Russian captain selects Safin over Davy??

el sergento · Apr 10, 2008

Russia will start off its tie against the Czechs with Safin and Andreev playing the first singles against Berdych and Stepanek respectively.

And then Davy and Misha will play the doubles and most likely the reverse singles.

So what do you guys think, relying on Safin to open up the festivities against an in form Berdych (semis in Miami)?

It sounds like a recipe for disaster to me and I'm completely perplexed by the move.

Alexio92 · Apr 10, 2008

Davydenko is trying to play for Austria I think.

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

Davy applied for Austrian citizenship. Anyways he does not fit in the Russian head banging and racquet smashing team.

..

Joke of course.

soyizgood · Apr 10, 2008

Alexio92 said:
Davydenko is trying to play for Austria I think.

Are there any good pros playing for Austria? At least Russia is a major power in tennis. Russia/Spain/US are practically the Big 3 now for Davis Cup.

Putting Safin (1-5) over him in singles is a slap in the face (he's #4 in the world and just won a Master's shield). Davydenko and Youzhny are the highest ranked Russians but relegated to doubles? Davydenko is not that great at the net, so maybe he's just roadkill.

Shaolin · Apr 10, 2008

Davy would play for Mexico if they gave him an extra 5 bucks.

cough**SELLOUT**cough

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

soyizgood said:
Are there any good pros playing for Austria? At least Russia is a major power in tennis. Russia/Spain/US are practically the Big 3 now for Davis Cup.

Putting Safin (1-5) over him in singles is a slap in the face (he's #4 in the world and just won a Master's shield). Davydenko and Youzhny are the highest ranked Russians but relegated to doubles? Davydenko is not that great at the net, so maybe he's just roadkill.

Davy is excellent double player as far as I know. He has sweet volleying skills. I do agree it is very odd that Youzhny and him are not the two single players but its Russia you know. I would not be amased if their coach is a white polar bear w/ no experience whatsoever.

hollywood9826 · Apr 10, 2008

I would rather have a consistent and hot Davy playing in the rubber match if it comes down to that.

Less pressure for Safin playin opening match. That is the thought process here I'm sure. i totally agree with that as well.

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

Shaolin said:
Davy would play for Mexico if they gave him an extra 5 bucks.

cough**SELLOUT**cough

He is actually ukrainian and moved to Moscow to learn more. Anyways he is not satisfied with the treatment of the Russian federation and this has nothing to do with the money.

cough**JERK**cough

crazylevity · Apr 10, 2008

daddy said:
Davy is excellent double player as far as I know. He has sweet volleying skills. I do agree it is very odd that Youzhny and him are not the two single players but its Russia you know. I would not be amased if their coach is a white polar bear w/ no experience whatsoever.

Russia's Davis Cup captain Shamil Tarpischev is one of the most cunning and unpredictable coaches around, but he has also the most stellar resume of all the coaches in Davis Cup. Please do read about him before calling him a white polar bear with no experience.

el sergento · Apr 10, 2008

Alexio92 said:
Davydenko is trying to play for Austria I think.

That's surprising given that Austria has some of the highest taxes in the world.

Davy and Koubek are winning the Davis cup in 2010 playing doubles from 6 feet behind the baseline.

Seriously though, Safin?? Why not just start with Andreev and Hanibal Lecto...I mean Youhznhy.

WillAlwaysLoveYouTennis · Apr 10, 2008

hollywood9826 said:
I would rather have a consistent and hot Davy playing in the rubber match if it comes down to that.

Less pressure for Safin playin opening match. That is the thought process here I'm sure. i totally agree with that as well.

Maybe, but seems crazy at first glance.

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

crazylevity said:
Russia's Davis Cup captain Shamil Tarpischev is one of the most cunning and unpredictable coaches around, but he has also the most stellar resume of all the coaches in Davis Cup. Please do read about him before calling him a white polar bear with no experience.

I called him a white polar bear ? I thought I said this about THE Russians in context about them being unpredictable ? Not him personally.

Btw I do think that much of the credit the guy has is down to the players he can pick. I wonder if he could do the same or similar with China for example.

crazylevity · Apr 10, 2008

daddy said:
Davy is excellent double player as far as I know. He has sweet volleying skills. I do agree it is very odd that Youzhny and him are not the two single players but its Russia you know. I would not be amased if their coach is a white polar bear w/ no experience whatsoever.

there you go.

madmanfool · Apr 10, 2008

maybe he is not ready, perhaps jet lag

el sergento · Apr 10, 2008

hollywood9826 said:
I would rather have a consistent and hot Davy playing in the rubber match if it comes down to that.

