IN November, the 2021 Davis Cup takes place across three cities in Europe as 18 teams aim to lift the ultimate international men’s team prize. Six groups of three sees the group winner automatically advancing to the knockout quarter finals, with the two next best nations also moving through. In the lead-up to the event, Rookie Me Central will be previewing each of the nations in reverse world ranking order.

SWEDEN

Rank: 14th

Captain: Robin Soderling

Sweden is heading to the Davis Cup Finals as a huge underdog in the tournament, drawn to face last year’s runner-up Canada in Group B. Whilst the Canadian outfit – which boasts Top 20 players Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime – will be difficult to beat, it is not beyond reasonable doubt to assume Sweden could topple the higher ranked Kazakhstan. From a North American point of view, Canada has drawn favourably, with both nations outside the Top 10. But just how far could Sweden go?

Realistically a lot rests on the shoulders of Mikael Ymer, with Sweden’s sole Top 100 player winning both his singles game in the qualification tie against Chile. Though technically he has temporarily dropped to 101st due to other movements the past week, he was initially at 97th in the world. Older brother Elias is further down, but still within the Top 200 (168th), whilst Jonathan Mridha (511th) and Andre Goransson (specialist doubles) round out the quartet. Goransson is ranked 66th overall in the doubles, with Ellias Ymer (679th) the next highest, though has only played the nine tournaments in the past year. Mridha (718th) has played 23 and will potentially be favoured for that role.

In terms of how they will fair, more than likely the answer is “not well”, with Canada highly likely to just sweep the group given its strength and how it fared last year. When it comes to the Kazakhstan matchup there are possibilities, though it still would require an upset facing off against Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin in the singles. If one of the Ymer’s can cause an upset – or both as they are relatively not far off their first and second respective opponents – then an upset is possible. No one is touching Canada though, so the hope is a clean sweep of Kazakhstan to have a chance of qualifying.

Prediction: 3rd in Group B

IN A SENTENCE: “Sweden has drawn one of the title contenders in Canada in the group stage, which means progression must come from a clean sweep of Kazakhstan to have any chance to go further.”

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Picture credit: Getty Images

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