Ancic to face Davydenko first in Split

Ancic to face Davydenko first in Split
The draw for the Croatia v Russia Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Semifinal tie has been made and is as follows:

Mario Ancic (CRO) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) v Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
Mario Ancic/Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) v Mikhail Youzhny/Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Mario Ancic (CRO) v Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)

The stunningly beautiful and historic city of Split, which has the Mosor Kozjak Mountains as a backdrop with the city spilling towards the pristine aqua coloured waters of the Adriatic Sea, is Croatia’s second largest city. It is a city that is celebrating its 1700th anniversary this year and is regarded as the premier sports centre in Croatia.

It’s no wonder when one considers the fact that they have a good football team, a good basketball team and it is the birthplace of four of the nation’s finest tennis players - Zeljko Franulovic, Niki Pilic, Mario Ancic and the country’s best ever player, 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic. In fact the four tennis players were born and raised within a couple of streets from one another and developed their tennis at the 50-year-old Tennis Club of Split.

For the second round in succession Split is hosting a Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie. In July Croatia defeated Romania in the quarterfinals and this weekend Pilic will captain Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic against Russia at the Gripe Sports Centre, an indoor facility that will seat 4,500 fans. The tie will be played on a quick carpet surface that both teams are satisfied with.

The draw for the semifinal was done in the stadium’s VIP area and the first match of the weekend has Mario Ancic playing Nikolay Davydenko, followed by Ivan Ljubicic against Mikhail Youzhny. The doubles on Saturday will see Ancic and Ljubicic team up against Youzhny and Dimitry Tursunov. The reverse singles will have Ljubicic against Davydenko first with the semifinal being closed out by Ancic and Youzhny.

“I feel very good. The last tie against Romania I played first match as well and I know what to expect. I’m ready and I think I did my best preparation I could, and from my point of view I have done everything I could,” said Ancic.

“It’s hard playing three days running but this is Davis Cup. I have done a good preparation physically and I am going into this feeling confident. The Russian team is really strong and it will be a battle out there.

“The first match will be really important because both teams are going to try to play good from the first match. Nikolay has had a very good year - he is a top ten player. It is always a challenge to play especially in front of a home crowd, but I have been playing good the last couple of weeks and I will try to take this good from in to the match. It will be extremely hard but I hope to have great support from the crowd.”

The Croatian captain Niki Pilic explained that this was a very difficult tie for both teams. He believes that every match is “pretty open”. He hopes and expects his players to play with inspiration.

Davydenko says he is very happy to be playing the first match. He likes the fact that he knows his starting time will be 1pm and not have the uncertainty of when to be absolutely ready, which would be the case if it was the second match.

“It is five set match so you could be waiting one hour, three hours or five hours. I will play and finish and see the second match with Youzhny,” said Davydenko.

“We are not playing in Moscow, we are playing in Ancic’s home so he will be tough to beat. He plays good on fast court inside so for me it will be important to have concentration like you have in clay court.”

Youzhny said he didn’t think the court was too fast. Before arriving in Split he thought the Croats would have made the court very fast. He said against Belarus last year the court was much faster, in fact that court was like lightening.

“This is Davis Cup and it will be tough to play Croatia because whoever is home has the advantage, but we have chances to beat them, we have a great team,” said Youzhny. “We haven’t lost before the match starts.”

Going into the first day of action, Ancic and Davydenko have met once before on clay in St. Polten, Austria, last year and the Russian won, while Ljubicic won the only match he and Youzhny have played. That too was on clay, last year in Hamburg.


http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=13363