Davis Cup Quarterfinals 2014…final day.
Federer remains upbeat despite the Swiss loss yesterday against far less experienced Kazakh doubles team:
“I’m actually very excited for tomorrow,” Federer said. “We are still the favorites for each singles match tomorrow, but with no more margin for error and we’re aware of that.”
Thats the way to look at it I guess after a disappointing loss. In today’s matches we have Wavrinka going up against Kukushkin, a player who’s ranked well below him, but who he has lost against in the past and if Stanislas wins, we have Federer against Golubev who according to the Swiss champ himself is playing very well:
“I’ve been very impressed by him,” Federer said. “He made the difference in the doubles at the end. I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
To me it’s quite clear that Kazakhstan have truly benefitted from having no pressure, being underdogs away and just playing freely, while especially Stan the Man Wavrinka has suffered from nerves, now being the top ranked player in the home nation and thus having to shoulder quite some pressure.
The pressure will be heaviest today though with a must-win situation against Kukushkin. If Wavrinka wins, I’m sure Federer will be able to handle it, but I have my doubts about Stan today. He’s been edgy through the entire tie and if it’s not some kind of injury, it’s definitely a major bout of nerves. Somehow I feel that Kazakhstan will win this already in the fourth match, but I hope that’s not the case.
Two other matches remain exciting. In Italy vs Great Britain we have a truly top match with Andy Murray going up on clay against a man who’s very comfortable on that surface, Fabio Fognini. With the British being 2-1 up, this match seems to decide everything as I think Seppi is the big favorite against Ward in the eventual final rubber.
Murray has really held his own and been instrumental in giving his country the lead, but the question is if he can seal the deal? My prediction is Yes, the Brits will win.
We have a really exciting day in France as well, with Tsonga playing Kamke in a must-win match. Kamke was spellbinding against Benneateau, but Tsonga is a completely different challenge. The question is how good the Frenchman’s nerves are since he didn’t really shine during his first rubber loss. If Tsonga wins, the French are slight favorites with Benneteau taking on Gojowczyk in the final rubber. But Gojowczyk is a tricky player and he beat Tsonga on Friday so – like always in Davis Cup – everything is possible.
In the end, I think the French will take it 3-2.
An exciting Davis Cup day in front of us.
