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2017 Davis Cup, Australia vs Czech Republic 1st Round, Rubber 2 Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, Melbourne Jordan Thompson vs Jiri Vesely |
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Jordan Thompson will be out to get his Davis Cup career off to a good start when he takes on the dangerous Jiri Vesely with Australia hosting the Czech Republic at Kooyong. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the match from 11am (AEDT).
With Nick Kyrgios the other player for Australia’s singles run, and both John Peers and Sam Groth in good doubles form, the Czechs are going to need to pull an upset from somewhere to win the tie.
For that reason, there are almost no questions they need to win this first match, which may be the most evenly matched of the weekend.
Vesely, who is ranked No.54 in the world has been in decent, but not outstanding form over the first month of 2017 with runs in Doha and Auckland before a first round crash out at the Australian Open.
Nonetheless, that loss did come to the world No.6 Gael Monfils, and given the form he was in there was no shame in that.
What does work into Vesely’s favour here is that the tie is played on the hard court. While he is better off on clay, the surface Kooyong will provide isn’t out of Vesely’s wheelhouse and if he can be consistent on his serve, landing a high percentage then he will challenge here.
Speaking of serves though, Thompson’s essentially allowed him to fight his way back from two sets down to make the second set of the Australian Open.
That came in the form of a five-set victory over Joao Souza before he crashed out at the hands of Dominic Thiem, whose power game blew him off the court.
Vesely will need to try and replicate that during this match, although he doesn’t have the same skillset as Thiem.
Despite the loss to Thiem, Thompson has been displaying some strong form with a good singles run in Brisbane before crashing out to Kei Nishikori, winning the doubles with Thanassi Kokkinakis in Brisbane and picking up a win in Sydney before losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The pair have only played once previously, with the match coming in qualifying for the 2014 Sydney International, Thompson squandering a lead in that match to lose in three sets, dropping the final 6-1.
Prediction
Thompson played well at the Australian Open, but a Davis Cup tie is always a difficult exercise. If the Czechs are to win the tie then Vesely must win here, but it’s difficult to see him doing so. In saying that, don’t be surprised to see him pick up the early lead.
Thompson in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the first rubber in the Davis Cup tie between Australia and the Czech Republic from 11am (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde