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World Team Cup Playoffs(Level 1)
** Chile(22nd) vs. South Africa(7th) -- This is an interesting matchup, a repeat of a Level 2 SF which South Africa won 3-2 a couple months ago. Chile just promoted up to Level 2 this past year, so they're going for back-to-back promotions. South Africa was demoted two years ago in a close playoff, then lost an attempt to get back up last year, also a close one. History repeated itself here, with South Africa winning again 3-2. Mqabukonyongolo Nkomo(32nd), who makes my keyboard groan every time I have to type out his name, is the key difference here. He's recently surpassed Alex Beamer as the highest-ranking player ever from his nation, and his five-set win over Ronald Coca on day four was the biggest factor.
** China(37th) vs. Austria(30th) -- You may remember that last year China made the top level for the first time in their history, quite an achievement. They then lost 14 of 15 rubbers in our tough group, also not a surprise, so they are back here to defend their position. Austria, meanwhile, has not done well in the post-Hammerstein era. They narrowly stayed up at the top level against South Africa last year, but they're back again on the hot seat. China isn't great, but without Hammerstein, Austria could not produce a singles player in the Top 400. That's not going to cut it here, and they got crushed 5-0.
** Denmark(8th) vs. Serbia(16th) -- Denmark has been a ping-pong ball in recent years. They narrowly lost to Austria three years ago to drop down to Level 2, and have been back in the playoffs every year since trying to get back up. So far, it's been without success. Serbia is another Level 2 team that's been gradually improving. They didn't make it out of their group three years ago, lost in the quarterfinals two years ago, lost in a playoff where they were blanked by France last year ... is this the time for them to break through? The answer to that question was another one of the young-ish group moving up, Petko Ljaljevic(36th). He was by far the best player, getting two wins to pace Serbia to a 3-2 victory. A third straight promotion playoffs loss for Denmark, and they'll have to keep trying.
** Mexico(23rd) vs. Russia(12th) -- Mexico's been just barely hanging on in the top tier for a while now; this is their fourth playoff in the past five years. They've won all the others, despite never coming close to making it out of their group. It's pretty much Andres Guardado(38th) and nothing else for them. Russia has a strong history; this was their 13th straight year in Level 1, which puts them in pretty good company. It's been seven years since they've made it out of group play though, and there have been a couple of playoff appearances in there. On paper, Russia is probably the best nation of the eight in these playoffs; they are the only one to have two Top 100 players, which is usually about the cutoff for being good enough to be in the top tier. None of them are as good as Guardado though, and this was on clay rather than their preferred hardcourt. Add to that a quality Mexican doubles team, and they pulled the 3-2 'upset' here. For the first time in almost a decade and a half, Russia will not be part of the Level 1 field next season.
So it was an active week with South Africa and Serbia moving up, Austria and Russia moving down. Coming up, we'll get started with the end-of-year rankings and other similar things.
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