Less pressure for Safin playin opening match. That is the thought process here I'm sure. i totally agree with that as well.

Going down 0-1 and possibly 0-2 before relying on an unproven pair in doubles sounds crazy to me. Why not just have Davy blow the wind out of a mentally weak Berdych in the opening match that way they go 1-0 and take the oppositions' top player out of the tie??

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

crazylevity said:
there you go.

You missed a part. I said - 'but that is Russia you know. I would not be surprised ... blah blah' ...

So it ment that in Russia you can never be sure about anything.

Vlad · Apr 10, 2008

Why?

1. Kolya only arrived in Moscow on Wednesday and only had 1 or 2 practice sessions on clay court surface. It takes him the longest to adjust to a new surface... in that way he is like Kafelnikov used to be..

2. Misha is not in good form according to coaches, Shamil and other sources.

3. Marat has been playing some good tennis in practice and is beating all of them (including Andreev)

4. Marat has excellent indoor clay court record in DC with only couple matches lost. His level in regular tournaments rarely affect his play in DC matches.

Now, you take all those reasons into consideration and that choice is not that insane afterall.

el sergento · Apr 10, 2008

daddy said:
You missed a part. I said - 'but that is Russia you know. I would not be surprised ... blah blah' ...

So it ment that in Russia you can never be sure about anything.

[In a thick Russian accent] EEEEN ROSHAAAA, BALL HEEETS YUUUU!!!

Vlad said:
Why?

1. Kolya only arrived in Moscow on Wednesday and only had 1 or 2 practice sessions on clay court surface. It takes him the longest to adjust to a new surface... in that way he is like Kafelnikov used to be..

2. Misha is not in good form according to coaches, Shamil and other sources.

3. Marat has been playing some good tennis in practice and is beating all of them (including Andreev)

4. Marat has excellent indoor clay court record in DC with only couple matches lost. His level in regular tournaments rarely affect his play in DC matches.

Now, you take all those reasons into consideration and that choice is not that insane afterall.

Where do you get your info, pretty interesting stuff.

DashaandSafin · Apr 10, 2008

And he will laugh at us all when his cunning, yet unpredictable tactics succeed! All Hail Mother Russia!

crazylevity · Apr 10, 2008

Vlad said:
Why?

1. Kolya only arrived in Moscow on Wednesday and only had 1 or 2 practice sessions on clay court surface. It takes him the longest to adjust to a new surface... in that way he is like Kafelnikov used to be..

2. Misha is not in good form according to coaches, Shamil and other sources.

3. Marat has been playing some good tennis in practice and is beating all of them (including Andreev)

4. Marat has excellent indoor clay court record in DC with only couple matches lost. His level in regular tournaments rarely affect his play in DC matches.

Now, you take all those reasons into consideration and that choice is not that insane afterall.

Well pointed out. Point 1 is clear; Davydenko obviously would take a few days off after winning a big title. From outdoor hardcourt to indoor clay, that is some transition. Point 2: Well, from what we've seen in Miami, Youzhny isn't the calmest and most rational being around, and Tarpischev will take this into account. Point 3 is difficult to substantiate, but point 4 is the most salient. Check the ATP stats.

Deleted member 22147 · Apr 10, 2008

Go Marat! Safin has always been the main man over the last 8 years pretty much, he isn't as good now due to the knee injury but it isn't unusual to still play him, stuff like this happens in sport, between Managers/Captains and their players, they have belief, faith, have thanks to certain players therefore they get a place whether deserving at the time or not, an example can be between Sir Alex Ferguson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Solskjaer wins Man Utd the Champions league and their you go, Regular appearances owed to him for the next 8 years.

Vlad · Apr 10, 2008

el sergento said:
[In a thick Russian accent] EEEEN ROSHAAAA, BALL HEEETS YUUUU!!!

Where do you get your info, pretty interesting stuff.

