Underrated Underdogs

In the Davis Cup tie between the United States and Spain this weekend, the predictions have swung heavily in favor of the Americans as the match-up draws closer. With a Nadal-less team from Espana taking on the Americans in the U.S. and away from their beloved clay, betters are putting the Roddick-Blake-BryanBros. squad as the heavy favorite.

Yet hold those thoughts, this could get a little more interesting than you might think:

First off, there's Peter Bodo, god of all tennis gods (when it comes to writing about the stuff) saying that one American's (Blake) downswing compared to a Spaniard's (Robredo) upswing could make things tight, very tight.

And then there's the players themselves. First off, Andy Roddick saying that he'll "do his best" against Fernando Verdasco on Friday, a player that Roddick is 5-2 lifetime against, including one hardcourt loss to the Spaniard at the 2005 Ericsson.

Meanwhile, U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said in a press conference Thursday that "both our guys are playing well" and he expects a good weekend for his team. Playing well? Both of them? C'mon Patrick, you know that's not true. Not to mention that Blake lost his only Cup match so far this year to Berdych back in February.

So what's it going to be all you gambling folk out there? A runaway victory for the Americans? Steve Tignor thinks so. Or perhaps an on-the-road upset for the Spaniards. I'm not going to guess either way - just sit back and enjoy some high-quality tennis this weekend, we're sure to see some.