Davis Cup: Argentina forced to win against weak Belarus

The countdown is nearing the end. In less than two weeks Argentina will play the Davis Cup again, a year and a half after the last series. In March 2020, days before the pandemic stop, Gastón Gaudio’s team fell 3-1 to Colombia in Bogotá, 2600 meters high and with depressurized balls. That defeat in the qualifying round took away his chance to enter the end of the year Finals and sentenced him to play in World Group I, with the risk of falling to a playoff not to descend. The rival will be Belarus, from September 18 to 19, in the brick dust of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

This Tuesday, the deadline to present the payroll, the captain made official the same team that Página / 12 had advanced: the chosen ones are Diego Schwartzman (14th in the ATP ranking), Federico Coria (62nd), Guido Pella (85th), Horacio Zeballos (4th in the world in doubles) and Máximo González (27th in pairs).

The series will be key for the future of sports: if Argentina wins, it will be able to play the qualifiers once again, in March 2022, with a view to the End of November, to be played in Madrid, Innsbruck and Turin. If he loses, on the other hand, he must face one of the twelve World Group II winners in a playoff not to downgrade. Gaudio’s team, however, received a nod: the Belarusian squad will arrive very weakened.

Although Argentina was already a favorite, due to location, surface area and own weight, now it will face an eiminatory with no requirement. Visiting captain Aliaksandr Vasileuski will not be able to count with none of the three top 100 that Belarus has. Ilya Ivashka, current 53rd in the world, who just won his first ATP title in Winston Salem, decided not to travel due to the loss of his two teammates: Egor Gerasimov, 82nd, tested positive for coronavirus at the US Open and is isolated in a hotel in New York, while Andrei Vasilevski, 85th in doubles, will be a father in the coming days.

The Belarusian squad will be a long way off from the local hierarchy: Alexander Zgirovsky (20 years old; 1138 ° in singles and 1241 ° in doubles), Martin Borisiouk (21 years old; 1325 ° singles and 891 ° doubles), Erik Arutiunian (16 years old; 36th in the ITF Junior ranking), Daniil Ostapenkov (18 years old; 60th ITF Junior).

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The sung victory it will have little to do with Gaudio’s work, who would direct his last series as captain. Far from the juncture of the circuit, maintained null communication with the players in recent weeks: while sub-captain Gustavo Marcaccio assembled the team in Tokyo and Cincinnati, the former 5th in the world negotiated the arrival of Messi to PSG. And, during the first week of the US Open, he held key meetings in Buenos Aires to the composition of an opposition coalition facing the elections in Independiente, next December.

For Gaudio, the series against Belarus would be a triumphant farewell. According to this medium, the captain was going to direct the first two years of the administration of President Agustín Calleri: 2019 and 2020. The next driver in the chair would be Guillermo Coria, who already shared the address with Gaudio himself and Guillermo Cañas in September 2018, after the untimely dismissal of Daniel Orsanic. Everything indicates that, after Belarus, there will be a place for Magic.

pamalfitano@pagina12.com.ar

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