Playing on home soil can often be a huge advantage in Davis Cup, where the crowds tend to get absolutely crazy. Is that enough to give Colombia any chance in this tie against Great Britain? Which nation do you think will advance?
Nicolas Mejia vs Dan Evans
Head-to-head: First meeting
Dan Evans famously isn’t that good on clay, although he did have a couple of standout results on the surface in recent years. The biggest one of them all was of course the Monte Carlo semifinals run, during which he took out Novak Djokovic. His slice won’t bite that much, but as this tie is played on altitude, his serve advantage over Nicolas Mejia could be huge. The conditions are better for the Colombian, but likely not by this much.
Prediction: Evans in 2
Nicolas Barrientos vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-head: First meeting
Nicolas Barrientos has been extremely successful in doubles in recent years, taking 10 Challenger titles over the past two seasons. He’s still combining that with a decently heavy singles schedule, but it’s not really amassed to much of late. Similarly to the Evans vs Mejia clash, the conditions are better for the home court player, but Cameron Norrie just seems far too good to struggle in this one (and the contrast of quality is much starker than in the previous rubber),
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Nicolas Barrientos vs Dan Evans
Head-to-head: First meeting
We’ll see if this match even takes place, because Great Britain seems very likely to wrap up the tie beforehand (Colombia will be favored to win the doubles rubber though). We’ll know more once we see how Evans handles the altitude clay in his first match against Mejia, but even if it goes poorly for him, he’ll be more used to it by the time he faces Barrientos and the Colombian No. 2 is a lot weaker than the leader of their team.
Prediction: Evans in 2
Nicolas Mejia vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-head: First meeting
For what it’s worth, the former junior World No. 4 has had a number of decent altitude clay results, including most of his best runs last year (Cali Challenger semifinal, Ambato quarterfinal). He is a bit underpowered though and can’t really take advantage of such conditions in a way that would put plenty of pressure on Norrie. Unless the Brit is really struggling to find his game on the courts of the Pueblo Viejo Country Club, this one also shouldn’t be that competitive.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