There are a lot of official and not official sources on internet if you can read Russian..

btw, Kolya also said in interview today that he won't be able to be 100% on Friday anyway because he feels tired from Miami.

el sergento · Apr 10, 2008

crazylevity said:
Well pointed out. Point 1 is clear; Davydenko obviously would take a few days off after winning a big title. From outdoor hardcourt to indoor clay, that is some transition. Point 2: Well, from what we've seen in Miami, Youzhny isn't the calmest and most rational being around, and Tarpischev will take this into account. Point 3 is difficult to substantiate, but point 4 is the most salient. Check the ATP stats.

He's 14-7 on clay and 25-9 indoor. So it's a good record but nothing spectacular, especially on clay.

Leublu tennis · Apr 10, 2008

daddy said:
Davy applied for Austrian citizenship. Anyways he does not fit in the Russian head banging and racquet smashing team.

..

Joke of course.

I guess I missed the announcement. Austria? Talk about wierd. What for? Does he speak Austrian? Whats wrong with Russian citizenship? As an athlete, he can travel and live anywhere he likes. Is there a story behind this?

Vlad · Apr 10, 2008

el sergento said:
He's 14-7 on clay and 25-9 indoor. So it's a good record but nothing spectacular, especially on clay.

Marat Safin is 9-1 on indoor clay court in Davis Cup in singles. This excludes one more loss in dead rubber to James Blake which was meaningless.

Only official loss on that type of surface? It was to Roger Federer in 2002 in Moscow.

el sergento · Apr 10, 2008

el sergento said:
He's 14-7 on clay and 25-9 indoor. So it's a good record but nothing spectacular, especially on clay.

I checked the stats for the rest of the team and everyone is around .500. Safin is the only one with a solid winning record. Davy is 5-5 on clay for example.

So yeah, Safin is their main man.

soyizgood · Apr 10, 2008

Leublu tennis said:
I guess I missed the announcement. Austria? Talk about wierd. What for? Does he speak Austrian? Whats wrong with Russian citizenship? As an athlete, he can travel and live anywhere he likes. Is there a story behind this?

Austrians speak German. Kolya does speak German, but he'd likely play for Germany rather than lowly Austria. In any event, I doubt he'd dump Russia. America can't even pry Sharapova from Russia despite her being Americanized.

soyizgood · Apr 10, 2008

el sergento said:
I checked the stats for the rest of the team and everyone is around .500. Safin is the only one with a solid winning record. Davy is 5-5 on clay for example.

So yeah, Safin is their main man.

Kolya's reached the FO semis 3 times now. I think he knows how to play on clay. I would have selected Davydenko and Andreev for singles as they both do well on clay. Safin better do well. He's already washed up, so he has PLENTY of rest for this match.

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

Leublu tennis said:
I guess I missed the announcement. Austria? Talk about wierd. What for? Does he speak Austrian? Whats wrong with Russian citizenship? As an athlete, he can travel and live anywhere he likes. Is there a story behind this?

I am not really sure to be completely honest but it is not a secret he is not to happy about his citizenship. I dont know why he chose Austrian and weather he has anyone there or just established connections with their federation but the talk which is only a couple of months old was that he is due to get their citizenship and play for them in DC. I would also like to know why Austria of all places and why consider that at all so if anyone knows help is apreciated.

Vlad · Apr 10, 2008

soyizgood said:
Kolya's reached the FO semis 3 times now. I think he knows how to play on clay. I would have selected Davydenko and Andreev for singles as they both do well on clay. Safin better do well. He's already washed up, so he has PLENTY of rest for this match.

Don't mix indoors and outdoors clay courts. Conditions are VERY different.

Shaolin · Apr 10, 2008

daddy said:
He is actually ukrainian and moved to Moscow to learn more. Anyways he is not satisfied with the treatment of the Russian federation and this has nothing to do with the money.

cough**JERK**cough

He tried to play for Germany, now he's trying to play for Austria. The guy is like a door to door salesman, and he'll play for whomever pays him the most. That makes him a sellout. Sorry if you can't handle that fact and have to resort to calling me a "jerk".

Cup8489 · Apr 10, 2008

isnt jurgen melzer austrian?
i like watching him play, for some reason.

for the doubles/singles thing, davy is much better at doubles than safin, and as it has already been established, safin is damn near unbeatable on this surface in DC.

but we'll see how it goes.

daddy · Apr 10, 2008

Shaolin said:
He tried to play for Germany, now he's trying to play for Austria. The guy is like a door to door salesman, and he'll play for whomever pays him the most. That makes him a sellout. Sorry if you can't handle that fact and have to resort to calling me a "jerk".

