Since we’re only on the second day of Davis Cup (each round taking 3 days to complete), not every tie has been complete, but a few, like the Spain-France tie are complete.

Russia is playing Argentina in Moscow.  They are playing indoors at the Olympic Stadium.  With Nikolay Davydenko barely back from his injury (he played in Halle and lost to Benjamin Becker in the second round as well as playing at Wimbledon and lost to Daniel Brands in the second round), he’s not at the peak of his game.  But his opening round was against David Nalbandian who has also played minimal tennis since the start of the year.  Nalbandian won this match in straight sets.  Youzhny tied it up with a win over Leonardo Mayer.

In the doubles, Davydenko teamed up with Kunitsyn.  The Argentines chose not to use David Nalbandian in doubles and rest him for the reverse singles.  Instead, they used Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos.  The two beat the Russians in four sets: 7-6(7)  6-4  6-7(3)  6-1.  Davydenko’s serve was broken five times in the match.  Neither nation were putting forth a doubles team that had played with each other in Davis Cup ties.

This leaves Davydenko needing to beat Leonardo Mayer if Russia is to avoid losing at home for the first time in a long time.  It’s not even clear that Davydenko will play this match given Davydenko’s doubts on his playing ability at this moment. Youzhny would face David Nalbandian in a fifth match, if it came to that.  Russia could play Gabashvili if Dayvdenko doesn’t play.  Gabashvili did all right in the French Open, but would probably be an underdog against Leonardo Mayer.

Of the four quarterfinals, only one is being played outdoors on clay.  This is the tie between Chile and the Czech Republic, being played in Enjoy Tennis Center at Coquimbo, Chile.  The Czech Republic were playing without their top two players: Wimbledon finalist, Tomas Berdych, and Radek Stepanek.  Instead, they are playing Jan Hajek and Ivo Minar.  Although Chile won the gold and bronze in the 2004 Olympics with Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez, apparently Massu is beyond his prime, and Gonzalez was unable to play.

Ivo Minar beat Nicolas Massu 6-0  6-2  6-3 on Day 1 of play.  Jan Hajek beat Paul Capdeville 6-0  6-2  6-1.  That left home team Chile in a 2-0 hole.

In doubles, Lukas Dlouhy teamed up with Jan Hajek to play Jorge Aguilar and Nicolas Massu.  Originally, Dlouhy was supposed to play with Frantisek Cermak, but Cermak felt ill the day of the competition so Hajek filled in.  Chile did a little better, taking a set off the Czechs, but in the end were unable to win: 7-6(3)  6-3  3-6  6-3.  The Czechs move on.

The Croatia-Serbia tie is being held in Spaladium Arena on an indoor hard court in Split, Croatia.  There’s been some bad blood (for good reasons) between the two nations especially during the fall of the Soviet Empire.  Some Croatians were not too pleasant with their words for their Serbian guests.

Novak Djokovic played Ivan Ljubicic, who hasn’t played Davis Cup lately for Croatia and beat him in straight sets on the first day.  Marin Cilic beat Victor Troicki in straight sets.  Davis Cup captains will sometimes ask a star singles player to play doubles in the hopes that it will translate to a superior doubles team.  Thus, Marin Cilic substituted for Anton Veic.  But the experience of Nenad Zimonjic, half of the top doubles team in the world, and Janko Tipsarevic was too much for Cilic and Dodig.

Cilic will have his work cut out for him.  Djokovic has never lost to Cilic in four meetings and hasn’t played great tennis since the Australian Open.  They play first.  If Cilic plays inspired and wins, that will leave Ivan Ljubicic and Victor Troicki in the fifth match.