Kyle Edmund, Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga are absent from the opening rubbers of their respective Davis Cup ties as the First Round action of the World Group kicks off on Friday.
France v Netherlands
Top seeds and defending champions France will be without Jo-Wilfred Tsonga for their tie in Albertville as he is still recovering from a knee injury. However the hosts remain favourites to advance as Lucas Pouille, who won them the Davis Cup, and Richard Gasquet will play the singles. Pouille will face world number 369 Thiemo De Bakker while Gasquet takes on world number 42 Richard Gasquet.
The Saturday Doubles will see former grand slam champions Herbert and Mahut take on Middelkoop and Rojer, with the reverse singles occurring on Sunday. Despite being without Tsonga, France should advance to the Quarter-Finals with this experienced team.
Spain v Great Britain
Another absentee in the Davis Cup is Kyle Edmund. The Australian Open Semi-Finalist has not recovered from a hip injury in time and will miss Friday’s action in Marbella. Instead the 2015 champions will have two debutants in Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady representing them on Friday. Broady will be up against world number 21 Albert Ramos-Vinolas first before Norrie takes on world number 23 Roberto Bautista Agut.
The doubles on Saturday will see Lopez and Carreno Busta take on Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot in a highly competitive match. Edmund could make a return on Sunday for the reverse singles due to the new five team format.
Spain have fielded five top 50 singles players and will be hard to stop in Marbella, in what is a tough challenge for Britain.
Canada v Croatia
Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic will miss Friday’s action for the hosts as he is still recovering from his epic loss to Roger Federer. Instead Borna Coric will lead the line as he takes on world number 141 Peter Polansky. The second rubber will see talented youngster Denis Shapovalov take on world number 181 Viktor Galovic.
Dodig and Skugor have been placed in the doubles to take on Nestor and Pospisil, although Croatia could be tempted to trade in Cilic. The reverse singles take place on Sunday with either Coric or Cilic take on Shapovalov, with Galovic potentially taking on Polansky.
This could be a tight contest however the clay court could play in the hands of the Croatians.
Other World Group Matches
Here are the other headlines from this weekend’s matches:
- Japan v Italy – Fognini leads the Italian charge in Morioka.
- Australia v Germany – Zverev and Kyrgios headline in Brisbane as tight contest looms.
- Kazakhstan v Switzerland – Kukushkin’s Kazakhstan look to battle past Laaksonen’s Switzerland
- Serbia v USA – Serbians look to stun strong American team led by Isner and Querrey.
- Belgium v Hungary – Goffin look to edge two man Hungarians as visitors compete in World Group for the first time since 1996.
