(I ran a search for "davis cup" and this came up. Obviously I couldn't resist.)
Weird to think Davis Cup is only a week away. Here are the World Group nominations:
CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLIC
Venue: Sportska Dvorana 'Zatika', Porec, Croatia (clay – indoors)
CROATIA
Marin Cilic
Ivo Karlovic
Roko Karanusic
Lovro Zovko
Captain: Goran Prpic
CZECH REPUBLIC
Radek Stepanek
Tomas Berdych
Jan Hernych
Lukas Dlouhy
Captain: Jaroslav Navratil
SPAIN v ISRAEL
Venue: Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort, Murcia (clay – outdoors)
SPAIN
Rafa Nadal
David Ferrer
Tommy Robredo
Feliciano López
Captain: Albert Costa
ISRAEL
Dudi Sela
Harel Levy
Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram
Captain: Eyal Ran
The Croatia/Czech tie should be really interesting. Hard to pick one there but I'd have to give the edge to the Czech Republic if Steps and Dlouhy play dubs together. As for Spain and Israel, Fernando wanted a break and is obviously struggling with injuries so he's out. Not that they really need him. Have fun on the clay, Israel.
The lineups for the World Group Playoff ties after the jump.
CHILE v AUSTRIA
Venue: Medialuna Monumental, Rancagua, Chile (clay – outdoors)
CHILE
Paul Capdeville
Nicolas Massu
Jorge Aguilar
Guillermo Hormazabal
Captain: Hans Gildemeister
AUSTRIA
Jurgen Melzer
Stefan Koubek
Alexander Peya
Julian Knowle
Captain: Gilbert Schaller
BELGIUM v UKRAINE
Venue: Spiroudome, Charleroi, Belgium (clay - indoors)
BELGIUM
Christophe Rochus
Olivier Rochus
Steve Darcis
Xavier Malisse
Captain: Reginald Willems
UKRAINE
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Ivan Sergeyev
Sergiy Bubka
Illia Marchenko
Captain: Orest Tereshchuk
BRAZIL v ECUADOR
Venue: Ginasio Gigantinho, Porto Alegre, Brazil (clay – indoors)
BRAZIL
Marcos Daniel
Thomaz Bellucci
Marcelo Melo
Andre Sa
Captain: Francisco Costa
ECUADOR
Nicolas Lapentti
Giovanni Lapentti
Carlos Avellan
Julio Cesar Campozano
Captain: Raul Viver
NETHERLANDS v FRANCE
Venue: MECC Maastricht, Netherlands (clay – indoors)
NETHERLANDS
Thiemo de Bakker
Jesse Huta Galung
Raemon Sluiter
Igor Sijsling
Captain: Jan Siemerink
FRANCE
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jeremy Chardy (replaces Gilles Simon)
Gael Monfils
Michael Llodra
Captain: Guy Forget
SOUTH AFRICA v INDIA
Venue: Ellis Park Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa (hard – indoors)
SOUTH AFRICA
Rik De Voest
Izak Van Der Merwe
Wesley Moodie
Jeff Coetzee
Captain: John-Laffnie De Jager
INDIA
Somdev Devvarman
Rohan Bopanna
Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes
Captain: Shiv Prakash Misra
SERBIA v UZBEKISTAN
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia (hard – indoors)
SERBIA
Viktor Troicki
Janko Tipsarevic
Iljja Bozoljac
Nenad Zimonjic
Captain: Bogdan Obradovic
UZBEKISTAN
Denis Istomin
Farrukh Dustov
Murad Inoyatov
Vaja Uzakov
Captain: Petr Lebed
SWEDEN v ROMANIA
Venue: Idrottens Hus, Helsingborg, Sweden (hard – indoors)
SWEDEN
Robin Soderling
Andreas Vinciguerra
Simon Aspelin
Robert Lindstedt
Captain: Mats Wilander
ROMANIA
Victor Hanescu
Victor Crivoi
Andrei Pavel
Horia Tecau
Captain: Andrei Pavel (player)
ITALY v SWITZERLAND
Venue: Centro Sportivo "Valletta Cambiaso", Genova (clay – outdoors)
ITALY
Andreas Seppi
Simone Bolelli
Fabio Fognini
Potito Starace
Captain: Corrado Barazzutti
SWITZERLAND
Roger Federer
Stanislas Wawrinks
Stephane Bohli
Marco Chiudinelli
Captain: Severin Luthi
So Roger's playing to help Switzerland stay in the World Group. Something tells me he's going to help them go for the Cup next year. And Nole's sitting out, presumably because if Serbia can't beat Uzbekistan without him, what's the point, really?
