Davis Cup: Diego Schwartzman faces Mikael Ymer with the aim of leveling the series against Sweden

The Argentine Davis Cup team It started with a loss to Sweden for the first match of the group stage of the final phase of the tournament. Sebastián Báez fell to Elias Ymer 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6 (4). The series, which starts today and will run until Friday, can be followed on the screen of TyC Sports. They already face Diego Schwartzman y Mikael Ymer for the second point. The first set went to the Swede for 6-2.

BÁEZ LOST THE FIRST POINT AGAINST SWEDEN

It was an awkward game for Baez. Ymer was solid in the first set and, after breaking the Argentine’s serve in the third game, went on to win the set 6-4. Already in the second set, the number 2 singles player designated by Guillermo Coria managed to break the Swede’s serve in the fourth game, which allowed him to secure the second set with a resounding 6-3.

The third set had everything. Ymer jumped ahead and took a 5-2 lead. What’s more, he even had a match point in his favour, but Báez managed to recover and equalized (5-5). Despite the attempts, the defining set went to a tie break, and there, the Nordic tennis player had more precision and won it 7-4 to put his country’s team ahead 1-0.

Now, it will be Peque Schwartzman’s turn to go out on the court in Bologna, who will seek to equalize the series to stretch the definition in the doubles match.

ARGENTINA AND ITS RIVALS IN BOLOGNA

Argentina debuts against the Swedes in Group A with the aim of advancing to the round and reaching the final instance for the Salad bowl, which will be played in Malaga from November 22 to 27. But for that he must qualify among the top two in the area and thus get into the top eight in the competition. The other rivals will be Italy, the locals, and Croatia.

To travel to Europe, the captain William Coria summoned the rackets with the best present in the ATP circuit. The singles will be Diego Schwartzman (17°), Francisco Cerundolo (27th) and Sebastian Baez (37th), the one in charge of opening the series against the Swedes. To play the doubles, the team will have the couple that make up Horace Zeballos (11th doubles) and Maximo Gonzalez (51), who are 3-1 at Davis.

As indicated by the format of this mini tournament that will lead to the final stage, little He will be the second singles player designated by Coria, while the day will be closed by doubles. Matches will be played to the best of three sets. All matches in this series will be played in The Unipol Arenathe same venue where he came to play Manu Ginobili when he wore the Kinder Bologna jersey, his previous step to reach the NBA.

How is the Swedish team made up? The Nordics assembled their team with the brothers Mikael and Elijah Ymer, 99th and 133rd in the ranking, respectively. Furthermore, they are part Carl Friberg (559), Jonathan Mridha (497) y Andre Goransson (77 in doubles). The captain of the group is remembered Robin Soderlingformer number 4 in the world and winner of 10 titles on the ATP circuit.

“The truth is that we are happy with the conditions we find ourselves in. We are very good, the players adapted very quickly. The court is similar to some circuit surfaces, notably Vienna. The decision was not easy but I leaned towards Seba. In any case, I spoke with Fran and he told me that she is here to play and that makes me very happy. Luckily I have great players and great people”, said Coria in the conference prior to the start of the series against the Swedes.

Argentina’s next rival will be the locals. Against Italy, the series will be played next Friday (also from 10), and among the chosen protagonists there are two among the 15 best in the world as Jannik Sinner (11th) and Matteo Berrettini (15th). Those who are also part of the Italian team are Lorenzo Musetti (30º), Fabio Fognini (55th) and the doubles Simone Bolelli (29º).

For its part, the definition of the group will be against Croatia (Saturday from 10), which will not have the presence of Marin Cilic -will replace it Nino Serdarušić-, but it will have Borna Coric (26th) plus two high-level doubles players like Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic.

THE GROUPS OF THE FINAL STAGE OF THE DAVIS CUP

Group A (Bologna): Argentina, Sweden, Italy and Croatia

Group B (Valencia): Spain, South Korea, Serbia and Canada

Group C (Hamburg): France, Germany, Australia and Belgium

Group D (Glasgow): United States, Great Britain, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands

* In the finals, it will be played in the knockout format. In other words, there will be quarterfinals, semifinals and the final. In case of advancing first in their zone, Argentina will face the second in Group D. Instead, if they qualify in second position, they will play against the winner of Group B.

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