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The venues and surfaces have been announced for the first round of the 2006 Davis Cup to take place on the weekend of Feb. 10, 2006. Tennis-X breaks down the match-ups (presented in draw order), with both the defending champs Croatia and runner-up Slovak Republic facing away-match claycourt testers:

Croatia at Austria
The Austrians will host in Graz on indoor red clay, hoping to put the big-serving Croatian tandem of defending champs Ivan Ljubicic and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic at a slip-sliding disadvantage. Look for the Croats to power through what could be a difficult situation against the hot-and-cold Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer and some combination of Stefan Koubek, who is still trying to rebound from a doping violation in 2005, and Alexander Peya.

Sweden at Argentina
Since the creation of the World Group in 1981, Sweden has led with six titles, but you couldn't tell by the modern-day Swedisn team which is old and/or seemingly constantly injured. Swedish next-generation youngsters Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson (shoulder surgery) and Robin Soderling (knee surgery) did not produce in 2005, leaving oldsters Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson to struggle to a first-round loss to France then a World Group-berth-saving win against India in the qualifying round. Now Argentina will makes things ugly again for the Swedes, with Gauchos David Nalbandian, Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio are crew hosting a red clay rout in Buenos Aires.

Spain at Belarus
The defending champ Spaniards were not happy in 2005 when the Slovaks put them on an ice-slick indoor court resulting in a first round loss, and they were likewise grumbly when they learned their first round in 2006 would be a trip to a slick indoor carpet surface in Minsk against Belarus. Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero and crew (minus Carlos Moya who has given up on Davis Cup) will be out to prove just how well their games have adapted to fast surfaces against the net-crushing attack of Max "The Beast" Mirnyi and Vladimir "The Vladiator" Voltchkov for Belarus.

Australia at Switzerland
Brilliant! The Swiss put the Aussies on clay, where Lleyton Hewitt has trouble generating pace, and the non-Top 50 Aussie No. 2 (potentially Mark Philippousis or Wayne Arthurs) will similarly struggle against three-time Masters-Series Hamburg champ and French Open semifinalist Roger Federer, and clay-loving Swiss No. 2 Stan Wawrinka. Nicely done, with the only kink in Federer saying he may skip the first round of Davis Cup as he did in 2005.

France at Germany
Perhaps the most interesting first-round match-up pits two storied countries without any world-killers in Tommy Haas, Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler for the home Germans on an indoor hardcourt against France's mix of next-generation players Richard Gasquet and Paul-Henri Mathieu, and oldsters Sebastien Grosjean and Arnaud Clement. Give the slight nod to the visiting Frenchmen, who bring in Masters Cup Doubles winners Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro.

Russia at The Netherlands
Visitors Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko will be the favorites on indoor carpet in this match-up unless come February Safin has failed to rebound from the knee injury that kept him out for much of 2005. The Dutch will be big underdogs as they attempt to defend the home turf with a group of near-Challenger level players in "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Sjeng Schalken, Peter "Nuclear" Wessels, and retired/not-retired doubles specialist Paul Haarhuis.

Romania at U.S.
It could be "Dream Team II," though you remember what happened to Dream Team I in the opening round last year against Croatia, when Andy Roddick and possibly Andre Agassi team to defend the home turf against Romania on outdoor hardcourt in La Jolla, California. The Americans will be anchored in doubles by the Bryan brothers against a not-so-strong Romanian squad comprised of Andrei Pavel and Victor Hanescu, both of who are more comfortable on a slow claycourt when not facing players ranked in the Top 10. The dream here for Romania might be to come away from the tie without getting blanked.

Slovak Republic at Chile
Last year Russia took advantage of a home court and injury to Nicolas Massu to ambush Chile 4-1, but in 2006 the Chileans see a draw with better possibilities. The homecourt Chileans will host the 2005 runner-up Slovaks on red clay, and have not lost at home since 1996. Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez and Massu will be the favorites against visitors Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty and Karol Beck, with a second-round visit to the U.S. looming for Chile.