Argentina is already beginning to discover the path of a new dream in the Davis Cup. Bologna (Italy), Manchester (Great Britain), Valencia (Spain) and Zhuhai (People’s Republic of China), already confirmed as venues for the group stage of the Finals, are the possibilities that the national team will encounter in search of passage to the final key of November, in Malaga.
Next Tuesday, after the draw that will be held in London (from 11 a.m., Argentine time), at the headquarters of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Guillermo Coria’s team will find out in which of the four cities and against which rivals will play from September 10 to 15.
As in the last two editions, the group stage of the Finals will have a round-robin format. The two best teams from each zone will advance to Malaga, the defining event in which the eight most outstanding teams in the world will play in a knockout bracket starting in the quarterfinals.
The current champion Italy, the finalist Australia and the two guests Great Britain and Spain will be accompanied by the 12 winners of the Qualifiers: in addition to Argentina they will also play Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia and the United States.
The Unipol Arena in Bologna and the Fountain Pavilion of San Luis de Valencia will host for the third consecutive year, while the AO Arena in Manchester will do it for the second time. The Hengqin International Tennis Center in Zhuhai, on the other hand, will debut as the Davis venue.
Argentina qualified for the group stage to keep alive the illusion of fighting for the Davis Cup after a dramatic victory in February against Kazakhstan, on the clay of the Rosario Jockey Club, in which the current Argentine number one Sebastián Báez emerged as the hero of the victory after saving two match points in the fifth point.
The man trained by Sebastián Gutiérrez, who had been dismissed by captain Coria on the first day of the cup weekend in Santa Fe – replaced by debutant Tomás Etcheverry – saved Argentina from a sporting catastrophe, as a local and against a team of a lower hierarchy, which did not even have its best racket: Alexander Bublik, then 27th in the ranking.
The best player that Kazakhstan brought, Denis Yevseyev (176th), fell ill upon arriving in Argentina, so he had no replacement. The visitors, then, performed with just three players: Timofey Skatov (278th; 6th in the country), Dmitry Popko (338th; 7th) and doubles player Aleksandr Nedovyesov (48th).
Argentina, at home and much superior, had the pressure to win, but suffered what should have been a “procedure.” For the first day Coria decided to take out Báez, at that time number two below Francisco Cerúndolo, to put Etcheverry, 3rd and debutant in a live series. The initial Saturday was a drama: Cerúndolo won against Popko but Etcheverry lost against Skatov.
Already on Sunday, the experienced doubles players Andrés Molteni and Máximo González put the locals ahead after beating, with suffering, Nedovyesov and Popko. But Cerúndolo was surprised by Skatov and the definition went to the fifth point. The development of the series was a nightmare and Coria’s continuity hung by a thread.
With head and guts, in the midst of tension, Báez exhibited the best he has: beyond his technical and tactical qualities, the player born in Billinghurst competes like no other. Despite a large number of unforced errors, he saved Argentina from a resounding defeat: he escaped two match points against and beat Popko to seal qualification for the group stage.
Argentina will return to the top 16 teams in the world after two years. The last participation was in September 2022 and was tinged with controversy due to some failed decisions and the mismanagement of the locker room by Coria, who at that time was close to ceasing to be the captain. That time the national team could not even win a singles match – they lost against Sweden, Italy and Croatia – and there were obvious shortcomings on the part of the captain: internal friction, crosses in the locker room and even reproaches for the formation of the formation.
Will there be a wink of destiny? That week Argentina suffered at the Unipol Arena in Bologna, one of the possible four venues for this year’s group stage. We will have to observe the result of next Tuesday’s draw in London, although one difference will prevail: now Coria is strong, has an almost seamless compact team – three singles players with preponderance on the tour and two elite doubles players – and supports the latent dream of the second conquest in the history of Argentina in the Davis Cup.
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2024-03-16 21:36:45
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