Britain risk Davis Cup humiliation by Croatia

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Britain risk Davis Cup humiliation by Croatia

Retirement has been the word this summer in British tennis and it all looked so promising, at least short-term, just a few months ago when the best of our tennis talent in the last decade overlapped all too briefly to produce a runaway Davis Cup win against Holland. Now there is the distinct prospect of the British game suffering humiliation at Wimbledon - not just the usual once, but twice in the same summer.

Croatia hardly needed Mario Ancic's recovery from glandular fever to strengthen their hopes of winning next month's World Group play-off on Court No 1, such is the physical state of the British team. But having been out of the game three months longer than Andy Murray, Ancic looked further down the road to recovery than the British No 1 in Montreal and Cincinnati earlier this month. Andy Murray - Britain risk Davis Cup humiliation by Croatia

That said, with Ancic due to face the world No 3, Novak Djokovic, in the first round of this US Open, which begins tomorrow, Murray should at least last as long in the competition as the Croatian. Until three months ago, not a few people would have bet on Murray occupying the same lofty position as the Serb in the world rankings. Instead he has gone from pummelling the Italian No 1, Filippo Volandri, for 25 minutes in Hamburg, before injuring his wrist, to losing in straight sets in Montreal to another Italian - Fabio Fognini - ranked 109 in the world.

That and his subsequent, equally limp display against the Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, has been difficult to take even for a positive thinker like his coach, Brad Gilbert. "It was tough to sit and watch him play like that knowing that he's capable of a lot more," said Gilbert. "That's why we had to re-group, figure out what was going on and then move on."

There cannot be a lot a coach can say to a player after a performance like that, but Gilbert said he told Murray, "It's not like a game of noughts and crosses when you're out there playing at 50 per cent or 40 per cent. That level of competition is too good to be out there just holding back so much. You missed so much time. If you're going to come back, you've got to come back at 100 per cent, otherwise you're going to eat away at yourself.''

At the start of the year Gilbert said he would accept nothing less from Murray than a place in the Masters Cup final. Now it's a case of simply surviving. "I think the most important thing is, let's just see if we can finish the season," he said. "Let's be healthy. If Andy can be healthy, he'll get the results. It might take longer rather than shorter but he just needs to be healthy, then gain the confidence."

[Freak U Full]

Second seed Fernando Gonzalez advanced into the quarter-finals of the $910,000 BA-CA Tennis Trophy on Wednesday thanks to a 6-3 6-4 triumph over Jiri Vanek.

A native of Chile, Gonzalez stormed to the final in this hardcourt event last year before losing to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

The 27-year-old Gonzalez has bounced back impressively since suffering a first-round upset at the US Open, winning his last seven ATP matches.

And he carried his solid recent play into this tournament, winning four straight sets after dropping the opener of his first-round victory over Filippo Volandri.

The Chilean powered his way past Vanek in Wednesday's second round, firing eight aces while winning 40-of-49 (82%) points on his first serve.

Gonzalez, ranked number six in the world, will now face either Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain or France's Julien Benneteau.

Ljubicic is also in action on Wednesday and will look to continue his title defence against unseeded American Mardy Fish.

In the only other scheduled match, Italian Andreas Seppi squares off against Robin Haase of the Netherlands in a second-round tussle.

[Freak U Full]

Israel coach Dror Kashtan on Sunday named four debutants in a 23-man squad to face Croatia in their Euro 2008 Group E qualifier in Zagreb next Saturday.

Midfielder Moshe Ohayon, 24, of Swiss second division side FC Winterthur received his first call-up to Israel's senior squad as did Maccabi Netanya midfielder Tamir Cohen and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv defensive duo Zeev Haimovic and Itzik Azuz.

Striker Ben Shahar of Queens Park Rangers, who has recently recovered from an appendix operation, returns to the squad as does Maccabi Haifa fullback Eyal Meshumar.

Deportivo Coruna goalkeeper Dudu Aouate and Beitar Jerusalem defensive duo Arik Benado and Yoav Ziv will miss the match through suspension.

Maccabi Haifa's Nir Davidovich will be the first-choice goalkeeper in place of Aouate, while Benado, who is Israel's most capped player with 94 appearances, misses out on the chance to edge closer to the 100-mark.

After nine matches, Croatia top the group with 23 points ahead of England on 20, Russia with 18 and Israel who have 17. The top two qualify for the finals in Austria and Switzerland.