As the dust settles on the short American hard-court swing, the tennis world begins to focus on the European spring. But as some players use the two-week break before the Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo to gain some much needed rest, others are turning to Davis Cup ahead of the upcoming clay season.

France vs. Germany

Both teams are coming off a convincing win over their respective opponents in the first round. It has been a lopsided all-time head-to-head record between these two nations, France claiming victory seven times to just two for Germany. If that wasn’t a fair indication of the history that the Germans are up against, they last tasted victory against the French (in tennis) was in 1938. But there are a number of features that stand out in this quarterfinal tie between traditional rivals.

France has opted to play the quarterfinal tie on a hard court, which is a curious choice. France strolled to a 5-0 victory over Australia on clay in their first-round matchup, in which all of the French players performed exceptionally well. Moreover, the clay season is on our doorstep. It thus would make sense that the French would look to continue their dominance on clay while conditioning their players for the impending clay spring. Probably they have kept one eye on their opponents when opting to play this tie on a hard court.  Germany’s convincing first-round win over Spain also came on clay.

France will enter the tie without their top player in Richard Gasquet, who is suffering from a back injury. However, their German counterparts have fared much worse and will enter the quarterfinal without any of the players who appeared in their first-round win over Spain. World No. 17 Tommy Haas, world No. 24 Philipp Kohlschreiber, and world No. 30 Florian Mayer have all withdrawn from the tie due to injury. This means that Jan-Lennard Struff and Tobias Kamke will be Germany’s top ranked players. Struff and Kamke are ranked 93rd and 96th respectively.

Prediction

While the nature of the Davis Cup format makes even the most historically lopsided ties hard to predict, the injury toll of the German team makes this tie easier to foretell. Still, this should be a relatively easy win for the home side considering the form shown by the French in their first-round win and the sheer depth of a team spearheaded by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.

France 3-0

Italy versus Great Britain

These two nations have not been especially strong in men’s tennis, outside British No. 1 Andy Murray, for much of recent times. Italy is coming off a strong 3-1 win over Argentina, although that Argentine team didn’t feature world No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro. An equally impressive first-round display by Great Britain saw them dispatch a disappointing American team 3-1 on clay in San Diego. Although Italy boasts a lopsided 11-4 all-time record against Great Britain, there will be no room for complacency by the Italians. They will look to dominate all encounters not featuring Murray.

To no surprise, Italy has opted for this tie to be played on clay. It is clearly their top player’s favorite surface. Fabio Fognini, now ranked No. 13, has won all three of his career singles titles on clay. The surface may slightly favor him in the much-anticipated matchup with Andy Murray on Sunday. As important as Fognini is to Italian hopes, Italy will monitor the 26-year-old during the tie as he arrives under an injury cloud. In a Colosseum-like arena, Italian fans will focus on whether he can continue a stellar 12 months that has seen him hit the peak of his career so far. Meanwhile, the world will also keep one eye on the now-world No. 8 Murray.

After the adversity that the lynchpin of the Great Britain team has suffered over the past month, Murray will be glad to reenter a team environment. But distractions over Murray’s fitness and his coaching team linger after he parted ways with Ivan Lendl in Miami. Great Britain also welcomes back world No. 130 Daniel Evans, who might substitute for James Ward at some stage despite Ward’s heroics in San Diego. While Great Britain will rely on Murray to notch two singles wins, it may be either Evans or Ward who could hold the key to their semifinal hopes.

Prediction

Should Fognini and Murray both appear in this tie, each likely will win their respective singles matches on Friday. This means that it should be the second singles rubber and the doubles that ultimately decides which nation qualifies for the semifinal. If Great Britain is to even come close to winning the tie, they must win the doubles. And the only way for them to win the doubles is if Murray plays that rubber on Saturday.

On paper, Italy has a much deeper team. World No. 34 Andreas Seppi will participate as their second singles player, and he is also experienced in doubles. Depth is the tipping factor in this prediction.

Italy 3-1