On September 15-16, the First Davis Cup World Group meeting between the national teams of Ukraine and Hungary will take place on the hard courts of the SEB Arena complex in Vilnius. Due to martial law it was not possible to play home matches in Ukraine, so we had to ask Lithuania for help.

In March this year, the Ukrainians beat Barbados in the playoffs in a home match in Turkey (3:0) and the Hungarians lost to the Australians in the Davis Cup Finals 2022 Qualifiers (2:3). The winner of the meeting will go to the Qualifiers, the losing team will again have to fight for a place in the First World Group.

who will play

The composition of the Ukrainian team:

Vladislav Orlov (No. 530 ATP)
Vyacheslav Belinsky (№605 ATP)
Ilya Beloborodko (№747 ATP)
Vladislav Manafov (No. 142 ATP pairs)

Team captain -Andrey Medvedev.

The Ukrainian men’s national team has already begun to suffer due to the change of generations, but over time, one more problem was added. There was a minor conflict between the players and the federation, which, after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, turned into something even more unpleasant. It has already reached out to direct insults and letters to the International Tennis Federation on social networks. Also, most likely, there will be a continuation in the courts. Unfortunately, all this goes to the cons of the Ukrainian tennis player and fans.

The conflict entered its most violent phase just before this match, and all the top tennis players refused to fly into the match. Against Barbados though, it was still possible to recruit the strongest back then.

In total, for the match against a very strong Hungarian team, we have the 8th, 9th and 10th rackets of Ukraine (with the exception of Stakhovsky, who finished their performance, but is still in the standings between Belinsky and Beloborodko). We also have the second doubles racket – Vladislav Manafov. Until now, he has performed a duet with Ilya Beloborodko, but Andrei Medvedev traditionally tries to allow all tennis players to participate in the pre-match draw. On the second match day, the squad will be chosen based on the results of the first two singles.

Hungary squad:

Marton Fucovich (#91 ATP)
Zhombor Pirosh (No. 159 ATR)
Fabian Marozhan (#179 ATP)
Valkus Friendly (#309 ATP)
Peter Faita (#481 ATP)

Team captain: Zoltan Nagy

The Hungarian national team brought the strongest squad to Lithuania. They have the three best singles rackets in the country on the list, all in the top 200. Marton Fucovich was close to the top 30 not so long ago, but ATP planted a big pig on him and avenged the disqualification of tennis players from Wimbledon from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The fact is that Fucovic reached the turf major quarter-finals in 2021 and no points were awarded in competitions in England this season. Because of this, Marton didn’t even theoretically have a chance to defend his world-class 360 credit score. How well ATP is able to protect players’ rights. Bravo association!

Even if our team was in the strongest roster, Fucovic would still be every single’s favorite. In current realities, the chances of beating it tend to be close to zero. But that’s not the real problem. Even with two losses to Kasper Ruud in Norway last year we were able to actually win, so it was a scenario that worked then. And despite being knocked down after the first game, we were close to an epic comeback on day two. This time, the young Ukrainians will certainly be underdogs in any match, and only Vladislav Orlov’s victory over Zhombor Pirosh on the first day can hold at least some hope for intrigue.

Against Australia, Marozsán and Valkus played a victorious duo over John Pearce/Luke Saville, but the Hungarians are not necessarily cool duos. We’ll probably have the best chance of getting at least one point in this meeting in game three.

Matches between themselves

Fans probably still remember the 2:3 away loss in Budapest well. The match was played on clay courts, which was not liked by our players three years ago. Stakhovsky won two singles, miraculously beat even the top dirt player Fucovich at that time, but Ilya Marchenko was not in the best shape, and we unexpectedly lost in doubles, although on paper we looked like favorites.

Previously, we beat the Hungarians twice with a score of 3:2. In 1997 as a player our captain Andrey Medvedev did this in Budapest and in 2005 he is the current member of coach Mikhail Filima in Donetsk.

Match schedule and where to watch

Thursday, September 15 (from 18:00 Kyiv time)

Match 1. Vyacheslav Belinsky – Marton Fucovich
Match 2. Vladislav Orlov – Zhombor Pirosh

Friday, September 16 (from 17:00 Kyiv time)

Match 3. Vladislav Manafov / Ilya Beloborodko – Marton Fucovich / Fabian Marozhan
Match 4 (if necessary). Vladislav Orlov – Marton Fucovich
Match 5 (if necessary). Vyacheslav Belinsky – Zhombor Pirosh

The live match will be broadcast on Sport 1 and Sport HD TV channels.

guess

Let’s be honest, we have a minimal chance of winning. Even winning at least one match would be a good achievement. Unfortunately, we’re completely behind in terms of skill and experience, but the Davis Cup is a tournament where amazing things happen sometimes. So far there is hope only in the strong-willed qualities of our tennis players and in their full dedication, underestimation of opponents and all possible help from higher powers.

Sport.ua prediction: Hungary won 3-0