AFTER previewing each of the 18 Davis Cup Finals nations, Rookie Me Central will now preview each of the six groups to determine how the early stages of the tournament might go. We continue by taking a look at Group B, with Canada far and away the clear standout against two lower ranked nations.

>> CANADA DAVIS CUP PREVIEW
>> KAZAKHSTAN DAVIS CUP PREVIEW
>> SWEDEN DAVIS CUP PREVIEW

GROUP B

There is no beating around the bush with this group, Canada should progress and progress easily. The 2019 finalists have too much depth and strength for the two smaller nations, as well as a great balance of singles and doubles talent. It is hard to see the North American nation even dropping a match in either tie, though stranger things have happened. Despite being without Milos Raonic, enabling Schnur to play, Canada has its two big guns for the singles in Top 20 talents Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov. They won a junior Davis Cup together, and fully intend to do it on the senior circuit, with experienced players Pospisil and Polansky guiding them.

The only hope that one of Kazakhstan or Sweden has is to sweep the other one, and then win a match off Canada to be able to progress to the next stage of the tournament. Though it is possible, it seems unlikely, with Kazakhstan the greater chance thanks to the solid form of Bublik over the past 18 months. Kukushkin is no slouch either, and the doubles combination of Nedovyesov and Golubev is pretty strong, so they could take down an overconfident Canadian duo if the group favourites are not careful. Combine that with the fact the Middle Eastern nation could win both singles against the Ymer brothers, and it is not out of the realms of possibility.

Sweden is captained by Robin Soderling, who is famous for punching above his weight and bringing down almost unbeatable players, as he did with Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros before Soderling’s career had an unfortunate early end. He is up against it here, with the Ymers, Mridha and Goransson well and truly having to play above their level in each match. There is a chance they could steal a singles off Kazakhstan, but otherwise the going will likely be too tough, especially against the remarkably strong Canadian outfit.

PREDICTION:

1st Canada
2nd Kazakhstan
3rd Sweden