Davis Cup 2013 - E-A Zone Group I R2 - GB v Russia - 5-7 April

paulisi · Tennis legend

RE: Davis Cup 2013 - E-A Zone Group I R2 - GB v Russia - 5-7 April

indiana · Tennis legend

Ed Corrie is very in form...at futures level.

Ward & Baker routinely play at a higher level, and have had their successes including at the start of this year.

While they both appear to have gone rather off the boil, there is no doubting for me that they should both be picked ahead of Ed.

steven · Tennis legend

The GB team has just been announced - no surprises (not for me, anyway, I don't know what everyone else was expecting!):

James Ward WR 208
Jamie Baker WR 209
Jonny Marray DWR 16
Colin Fleming DWR 28

-- Edited by steven on Tuesday 26th of March 2013 12:47:39 PM

steven · Tennis legend

Russian team nominations:

Dmitry Tursunov WR 71 (doubles 278)
Evgeny Donskoy WR 78 (doubles 244)
Igor Kunitsyn WR 159 (doubles 439)
Victor Baluda WR 425 (doubles 441)

RJA · Hall of fame

steven wrote:
The GB team has just been announced - no surprises (not for me, anyway, I don't know what everyone else was expecting!):

Jamie Baker
Colin Fleming
Jonny Marray
James Ward

Never really in doubt was it?

steven · Tennis legend

Not really

I thought Evo might be in with a shout given what he did last year, but I'd have gone with players regularly playing Challengers too, and James and Jamie are well above Evo in the rankings at the moment too.

The most relevant singles head to head is James 0-3 v Tursunov, but James won a set in their most recent meeting (at USO Q last year), which was also their only meeting on hard courts, the other two having been on grass.

If Kunitsyn has to play singles for any reason, that might be helpful - James beat him 4 & 6 in their only previous meeting in qualifying at Los Angeles ATP in 2010 and while Jamie is 1-2 v Kunitsyn, he won their last meeting at the Athens Challenger last year.

Also, when he was playing with Ross, Colin had a pretty good record against pairs that included those in the Russian team and we should be favourites for that rubber.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, for me, the absolutely expected and correct team selection from the availabe players.

Spectator · All-time great

Good team. And I'm really glad for the two "fifth men" And the tournament's not on grass, so Tursunov has less of an advantage than he usually does when he's in the UK! Good all around.

-- Edited by Spectator on Tuesday 26th of March 2013 08:24:23 PM

HossTheBoss · Strong Club Player

Yeah great just hope we can win the doubles to stop a white wash.

korriban · Challenger level

Ed Corrie @edcorrie7 6m

Have been selected to be a 5th man alongside @kyle8edmund for next weeks Davis Cup tie against Russia! Thanks to Leon & the LTA #GB #Pumped

above tweet just in from Ed. Which means he WON'T be entering his Challenger qualifying in France. Also explains why Kyle didn't enter the first wk15 US $15k as planned (and reported by Bob.i.S), because presumably he wouldn't have had time to travel and acclimatise

Not sure if I'm very happy or very unhappy!!!

steven · Tennis legend

I think it's nearly always a bad thing to be a Davis Cup orange boy when you could be out gaining points, but if they're happy and motivated by it, why not.

Bob · Social player

korriban wrote:
Ed Corrie @edcorrie7 6m
Have been selected to be a 5th man alongside @kyle8edmund for next weeks Davis Cup tie against Russia! Thanks to Leon & the LTA #GB #Pumped
above tweet just in from Ed. Which means he WON'T be entering his Challenger qualifying in France. Also explains why Kyle didn't enter the first wk15 US $15k as planned (and reported by Bob.i.S), because presumably he wouldn't have had time to travel and acclimatise
Not sure if I'm very happy or very unhappy!!!

Pleased for them both. Their results have earned them this recognition which will surely motivate them. I like it.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, I'd actually already gone thtough this thought process, that although I thought James and Jamie should be the singles picks, that all things being equal Ed would be a good choice as a 5th man. But that given Ed was due to be giving a challenger a go, they werem't really equal. I kind of concluded that he'd be better playing his challenger.

But, I guess if he's "pumped" and it does really motivate him to push on again after the DC week, then possobly fair enough.

Fairly similar thougjts te Kyle.

So, I guess I'm as clear in my mind about this as other folk LOL

korriban · Challenger level

As long as Ed and Kyle are pumped/honoured by their conclusion, it can only help with their ongoing motivation levels for the year ahead.......what's a single tournament missed in the scheme of things?

Off the fence at last.......and you know, I have a sneaky feeling we may actually be more competitive than at first glance.....what money on a 2-1 lead going into Sunday? I'm impressed with Donskoy, but he's no Youzhny.

steven · Tennis legend

It usually ends up meaning a couple of tournaments missed. But I agree, if it helps them feel noticed and part of it all and they're happy about it (rather than feeling they can't say no), it's got to be good. Ed can probably do with a bit of a break from tournaments anyway.