Russia vs USA: no place in the line-up for the ugly duckling Kolya.

At this time every tennis fan should know Kolya Davydenko won’t play in the opening day of Davis Cup semifinal between Russia and United States. Some people think he’d have played. He’s n. 5 in the rankings, had a great run in Us Open (where he surrendered himself only to Fed Ex. in the SF).
So, why did the Russian captain Shamil Tarpishev manage to sidestep Kolya? Too dizzy? Too tired after travelling around the world and playing hundreds of matches? Nope, I don’t think it matters. I think the selection of Marat Safin and Misha Youzhny for the first two singles is somewhat strategy based. I mean, Shamil Tarpishev has at his disposal four good players – Marat, Misha, Kolya and Dima – whit different games and different track records against the America opponents. Kolya is an excellent runner and a very consistent ground-stroker, but he struggles a bit against the hard hitters. On clay court too. Too little variations on a straight baseline tennis game to make troubles. And today’s American opponents are A Rod and Blake, two of most popular hard-hitting “maniacs” of the tennis circuit. Now, let’s take a look to the track records. Kolya has 0-4 record against both Blake (all matches on hard court) and Roddick (even one match on clay). Safin has a 2-3 record against A Rod (they never played each other on clay), and a 2-0 record against Blake. That’s about it.
Another important thing: in the last US Open Davydenko defeated Tommy Haas who defeated Marat Safin. So the transitive law says Davydenko is better than Safin, transitive law does not apply in any sports activities.
The Russians have to win at least 3 singles matches, ‘cause the Brians’ will nearly for sure win the doubles. Therefore, they needed a strategy. On Sunday night we will see if this one – sidestepping Kolya at least on the opening day - will have worked out.