The ATP World Tour Finals are in the books and for most players that means an end to the 2012 season. That is except for the 8 players participating in the 2012 Davis Cup Finals between the Czech Republic and Spain. David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, the 5th and 6th ranked players in the world, will each look to put their ATP World Tour losses behind them to lead their teams to a Davis Cup victory and make their nations proud.
The Spanish team consists of Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez. A notable absence comes in the form of Rafa Nadal who is still out injured this season. When Nadal is healthy and he and Ferrer can team up for the singles matches Spain is near unbeatable. Nadal’s singles matches will likely fall to the 11th ranked Almagro this year, while Lopez and Granollers will team up for the doubles match, after just winning the World Tour Finals in doubles.
The Czech’s are lead by Berdych, while Radek Stepanek, Lukas Rosol and Ivo Minar round out the team. You can expect Berdych to play two singles matches and Stepanek to play at least one singles and the doubles. Stepanek’s partner could by Berdych, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Czechs rest him and basically throw the doubles match considering they are up against arguably the best pair in the world right now.
On paper Spain looks to have a better team, but this tie is being played in Czech Republic on a fast hard court, and this court (the Spanish are known as clay court specialists) as well as the crowd support have the Czech’s as a small favorite. Let’s look at the odds:
Davis Cup Finals Odds
Here are the odds for the winner of the 2012 Davis Cup from 5Dimes.eu:
Czech Republic -120
Spain +100
You will also be able to bet on every individual match of the tie at 5Dimes.eu.
Prediction
I still like Spain even though they are a small dog on the road in this one. Let’s break it down. David Ferrer will play 2 singles matches and he will win against the Czech’s 2nd singles player. Ferrer also holds a 5-3 record against Berdych, but they haven’t played much in recent years. That match could really go either way.
In the doubles match Granollers and Lopez are on form and will win the match against whoever the Czech’s toss out there. So that is in my opinion 2 guaranteed wins for Spain. Berdych will beat Almagro or whoever is Spains second singles player so that is 1 guaranteed win for the Czech Republic.
The two matches that will determine the tie are Berdych vs Ferrer, as mentioned and Almagro vs Czech’s second singles which could be Stepanek or Rosol in all likelyhood. Almagro simply isn’t very good on hard courts, but overall he should have more class than his opponent so that match could go either way. If Ferrer or Almagro can pull out these crucial matches Spain will win. While the Czech’s need to pull out both of these matches. For that reason I like Spain.
How To Bet On 2012 Davis Cup Finals
If you are ready to take my advice and bet on Spain, or go with the favorites, the Czech Republic, then click here to visit 5Dimes.eu. Click ‘Register Now’ on the right to open an account.
After you have deposited you will find the Davis Cup odds under ‘Tennis’ in the sportsbook. Keep up to date with which players will be battling it out in each leg of the tie at the Davis Cup website.
Tagged With : Berdych • Czech Republic • Davis Cup • Ferrer • Spain