Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
This three-day Davis Cup weekend is the showcase for the storied and often beleaguered competition. We're down to the Final 8, which is the most interesting stage for tennis, given that the first round always has a number of mismatches.
Still, the first round isn't a mere formality. Just look at some of the warriors who'll be playing in the obscure "zonal" playoffs starting today, instead of on the bigger World Group stage: Lleyton Hewitt, Mario Ancic, Fernando Gonzalez, Weerapat Doakmaiklee …
What, you never heard of Weerapat Doakmaiklee? OK, I haven't either. But I threw that in there to celebrate the international spirit of Davis Cup. Thanks to the open-to-all-comers nature of Davis Cup, Thailand's Doakmaiklee will get a chance to play Australia's Hewitt. It might be the guy's thrill of a lifetime, or the beating of a lifetime, probably both.
Not too many pundits would pick Weerapat to emerge from this weekend as the latest of Davis Cup's numerous unsung heroes (just look under "Y" for Youzhny, who was an unknown when he upset France's Paul-Henri Mathieu in the critical winner-takes-all fifth rubber of the 2002 final round -- and in Paris, no less). But let's take a look at the four World Group matches and pick players who might unexpectedly come up big in the Davis Cup crucible -- especially if the Roddicks or Nadals of this world falter.
Radek Stepanek: The Czech Republic is up against a formidable Russian squad led by newly crowned Key Biscayne champion Nikolay Davydenko. The team includes wildly unpredictable and badly slumping Marat Safin (himself a former hero in this competition). Although the Russians are hosting on clay and Stepanek likes to press the action at the net, he's an emotional guy and natural born upset maker who's given stiff opposition to some more highly ranked players in previous Davis Cup ties.
David Nalbandian: You might think that this top 10 star is too good -- and famous -- to be an unsung hero, especially against Sweden. But take a good look at Argentina's Davis Cup record, and Nalbandian's own flagging results, and you'll see my logic. Argentina has been the (pre-2004) Boston Red Sox of Davis Cup, always contending, never winning. Sweden has always punched above its weight in the competition. Nalbandian has won exactly five matches in the three major events of 2008 thus far (Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami Masters). Leading Argentina past Sweden and on to its first Cup win would do wonders for Da-veed's reputation everywhere.
Philipp Kohlschreiber: Spain is a prohibitive favorite in this tie, with Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer slotted to play singles. The only caveat is that the tournament is being played on an indoor hard court in Germany, and we know what Kohlschreiber is capable of on that surface (he tagged Andy Roddick in the Australian Open on a similar court). Besides, Kohlschreiber has shown himself an able Davis cup warrior, with a 5-2 record in singles (including a five-set win over Davydenko), and his singles stablemate is the ever-dangerous Nicolas Kiefer.
Michael Llodra: With Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet having pulled out of the indoor, hard-court Winston-Salem tie versus the U.S., the door is open for this so-called doubles specialist. However, Llodra has been on fire as a singles player this year and the stage is set for him to seize his day in the sun. Don't laugh. This guy has two singles titles already this year -- one of them in the big indoor event in Rotterdam.
Best bet: Kohnschreiber.
Peter Bodo
