Morning. Very soon I will be setting out for Wimbledon and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, to attend the first two rubbers of the Davis Cup World Group playoff between Britain and Croatia - Marin Cilic against Andy Murray, and Tim Henman versus Ivan Ljubicic. Not only will this weekend see Tim Henman's last competitive appearance (with the rest of the team anxious to give him a big send-off), but Croatia's team stalwart Ivan Ljubicic has said that he's retiring from Davis Cup after this year, to concentrate on his own career. I'll provide an account of today's proceedings in tomorrow's Crisis Center.
According to the BBC, today's weather in SW19 is forecast to be "light showers". My Wimbledon experiences earlier in the summer were among the wettest I've had - I'm hoping that today doesn't turn into a repeat. Where I live, the sky is covered with dark grey clouds, which are currently spitting a few drops of rain.
There are, of course, plenty of other ties going on today - including the semifinals between Sweden and the USA, on carpet in the splendidly-named Skandinavium in Gothenburg, and also between Germany and a Safinless Russian side, on clay in Moscow's Olympic Stadium.
The details of the other World Group playoffs can be found here on the Davis Cup website, which will also provide live scores for those not able to watch.
Please use this thread for discussing today's matches.
-- Rosangel