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Argentina & Spain gear up for Davis Cup

Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario chose form over world rankings as he made his selections for the weekend’s Davis Cup final against favourites Argentina at the seaside resort of Mar Del Plata on Thursday (Nov 20). Shorn of the talents of world number one Rafael Nadal through injury, Sanchez Vicario picked Feliciano Lopez, the world number 31, as his second singles player, ahead of Fernando Verdasco, ranked fifteen places above him. The opening rubber at the Estadio Las Malvinas in Mar Del Plata will pitch David Ferrer, ranked 12, against Argentina’s most experienced player, David Nalbandian, with Lopez due to face the much improved world number nine, Juan Martin del Potro, in the second of the opening singles matches. Argentina might never have won the Davis Cup before, but they will start the 2008 final of the most prestigious team event in men’s tennis as the hot favourites on Friday when they take on two-time winners Spain. As the draw was made for Friday’s opening singles matches, Argentina’s two main advantages were plain for all to see. First, they will be playing at home, at the 11-thousand seat Estadio Islas Malvinas in the Atlantic resort city of Mar Del Plata, and secondly, they will be taking on a Spain team who have travelled without world number one Rafael Nadal, who is suffering from tendinitis in his right knee. In addition, Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario has gambled on form over world rankings in selecting Feliciano Lopez, the world number 31, as his second singles player, ahead of Fernando Verdasco, ranked fifteen places above him. As the draw unfolded, it meant that Spain’s top player, world number 12 David Ferrer, would line up against Argentina’s vastly experienced David Nalbandian, ranked eleven, with Lopez given the task of taking on Juan Martin del Potro, the new world number nine and the most improved player on the circuit this year. Saturday’s doubles is provisionally Lopez and Verdasco against Agustin Callera and Jose Acasuso, with the reverse singles scheduled for Sunday. Nalbandian has led the Argentinian Davis Cup team for the past six years and feels the time is right for Argentina to win their first Davis Cup title. “Well, it’s many years in history that I’m playing from 2002 Davis Cup and I think, every year we made quarter-finals, semi-finals, one final in 2006… I think that’s why all the country and all the eople are ready for this and this is the first time we are playing at home, the final is at home, so that’s maybe why the people are, everybody is excited,” said David Nalbandian. Del Potro, who won four titles in 2008, put together a 23-match winning run and reached the Masters Cup in Shanghai, might be feeling a little jaded, but the 20 year-old cannot wait to take part in the final to round off an incredible year. “Yes, of course. But I have my last week here in Buenos Aires - Mar Del Plata - with the Davis Cup final, so it’s like a dream for everybody, so I don’t think about my season, my matches, my body, I just want to win my match and to win the Davis Cup,” said Petro. For Spain, it’s going to be a tough weekend. The two-time winners will miss their world number one, no matter how hard they try to put on a brave face. However, the hard carpet surface could suit them and Sanchez Vicario knows that Lopez has a 2-1 career record over Del Potro, and beat the Argentine in straight sets the only time they met in 2008, at the Miami Masters. David Ferrer said, “Well, it’s difficult. Rafa (Nadal) is number one of the world, number one of Spain and it’s normal, but we know… Rafa is not here and I think we have a really good team and we will try to do our best.” “Well, I know it’s going to be complicated (the match with Del Potro), he’s been so strong since the summer started. He won so many matches and now he’s playing at home, so everything is complicated for us, no? To win, especially for me playing against Del Potro, but as I said before, I will do my best, I wil play aggressive, I have nothing to lose and at least I have to be competitive and if I play my best tennis I will have the chances,” said Feliciano Lopez. For Spain to win their third Davis Cup title, they will have to break a 14-match unbeaten run Argentina have built up at home, a record stretching back more than a decade. If they can pull that off, it will represent an even greater triumph that the 3-2 win over the USA in 2004, or the 3-1 victory over Australia in 2000, both of which came on home soil back in Spain.