Apologise for the jerk thing but for me he is just running around trying to drop Russian citizenship. Why - I dont know. Aparently he speaks German so Austria and Germany were obvious choices but it seems to be more about not being a Russian than about which citizenship will he get. As for the money, I do think he has more than enough and the ATP episode with gambling and accusations hurt him very much - to the extent that people think that a guy with 20 or 30 million $$ would change citizenship for money. I just dont think this is about the money.

danb · Apr 10, 2008

Vlad said:
Why?

1. Kolya only arrived in Moscow on Wednesday and only had 1 or 2 practice sessions on clay court surface. It takes him the longest to adjust to a new surface... in that way he is like Kafelnikov used to be..

2. Misha is not in good form according to coaches, Shamil and other sources.

3. Marat has been playing some good tennis in practice and is beating all of them (including Andreev)

4. Marat has excellent indoor clay court record in DC with only couple matches lost. His level in regular tournaments rarely affect his play in DC matches.

Now, you take all those reasons into consideration and that choice is not that insane afterall.

Thanks mate - you seem pretty well informed. I had no clue what is going on.

TNT16 · Apr 10, 2008

Ocean Drive said:
Go Marat! Safin has always been the main man over the last 8 years pretty much, he isn't as good now due to the knee injury but it isn't unusual to still play him, stuff like this happens in sport, between Managers/Captains and their players, they have belief, faith, have thanks to certain players therefore they get a place whether deserving at the time or not, an example can be between Sir Alex Ferguson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Solskjaer wins Man Utd the Champions league and their you go, Regular appearances owed to him for the next 8 years.

Correct. Safin is the Russian DC team's (and thus Tarpishev's) hero - for his role winning the DC for Russia against Argentina (06) including fifth rubber win against Acasuso.

Also he already atoned for his sins by not getting to play against Germany and against the US but still showing up to support the team.

TNT16 · Apr 10, 2008

Vlad said:
3. Marat has been playing some good tennis in practice and is beating all of them (including Andreev).

Wow that really does mean something judging from the way Andreev played against Haas and Kohli on that surface in last year's DC semi . . . I am hoping DC will help turn Safin's thus far abysmal year around for the better.

Absolutely great news for his confidence to have been picked by Tarpishev over Davydenko and Youzhny -- and even better if he is beating them in practice!

lambielspins · Apr 10, 2008

The Russians are complete fools and it will be all the more pleasure to see them lose. Playing big stupid washed up loser Safin over World #4, recent Masters title winner and last years French Open semifinalst on clay Davydenko. What fools, they deserve the ass whooping they will get. They have always shunned Davydenko though anyway so no surprise there, they can go ahead and get sucky results by playing losers like old washed up Safin. Enjoy boys.

unjugon · Apr 10, 2008

What are you guys talking about?
Aren´t you aware that Davy stinks (bad) when playing Davis Cup? If I were the captain I wouldn´t play him again ever.
Though I am not the captain (thank god I am not a polar bear)

Vlad · Apr 10, 2008

lambielspins said:
The Russians are complete fools and it will be all the more pleasure to see them lose. Playing big stupid washed up loser Safin over World #4, recent Masters title winner and last years French Open semifinalst on clay Davydenko. What fools, they deserve the ass whooping they will get. They have always shunned Davydenko though anyway so no surprise there, they can go ahead and get sucky results by playing losers like old washed up Safin. Enjoy boys.

Perhaps it is also a matter of desire... for example, Kolya first went to his home in Germany for couple days after his Miami win and therefore missed most of the practice sessions for DC. It's his choice, but I don't see much desire in him to prepare well for this tie (he himself claims he is not ready)

Marat (and Igor) has been there from day 1, practicing hard.

pound cat · Apr 10, 2008

Please cite the article that says Davydenko is trying to play for Austria. I can't thoink of anyone moving to Austria so they could play for the Austrian DC team.

Anyone who keeps up with tennis news on Eurosport UK would know that Davydenko has been ill all week and Turpischev said he would wait until later to see if /what matches, Davydenko will play. Shamil "The fox" is the master of surprise, and the list currently on the DC site is apt to change half an hour before the first ball is hit to-morrow.

Vlad · Apr 10, 2008

pound cat said:
Please cite the article that says Davydenko is trying to play for Austria. I can't thoink of anyone moving to Austria so they could play for the Austrian DC team.

