Federico Delbonis from Azulejo, Davis Cup champion with Argentina in 2016, joined the national Davis Cup delegation in Rosario, where the team captained by Guillermo Coria and with the presence of Tomás Etcheverry from La Plata will seek to return to the Finals of the competition against Kazakhstan, after announcing his retirement from tennis.
“I came to say goodbye in the place where I was happy,” said Delbo, winner of the decisive point in Zagreb with which Argentina achieved its first and only title in the Silver Salad Bowl.
The left-hander, who will stop being a professional after 16 years of career, agreed with the Argentine coaching staff to join the team as a collaborator during the week in Rosario. In this way, he will help Francisco Cerúndolo, Sebastián Báez, the aforementioned Etcheverry, Máximo González and Andrés Molteni to prepare the Qualifiers series at the Jockey Club.
“I was at home and I thought: ‘What happens if I go to Rosario? Would she add?’ She bit me like a bug, I thought this was one of the places where I should say goodbye, because the Davis Cup marked an important point in my career. Guille (Coria) thought the idea was great and here I am, happy and super grateful. I’m like a boy returning to his home. We’ve just started and I’m already enjoying it a lot,” Delbonis told the Argentine Tennis Association.
The 33-year-old from Azulejo had an outstanding professional career beyond the feat of 2016, the year in which Argentina finally won the elusive Davis: he was 33rd in the ranking that same 2016, he established himself in the ATP 250 in San Pablo and Marrakech , in addition to reaching the finals in Nice and the ATP 500 in Hamburg, which he entered after beating Roger Federer in the semifinals.
He also defeated other great rivals such as Andy Murray (then No. 2 in the world); Stanislas Wawrinka (he was 9) and Juan Martín del Potro from Tandil, his partner in the greatest achievement of Argentine tennis, in his last match as a professional.
Argentina will face Kazakhstan on February 3 and 4 at the Jockey Club in Rosario, the place chosen by Delbonis to say goodbye to the sport and its people.
2024-02-01 05:34:45
#Delbonis #joins #Davis #Cup #team
