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Old 12-26-2015, 03:56 PM   #221
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
World Team Cup Quarterfinals

Matchups

The first quaterfinal looks like a travesty at first glance, with #1 Czech Republic facing off against #2 Spain. But the Spaniards are very much a paper-only #2, as we demonstrated in group play; since they didn't even win their group, they get a tough draw although it could have been easier than this.

#12 Austria against #7 Germany(on clay). Austria, without Hammerstein who has sworn off WTC play for a while now, on Benda's favorite surface? They have no chance.

#3 United States vs. #9 Mexico(indoor). The surface doesn't really matter here; Mexico doesn't have the horses. The US features Hogue(No. 4) and Gaskell(No. 6); their opponent is fortunate to be here as they don't have a Top-50 singles player.

#14 Sri Lanka vs. #19 Serbia(clay). Another talent mismatch; Serbia's singles players are 46th and 87th in the world; even on clay that's not good enough.

Monday: A. Mehul d. R. Mrakovic, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4
Tuesday: G. Girsh d. H. Radisic, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
Wednesday: S. Kucerovic/S. Kelecevic d. G. Girsh/A. Mehul, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(6)
Thursday: A. Mehul d. H. Radisic, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0
Friday: G. Girsh d. R. Mrakovic, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1

Sri Lanka defeats Serbia, 4-1!!

A typical win for us, four easy singles win and the loss in doubles. All three of the other ties were just as one-sided; by the end of Thursday, the four semifinalists were determined. There were no surprises, with the Czech Republic defeating Spain 4-1, Germany blanking Austria 5-0, and the US 4-1 over Mexico.

We move up a spot to 14th. The semifinals in two weeks will feature #1 Czech Republic against #7 Germany, and #3 United States against us, both on ... clay. This is a definite advantage for Germany who has a real chance for the upset now over the defending champions. For us, it's a small disadvantage. Hogue isn't much of a clay-courter but neither are we; Gaskell has some skill on the dirt and will be a tougher customer. The US figures to have doubles locked up, so to win, we need Mehul to take both his matches and Girsh to upset one of the Americans, probably Hogue is the most likely. This is not an impossibility but we are definitely underdogs at this stage. Probably 2:1 in favor of the United States. We'll see how it goes.
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