Argentina Davis Cup Team: Lineup Changes & Korea Bound Players

It was always said that Argentina had players to put together two or three Davis Cup teams, a Team A, an option B and another C. Apparently, the Argentine captain will have to make use of the remaining alternatives of tennis players to call and see which of these options he can put together.

From sports, Javier Fran He will not have a holiday with a clear mind, because, no matter how he looks at it, he finds it difficult to be able to bring together more than two players for the visit to South Korea, for the Qualifiers of the month of February, since The only confirmations are those who said they will not go.

The fact is that due to the complexity of the distance and the overlap of the date with the South American tournaments, especially those played in Argentina, the Korean federation made it even more complex by placing the venue in a city more than two hours away from Seoul – the capital seems to be the only direct air contact with the rest of the world – and using Saturday and Sunday as competition days, when the match schedule has yet to be defined.

Everything has an explanation and it is not that the Koreans are bad people, they simply make use of the advantages that the home field provides and try to make the Argentine tennis players as uncomfortable as possible, in such a way that they are not allowed to play tournaments for two weeks and, in this way, they decide not to participate in the series, so Argentina would arrive with a diminished team, based on its potential.

The problem for the Argentines is not the trip to Busan, but the return, because it is very difficult to catch a plane on Sunday night in Seoul, the day the series ends, being 340 kilometers from the capital. Therefore, it is most likely that they will only do it the next day.

Leaving Busan at noon on Monday, via the United States, and making stops in Seoul (6 hours) and Dallas (2 hours), the tennis players would arrive on Tuesday at 8:30 in the morning, so those who play the IEB+ Argentina Open, except Francisco Cerúndolo (it would start on Thursday), they have no more than 24 hours to overcome the jet lag, step on a clay court after 8 months and debut in the first round.

Although there is an alternative to return on the same Sunday that the series ends, This requires greater complexity, transshipment and coordination in transportation.. It takes just over 32 hours to fly from Seoul on Ethiopian Airlines, via Addis Ababa, to arrive in Buenos Aires on Monday night.

To reach this night plane, they must finish the series quickly, have their suitcase packed and be on the bullet train heading to the Korean capital no later than 5:20 p.m., because, after that time, they will be even more against the clock.

One more issue to add in the evaluation of Argentine tennis players is that they have not stepped on clay since May or, in some better cases, August.

However, at the beginning of December some confirmations had appeared that made Javier Frana happy. One of them was Cerúndolo (No. 21), who had placed himself at the captain’s disposal, but when he learned of the Koreans’ decision, His face showed that he didn’t like him very well and that, perhaps, it goes against the interests of his career, which is why it is very likely that, now, he will wait to see what happens in Australia.

As Sebastian Baez (No. 45) was not part of the Argentine squad in 2025 and his performance on cement was not one of the best this season, he did not seem to be in the captain’s plans, which is why the name of the next one on the list took more strength: Camilo Ugo Caravelli (N° 49).

Although he defends many points in the Dust Tour, at first the possibility of going had been considered, due to the desire of the player and coaching staff, but in recent days the decision seems to have changed and it is more about the refusal than about going to the probable call. “If Australia is very good we could go”a comment was heard as they passed by. Busan is far away and there are many points to defend (395). The difference is that if you keep a similar figure you can play any tournament, if you lose half of it, you no longer have that possibility.

One of the first refusals that Javier Frana received was from Tommy Etcheverry (No. 59). After evaluating the calendar and needs with his coach Waly Grinóvero, the La Plata tennis player will let this date pass to try to add points that will return him from 60th place in the ranking to the Top 30. In any case, he left the door open for the captain to return in September, when Argentina plays at home, in case of a victory over South Korea.

Mariano Navone (No. 72) is another of those who will not attend this series either, in case Frana needs to summon him.

For its part, Francisco Comesaña (No. 67), who was part of the last two series of the Argentine team, did not guarantee his participation either. There is a pending conversation between his coaching staff and Javier Frana either to excuse the player or to confirm that he will be one of the two starting singles players. It should be remembered that, both against the Netherlands and in the quarterfinals in Bologna, Francisco was third singles player. Maybe there is the thought of whether there is going to be a sacrifice, make it worth it and play.

In any case, the Argentine captain already knows that when looking for players close to the Top 100 he has someone he can count on and who will gladly make himself available to debut: Thiago Tirante (N° 106).

Who was No. 1 in the Junior world, told this editor that “it would be an honor” that they call him, that he would gladly go: “I don’t defend many points and on those types of surfaces is where I find my best performance. If they ask me, I go, but I have many people ahead of me.” Not as many as it seems, Thiago.

Why Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (No. 86) needs to maintain its position in the Top 100 and, generally, most of its points are achieved on clay. Although the 86 points he defends on the Tour may not seem like much, that is the distance between his current position in the ranking and being three places outside the top 100. This and its performance on cement is what makes the Butter and Tirante as alternatives.

To Romanian Burruchaga (No. 105) It would be a privilege to represent the country, but he would lose three weeks that he already has scheduled on his calendar and that are worth gold to him.

Among doubles players it would seem that there are not so many drawbacks. Andrés Molteni He already told this journalist: “If the captain calls me up, I will go to Korea, I have no problem”. Although in some sectors it was said that Horacio Zeballos He had also already confirmed his participation, the truth is that the only thing the 2025 Doubles World Champion has planned and planned is to spend the Holidays in Mar del Plata and participate in the tournaments in Australia and Dallas.

In the absence of Zeballos, the immediate name that appears as an alternative is that of Guido Andreozziwho is having very good seasons on the doubles circuit. Faced with this very complicated situation and searching even deeper among the Argentine hosts, Federico Gomez It could be an alternative to play on a hard surface, both in singles and doubles.

The Argentine coaches are very clear about the difficulties of this date and agree that the decision is difficult, because they do not want to leave the team empty, but that the conditions would not only make them lose the two weeks of the Argentine tournaments, but would also jeopardize their performance at the ATP 500 in Rio, with which the South American Tour would be completely lost.

Difficult task for Javier Frana, who will have to wait to see what happens with the performances of the Argentines in the Australian Open, there they will end up making a final decision, which will be essential to know the category of team he will take to South Korea.