With the brittle Marat Safin and the finished Yegeny Kafelnikov leading the way, Russia has virtually no chance to win the Davis Cup this year! I don't care if they play the rest of their Ties at home! Going into Moscow to beat Safin, who crumbles under pressure, and Kafelnikov, who is done, won't be too tough a task for any country. I would love to see Russia finally win the Davis Cup. But it won't happen this year. That's almost 100% certain.
Russian players won't do anything in the French, Wimbledon or U.S. Open this year. That seems obvious. But they did appear to have a chance to finally win the Davis Cup. But you can forget it now that Safin has proven he is unprofessional and can't hold up under tough conditions, and Kafelnikov has proven he is finished. Remember, Stefan Edberg was done at 28, too.
And it doesn't help that Mikhail Youzhny's game has regressed in the past year. That has been a dissapointing surprise.
Another Russian World Team Cup final debacle is no surprise! Safin retires and Kafelnikov should retire. Not Sampras. I never thought I'd see the day where Russia's greatest tennis player would become a complete embarrassment! But Yevgeny has. I've never seen a top player such as Kafelnikov be humiliated time after time. Unfortunately I think the Y-Man is tainting his outstanding legacy. I think Kafelnikov should play only Davis Cup doubles. He obviously is shot where singles are concerned. Maybe putting pressure on Youzhny to play Davis Cup singles will shake him out of his slumber.
Unfortunately Russian tennis fans, we can't count on Safin to be healthy or professional. He needs a real coach, not this Amit guy, who is his friend. And we can't count on Kafelnikov to do anything. The only thing we can count on is Russia doing well in the Connolly Continental Cup! And that's not enough for me! I want more! But I'm not going to count on it. Nor should you!
I have to disagree with you cat, I think it's a bit too early to say. Yevgeny has these bad times when he loses a lot and has no confidence but when he HAS to play well he just does ( like at the Olympics in 2000 he was very depressed before the tournament, played badly didn't even want to fly to Sydney but then he just decided to give it a go and you know the rest).
About Marat, I don't think it's the pressure, it's just the clubbing the night before...
Youzhny- I'm not sure but wasn't he injured this year? Last year I saw him play at the Kremlin Cup when he lost easily to Kafelnikov and then he went to St Petersburg and put up a real fight against Zhenya, even had matchpoints if I'm not mistaken, you could really see the progress.
I think Marat and Zhenya should play. If Zhenya gets his confidence back he'll be back.
Win for sure? Who could Kafelnikov beat on the American team? The answer: No one!
Roddick and Sampras will light Yevgeny up like he's a Christmas tree! Something will go wrong with Safin. It always does! If Safin doesn't win both of his singles matches, Russia has no shot at upsetting the US team.
Maybe Lina's little brother will be on the team!
Russia will not be favorites over the US team. No matter what surface they play on!
Nina, Kafelnikov is done. He's not even competive anymore!
I think Yevgeny is still one of the best players on tour..he just has problems motivating..if he gets past the third round at RG he has a chance for the title..that's typically Kafelnikov.
yeah there was an interview a while ago with him where he said that the reason he's playing so many tournaments is that when he doesn't he loses confidence and becomes really unsure of himself.
He must not lose in the first round again this time
OMIGOD The Cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are you talking about! Our American Davis Cup team sucks!!! Hello! Did you watch last year, when Roger Federer (my baby) took out the whole team by himself! Well, pretty much. We have Sampras on our team. No offense to Sampras, I love the guy, but there's no avoiding him. And yeah, the best thing we have is Andy Roddick, but he has won one mediocre tournament this year, and he has been on a losing streak. He hasn't been playing that well. He has lost to everybody this year! Then there is Agassi who doesn't play, and James Blake who is still climbing up there. I think Russia would beat us.
Mrs_Guga, Safin has a bad back. And unfortunately, Kafelnikov is DONE! And at the end of a long tennis season, there is no way that Safin's bad back will be feeling good. Absolutely no way! And unfortuntely bad backs run in the Safin family. Marat's little sister Dinara has already had back problems. And that's a shame.
You don't think Roddick can win both his singles, and Sampras only one? That's all it would take, Mrs_G.
I will glady root for Russia to win the Davis Cup for the first time. But unlike most Russian tennis fans, I refuse to view Russian tennis through rose colored glasses!
Cat, Zhenya said at the beginning of the season that this year he will care only of Davis Cup and Grand Slam tournaments. I think he will surprise many at Roland Garros. I from my part definetely sure that he is one of the main favourites.
Yeah, 90% of the time, Kafelnikov raises his game for grand slams and Davis Cup.
Remember when Safin played the 15 year old French lad in Monaco (Gasguet?), one of the commentators remarked that Kafelnikov and sometimes Safin, almost can't be bothered at the smaller events but they always raise their game for the big tournaments.
If Kafelnikov can be bothered to get through the first couple of rounds, I'd put him as one of the favourites for the title.
LOL! Yeah! This is why I'd always hate Kafelnikov during French Open time, because he and Guga were ALWAYS on the same side of the draw, like every damn year!
Speaking of American players who have no chance, guess who's bowed out in the first round.
Pete Sampras.
Hmmm................I guess Kafelnikov had a better chance than atleast 1 American, eh CAT? .
And CAT, Kafelnikov may be a favourite to lose early, but by the same token, he's also a favourite to lift the title.
Only Kafelnikov could be both .
I just saw the last set of Yevgeny's win over Behrend and I must say that Yevgeny played very well in the last set and his forehand, backhand and dropshots are working superbly. Even the commentators(sorry I did not catch their names but it's from supersports channel in asia) were impressed and also they mentioned that Yevgeny tends to bring his A-game to the Slams, a well-known fact...
Anyway, I am also standing by Zhenya. By the way, it's true that Chesnokov as mentioned by Nina-Rus was in Yevgeny's supporters' box during the match. He was sitting next to Yevgeny's massur, Court 2 at that time was fully packed to the brim.
Or yeah.. The team that is bound to make the finals has no chance? You are very irrational , the cat..
I do think though, that Yevgeny doing well at RG is quite a long shot, given his draw. His next match will be crucial - if he manages to get by Zabaleta that'll give him a ton of confidence. And after that, playing Vicente.. They always play very close, tough matches.. But Yevgeny usually wins..
If Zhenya will play the tennis he showed in the 1st and the last sets of his match vs. Behrend he is definetely will be in the chase for the title at Roland Garros.