Sweden face a mammoth task at the weekend as defending champions Serbia come visiting for their Davis Cup quarter-final tie.
Ask Novak Djokovic what the highlights of his career have been and leading his country to Davis Cup glory last December will be right up there. Djokovic's commitment to the Davis Cup cause has never been in doubt and just days after winning Wimbledon he's been training with his team-mates ahead of this tie.
With the Serbian side also featuring world number 16 Viktor Troicki and multiple Grand Slam doubles champion Nenad Zimonjic, it was always going to be a huge ask for Sweden to topple the defending champions but with star player and world number five Robin Soderling giving the tie a miss, it looks a near impossible task.
Sweden's highest ranked player is the left-hander Michael Ryderstedt, who sits 296 places below Djokovic in the rankings. Ryderstedt should be ranked much higher, a gifted player with a huge serve and forehand who has never really fulfilled his natural ability but it is hard to see him coming even close in the singles rubbers.
With Ervin Eleskovic (ranked 355), the second singles player, it will probably be up to the experienced duo of Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt (a doubles team ranked in the world's top fifteen) to try and salvage pride for Sweden on Saturday but it's tough to see them beating Zimonjic (and whoever Serbia choose to partner him).
