Sunday, March 7. Diego Schwartzman, finally, took a weight off his shoulders: with the resounding 6-1 and 6-2 victory over Francisco Cerúndolo he was consecrated champion of the ATP of Buenos Aires and celebrated his first major circuit title in Argentine territory. After having lost the finals of the same tournament in 2019 and the Córdoba Open in 2020, Little’s body condensed relief and happiness.
That time at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club he celebrated his fourth ATP level achievement in front of the few 500 invited guests at the Guillermo Vilas Central Court. This week, more than six months later, Schwartzman returned to the Cathedral of Argentine tennis for a different reason: the Davis Cup series that will star next Saturday and Sunday against Belarus, for the reclassification of World Group I. The duel will have a special seasoning: there will be 70 percent of authorized capacity -About 3850 people could attend on the total capacity of 5500-.
“This is a place with a lot of history. Being able to represent Argentina in this stadium, in this club, is very nice for the whole team. AND the presence of the public greatly modifies the sensations, the nerves, the satisfaction when one performs well on the court. It is very ugly to play without an audience. There is an extra spice to this Davis Cup. Play with people you enjoy more and, normally, I perform a little better “, analyzed the former 8th in the world, the spearhead of a team also made up of Federico Coria (61 °), Guido Pella (82 °), Horacio Zeballos (7th in doubles) and Máximo González (25th in pairs).
Schwartzman will appear on the national team for the first time in almost two years: In November 2019 he played the Madrid Finals, when Argentina reached the quarterfinals. As a local, he has not acted since September 2018, in the 4-0 win against Colombia in San Juan.
The team led by Captain Gastón Gaudio, from poor communication with players Until a few weeks ago in the previous one, he will start as a wide favorite in a series that will not shed the tension that it would have generated if Belarus came with its best tennis players. Missing Ilya Ivashka (53rd), Egor Gerasimov (90º) and Andrei Vasilevski (82nd in doubles), Visiting number one will be Alexander Zgirovsky, a 20-year-old whose singles ranking this week is 1233.
Schwartzman would play his first game on Saturday against Martin Borisiouk, 21, currently 1408th in the world and 2nd in Belarus, a rival several steps below that he does not even know, although favoritism does not weigh on him: “Each one is a favorite because they won it, because they reached a certain level in his career. In tennis it is more difficult not to know the rival because it delays your best tennis and you have no idea how it plays. It is clear that we are wide favorites and there is no problem with that. “
This Friday, starting at 11, will be the draw to define the order of Saturday’s matches, a day that will have two singles from 10:45. The best South American tennis player in that sense prefers that chance put him in the second turn: “I like to start later because I can see the conditions before, if the ball hits high, if the court is fast or slow. If you see a game before, you understand a little more about the situation. In the first shift, many things in the game are taken as an example. “
If Argentina beats Belarus, it will obtain a place to compete in 2022 in the “Qualifiers” with the countries that finish between positions 5 to 18 in this year’s Finals. and the other winners of World Group I this season. In case of losing, it will compete in 2022 to try not to descend to Group II. The sporting result, however, it will not be the most relevant focus of the series, especially since the result, barring a catastrophe, is set before starting.
The weight will be elsewhere: Gastón Gaudio, who has not yet spoken to the press – exchanges with captains are usually common during Davis Cup weeks-, could direct his latest series. As this media learned at the time, the former world number five, doomed last month to the negotiation that brought Lionel Messi to the French PSG, he was going to direct the first two years of President Agustín Calleri’s administration: 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 dismissal of Daniel Orsanic.
Schwartzman, the team leader who is already experiencing the reunion with the fans, responded on the matter: “It was not spoken in the last time. Nor do I know what his decision is or the plan of the Argentine Tennis Association for what follows in the coming years. This series defines a lot of series in the future, one can be in February. They will surely have to talk to see if it continues as it is now or what each part plans ”.
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