Ancic to begin Croatia's defence It was Mario Ancic who won the match that handed Croatia its Davis Cup triumph in December, and it is Ancic who will begin his country's defence of the title in Graz on Friday. The full draw for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie between Austria and Croatia in Graz is: Jurgen Melzer (AUT) v Mario Ancic (CRO) Stefan Koubek (AUT) v Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) Julian Knowle/Alexander Peya (AUT) v Mario Ancic/Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) v Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) Stefan Koubek (AUT) v Mario Ancic (CRO) Ljubicic straight into new role Ivan Ljubicic will get his chance to sit on court as a playing captain before he actually takes to the court as a player following the draw for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round tie between Austria and Croatia. Austrian No. 1 Jurgen Melzer and Croatian No.2 Mario Ancic will open the proceedings on Friday with Ljubicic’s match against Austrian No. 2 Stefan Koubek following. Matches start at 1300 local time. It will be the first match for the holders since that great weekend in Bratislava in December when Croatia defeated Slovak Republic to win its first Davis Cup, one of the biggest, maybe the biggest, sports trophy in Croatian history: "Since we know the feeling, feeling of the champions we want to hold on as long as possible", said Ljubicic. Ljubicic will sit on court for the first set or set and a half while Ancic is playing: "We have some combinations, and we'll talk about it tonight. Anyway, I don’t think [it] is a big deal, most of the time we play alone and need to find our solutions alone". Tough choice for Muster The biggest talk before the draw was who would play the second singles for Austria. Austrian captain and playing legend Thomas Muster made the decision on Thursday morning, choosing Stefan Koubek over Oliver Marach: "Yes, it was a difficult decision, and it took me a while, at the end it was Koubek. I don’t want to go public, just let the players know on time. This is my decision, and my responsibility". Playing conditions, as far as Muster is concerned are perfect: "Just what we wanted, the rest is up to us to make the most of it. It's not easy to talk about the favourites, every tie starts at 50-50 and after every match it changes. I would say that we will be much smarter on Friday evening". Jurgen Melzer is happy to play first: “It's easy to prepare than to watch and be excited if the first match goes for four hours. Also, with a win I'd like to think it will put more pressure on Ljubicic, less on Stefan". Zagreb repeat Ljubicic defeated Koubek last week in the final at the ATP Tour event in Zagreb, but insists, it will have no reference to the match they play on Friday: "It will be a completely different match. Different surface, different atmosphere, different surroundings. Like we never played before". The Croatian No. 1 has no problems with the speed of the clay court: "We expected [the court surface] to be extremely slow", but had something to say about some things that surround the tie: "Locker room, if you can call it that is definitely not World Group standard, and possibly the worst I have seen. Apart from that, everything else is fine. I would have liked to play first, and then concentrate on coaching, but you have to take it as it comes". Ancic ready Mario Ancic is ready. First couple days he had minor groin injury problems, but he was fine on Thursday: "I came two days before even, and adapted well. We are here to fight for the win. Nothing else matters. Only the win. Austria will be a difficult opponent, but we hope to continue our great Davis Cup run.” Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya will face Ancic and Ljubicic in Saturday’s doubles rubber, while Sunday sees the reverse singles with the two best ranked players for each country, Melzer and Ljubicic playing first, followed by Koubek and Ancic. --

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