DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS PREVIEW: 23-25 SEPTEMBER 2005

Croatia v Russia

The Croatian city of Split will host the first ever battle between these two Eastern European countries in what should be 
an enthralling semifinal. The biggest news to emerge in the lead-up to the tie was the inevitable absense of Russian world 
number 3, Marat Safin, due to a lingering knee injury. Team captain, Shamil Tarpischev, will instead turn to world number 
7, Nikolay Davydenko, a semifinalist at this year's French Open; world number 24, Mikhail Youzhny; Igor Andreev and 
Dmitry Tursunov to make up for the loss of Safin. The hosts, Croatia, have named an unchanged team headed by world number 
14, Ivan Ljubicic, who had a stellar first half of 2005; world number 20, Mario Ancic, the 21 year old who reached the 
semifinals of Wimbledon last year and who won his first ATP title in Rosmalen in June; the 6'10" tall, Ivo Karlovic, and 
Sasa Tuksar. 

The Croats started their 2005 Davis Cup campaign off with a bang when they defeated 2004 finalists USA 3-2 in California 
in March. The USA had lined up a star-studded team with Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and the Bryan Brothers, but the Davis 
Cup minnows prevailed with Ljubicic knocking up a straight sets win over Agassi on the opening day, a 4 sets win in the 
doubles with good friend Ancic over the experienced Bryan twins and finally a dramatic 5 sets win against Roddick on the 
Sunday to clinch the tie for his country and send the 2004 runners-up tumbling. In the quarterfinals they had a somewhat 
more routine win at home in Split over Romania, 4-1. Russia's first round was against Chile in Moscow and they got more 
scares than they bargained for. Mikhail Youzhny lost the opening rubber to Fernando Gonzalez and Marat Safin dropped sets 
in both his singles matches against Adrian Garcia and Fernando Gonzalez respectively. However, the hosts hung on and won 
4-1. The quarterfinal was a replay of the 2002 final against France, this time in Moscow. Safin was absent due to injury 
and, after the Saturday, France had a 2-1 lead. However, Davydenko and Andreev turned the tables and scored impressive 
wins over Gasquet and Mathieu respectively to put their country in the semifinals once again. Russia is, in fact, the only 
nation out of the 4 semifinalists to have won the Davis Cup which is a reflection on how diverse the Davis Cup is becoming. 
Croatia are in unchartered territory but, given their home crowd advantage, 2005 could very well see them reach the final 
for the first time. 

CROATIA:
Players:
Ivan Ljubicic
Ivo Karlovic
Sasa Tuksar
Mario Ancic

Team Captain: Nikola Pilic

Road to the semis:
Round 1: 4-6 March 2005 in Carson, USA
d. USA 3-2
Quarterfinals: 15-17 July 2005 in Split, Croatia
d. Romania 4-1

RUSSIA:
Players: 
Nikolay Davydenko
Mikhail Youzhny
Igor Andreev
Dmitry Tursunov

Team Captain: Shamil Tarpischev

Road to the semis:
Round 1: 4-6 March 2005 in Moscow, Russia
d. Chile 4-1
Quarterfinals: 15-17 July 2005 in Moscow, Russia
d. France 3-2

Tie details: (from www.daviscup.com)
Venue: Dvorana SC Gripe, Split, Croatia
Stadium Capacity: 5100
Dates: 23-25 September 2005
Day 1 (Fri): start at 1300 local time (1100 GMT)
Day 2 (Sat): start at 1400 local time (1200 GMT)
Day 3 (Sun): start at 1300 local time (1100 GMT)
Surface: Carpet (Greenset) - Indoors
Ball Type: Pro Penn ATP

Ticket Information (from www.daviscup.com)
Prices: first category 1 day 100 Kuna; first category 3 day 250 Kuna; 2nd category 1 day 80 Kuna; 2nd category 3 day 200 
Kuna
Hospitality boxes: €70 per person per day (6 seats per box)
Tel: +385 21 559366
Fax: +385 21 559366
TV Broadcasters (from www.daviscup.com)
HRT (Croatia)
NTV Plus (Russia)
RTR (Russia)
Fox Australia (Australia)
Globosat (Brazil)
CCTV (China)
EVS/EBU (Europe)
Zee Sports (India)
J Sports (Japan)
Sport TV (Portugal)
SCV Starhub (Singapore)
TVE Teledeporte (Spain)
UBC (Thailand)
BskyB (United Kingdom)
TWI (United Kingdom)
The Tennis Channel (USA)
Reuters (Worldwide)
SNTV (Worldwide)