Big Boy Pants for Davey

Howdy, Tribe. Rough day at the office, I didn't get quite get clear enough to deliver a comprehensive Davis Cup preview, but here's a start: This is shaping up as the most compelling DC weekends in recent history. You've got major smack talk emanating from Buenos Aires, where Argentina is hoping to lay a whuppin' on Australia, and waves and waves of pressure pouring into Moscow, where Russia has rolled the die in a number of ways indicating that by Sunday at this time, Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev may either be hailed as a master puppeteer or find himself hung and burned in effigy.

First, the Aussie vs. Argie battle. This is shaping up as one of the most bitter and decidedly unfriendly of rivalries in tennis (it's the Davis Cup version of Ivan Lendl vs. John McEnroe, and you can cast the Aussies as the steely Czech warrior); last year, there was so much bad blood during Argentina's 4-1 win on grass in Sydney that the emotional energy has carried over for an entire year and, if anything, intensified. Check out this report , in The Australian, for the latest conditions at Ground Zero.

So David Nalbandian has been strutting around like the cock of the walk, essentially screaming "Not in My House. . ." and generally trashing Lleyton Hewitt on every front, while even his teammate, Jose Acasuso, felt moved to pipe up, accusing Hewitt of acting as if he were visiting Iraq, not Argentina (Hewitt traveled to BA with two bodyguards).

All this is well and good, but for this: the Argies are putting an enormous amount of pressure on themselves, and Nalbandian has a rich history as a choker while Acasuso is a wild card - at best (he's only played one live rubber, beating Sweden's Tomas Johansson in February in straights). Granted, Nalbandian has probably hit his peak as a competitor in Davis Cup (he's 16-3, overall), but there's a reason that Argentina hasn't ever actually won the Cup, and it has nothing do with the number of dopers in their midst. They simply choke, no matter how strong they look on paper.

Australia's No. 2 man, Mark Philippoussis is a very dangerous guy with a big game. He's up first tomorrow, against Nalbandian. Then Hewitt, a Davis Cup stalwart and one of the best competitors of the Open era, goes up against trash-talking Jose. If Australia ends the day 1-1, which I think is entirely within the team's reach, there will be an amazing amount of pressure on the home squad, which brings up my main point: The home crowd can work one of two important ways: it can either fuel and power you to win, or it can be an oppressive, stifling force if you're prone to choking.

When you're playing away, you always have the excuse of a hostile crowd and environment; heck, you're supposed to lose away ties! Not so with home ties, especially for teams that go in favored. The ideal scenario, of course, is when an underdog hosts a favorite; it eliminates any real pressure on the underdog.  But a favorite playing at home has to be poised and focused, especially when they've predicted a win, as Nalbandian has.

I don't think you intimidate Lleyton Hewitt (unless it's with your intellect, a la Bec), and especially not in Davis Cup. And Philippoussis is a desperate character looking to salvage a once-limitless career. These guys aren't going to roll over, so I guess we're going to see if Davey is ready to start wearing Big Boy Pants.

I'll be posting on the Russia-USA tie later tonight; I have to attend the Field and Stream magazine "Heroes of Conservation" awards ceremony this evening.