <if we lost to BEL in April>

We stay in Group 1 for 2013.

b) a World Group play-off tie <only if we have beaten both SVK and BEL>

We play in the World Group in 2013 if we win, stay in Group 1 for 2013 if we lose.

c) GB play Belgium AWAY <only if SVK have beaten both GBR and BEL>

We stay in Group 1 for 2013 if we win, face a relegation play-off in Oct if we lose.

d) GB play the loser of ISR v POR AWAY <only if SVK have beaten GBR then lost to BEL>

We stay in Group 1 for 2013 if we win, get relegated to Group 2 for 2013 if we lose.

19-21 Oct

GB play the loser of ISR v POR AWAY <only if SVK have beaten GBR in Feb then lost to BEL in Apr and GBR have then lost to BEL in September> (*)

We stay in Group 1 for 2013 if we win, get relegated to Group 2 for 2013 if we lose.

(*) N.B. This is the only scenario in which we would play a tie in October.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

honestly, the above is bonkers. Wouldn't it be so much easier to run some kind of mini league with the winner going up and the bottom place going down. that way you can have definite ties at definite times, plus you get plenty of DC tennis in.

steven · Tennis legend

Count Zero wrote:
honestly, the above is bonkers. Wouldn't it be so much easier to run some kind of mini league with the winner going up and the bottom place going down. that way you can have definite ties at definite times, plus you get plenty of DC tennis in.

I agree, I was thinking that only today (probably just after I caught onto the SVK beating both GBR and BEL possibility!), round robin groups of 3 or 4 with promotion/relegation ties at the end, or even automatic promotion/relegation. It would mean an extra tie for most teams compared to now though, so probably wouldn't be too popular among the players. Plus it all gets a bit unfair if one team gets its best two players out against one opponent but not against another - I know that can happen in football too, but there are 11 players in a football team so it's not quite so critical.

Group 1 is always more confusing than Group 2, simply because the number of teams in the former varies depending on what has happened in the World Group the previous year whereas there are always 16 teams in Group 2. They could of course make it simpler by saying that if you get through to R2, you automatically avoid relegation playoffs even if you got a bye in R1.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

but having your best players out is always going to be a risk isn't it. i agree you have a potential problem of players and choosing ties, but that's the same as we have now anyway, at least with this method you are able to know in advance where you will be playing and when. Perhaps at the start of the year you have to name a 10man team, with a provision that only players under 19 can be then drafted in (bit like they now do in the premier league).

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

Count Zero wrote:
honestly, the above is bonkers. Wouldn't it be so much easier to run some kind of mini league with the winner going up and the bottom place going down. that way you can have definite ties at definite times, plus you get plenty of DC tennis in.

You want to suggest that one to Andy? He'll be out on the picket lines faster than Isner serve.

johnnylad · Tennis legend

I've been looking up South Africans all day. That was a cheeky edit!