Davis Cup
No Federer, Nadal or Djokovic but plenty at stake just 5 days after Australian Open tennis shifts its attention on Davis Cup. France is the defending champions and starts their campaign at home to the Netherlands while the US who have the record of 32 times champions travel to Serbia. The “big five” are all missing in this week’s first round. Australian Open champion Roger Federer and injured Stan Wawrinka were the key men in Switzerland’s 2014 title success miss the trip to Kazakhstan. Also, nursing injuries are Novak Djokovic who sits out Serbia’s home tie with the US while Rafal Nadal & Andy Murray miss the clash between Spain and Britain.World number 3 Marin Cilic the runner-up at Melbourne leads Croatia’s challenge at home to Canada. Cilic can equal Ivan Ljubicic’s record if he wins three rubbers this weekend. He has a 33-16 win-loss record in doubles and singles. World No. 5 Alexander Zverev will face rookie Alex de Minaur in Germany’s Davis Cup tie against Australia on Friday, with Jan-Lennard Struff opening against Nick Kyrgois. France losing their star player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga due to injury when they face the Netherlands this weekend. Tsonga will be with the team but sat alongside captain Yannick Noah in the stands due to a knee strain while Adrain Mannarino has been drafted in as a replacement.
