Davis Cup Continuous Blog ....

Austria vs. Russia

Potential Opening Day Upset: Haider-Maurer over Bogomolov, Jr.

I like this spot for a potential upset. Melzer opens with Kunitsyn in the opening rubber in a surprise move to me that they are not using Youzhny in singles. That means Austria could very well be up 1-0 and Bogomolov could be already needing to be the "stopper" in his Davis Cup debut for his new country. That could be a tremendous amount of pressure for a player who has already shown some struggles in 2010. For Haider-Maurer, he'll be able to play loose if Austria has a lead and simply go for it if he chooses to. He's only got two DC matches under his belt, but he did beat Xavier Malisse last Fall in Belgium in straight sets on an indoor surface. He's played almost exclusively on this surface since last October. The results have been more losses than wins, but I still have a gut feeling here that this one is going to be competitive. You'll grab a great price on Haider-Maurer here too if you're a gambler. I'd say wait and see what happens with Melzer-Kunitsyn, you'll have time to evaluate. But if Melzer wins, I'd grab AHM for a shot at the upset here.