Anyone who keeps up with tennis news on Eurosport UK would know that Davydenko has been ill all week and Turpischev said he would wait until later to see if /what matches, Davydenko will play. Shamil "The fox" is the master of surprise, and the list currently on the DC site is apt to change half an hour before the first ball is hit to-morrow.

I don't really remember Shamil making changes half an hour before the play on Friday... if it ever did happen maybe only once or so. for Saturday and Sunday it is very possible though.

I say Marat and Igor will take the court tomorrow.

daddy · Apr 11, 2008

pound cat said:
Please cite the article that says Davydenko is trying to play for Austria. I can't thoink of anyone moving to Austria so they could play for the Austrian DC team.

Anyone who keeps up with tennis news on Eurosport UK would know that Davydenko has been ill all week and Turpischev said he would wait until later to see if /what matches, Davydenko will play. Shamil "The fox" is the master of surprise, and the list currently on the DC site is apt to change half an hour before the first ball is hit to-morrow.

You do not need the article becasue we are not talking about right now. This is something which is going on for more than a while. People are just not informed that much about Davydenko but I had this information at least a few months back if not more.

TNT16 · Apr 11, 2008

daddy said:
You do not need the article becasue we are not talking about right now. This is something which is going on for more than a while. People are just not informed that much about Davydenko but I had this information at least a few months back if not more.

He does speak German and he spent some time (years?) training in Germany - that has been in the media for some time now. I believe he has a close relative who lives there.

Austria - why not? With Melzer and Koubek the only "names" on their current DC team chances are Davydenko would be quite welcome there. Germany could be a bit more tricky in this regard.

Vlad · Apr 11, 2008

lambielspins said:
The Russians are complete fools and it will be all the more pleasure to see them lose. Playing big stupid washed up loser Safin over World #4, recent Masters title winner and last years French Open semifinalst on clay Davydenko. What fools, they deserve the ass whooping they will get. They have always shunned Davydenko though anyway so no surprise there, they can go ahead and get sucky results by playing losers like old washed up Safin. Enjoy boys.

What you are gonna say now?

l_gonzalez · Apr 11, 2008

^^^^^ I know, i bet that guy is not gonna post for a while...

To be fair though, i did say in another thread that there was NO WAY Safin could come back from 2-0 down.

pound cat · Apr 11, 2008

lambielspins said:
The Russians are complete fools and it will be all the more pleasure to see them lose. Playing big stupid washed up loser Safin over World #4, recent Masters title winner and last years French Open semifinalst on clay Davydenko. What fools, they deserve the ass whooping they will get. They have always shunned Davydenko though anyway so no surprise there, they can go ahead and get sucky results by playing losers like old washed up Safin. Enjoy boys.

Oh my, how embarrassing to have posted such a message. Yeah, we boys...and girls enjoyed it a whole lot. How about you?

pound cat · Apr 11, 2008

l_gonzalez said:
^^^^^ I know, i bet that guy is not gonna post for a while...

To be fair though, i did say in another thread that there was NO WAY Safin could come back from 2-0 down.

But then at the end of the match you became a great Safin fan & admitted that it was due to you telepathecally advising him that he won.

More tennis watchers like you are needed.

l_gonzalez · Apr 11, 2008

pound cat said:
But then at the end of the match you became a great Safin fan & admitted that it was due to you telepathecally advising him that he won.

More tennis watchers like you are needed.

I am a Safin fan, have been for years. but you can't blame me for not having much faith in the guy at 2-0 down, never having come back from that position in his career and having a 1-5 record this season.

The truth is that i actually control Marat's mind and i'm just making everyone sweat. I'll make him play sublime tennis from now and bring back the glory days!!!

pound cat · Apr 11, 2008

l_gonzalez said:
I am a Safin fan, have been for years. but you can't blame me for not having much faith in the guy at 2-0 down, never having come back from that position in his career and having a 1-5 record this season.

The truth is that i actually control Marat's mind and i'm just making everyone sweat. I'll make him play sublime tennis from now and bring back the glory days!!!

Oh, thank god!

Dai bozhe!!!

CyBorg · Apr 11, 2008

People are reading too much into these things. Davydenko is a big piece to the Russian puzzle, but he's jet lagged big time.

Russian captain selects Safin over Davy??

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