The Argentine tennis team left on Thursday at noon for Bologna, where they will play the Group stage of the 2022 Davis Cup finals. And at the head of that group, which will try to bring the blue and white flag back to the elite of this competition, Diego Schwartzmannwho has long since become the leader of the team on the pitch.

The smallall the same, he never ceases to be convinced of that role he has to fill, being the best “veteran” of the singles – despite being just 30 years old – and the national team with the best ATP ranking (16th). Argentine Tennis Clubwhere the team had an official farewell.

“In some things I like to take the lead, for example in the happiest part of the group,” he continues, bringing the conversation to human rather than tennis.

“The reality is that we are a group of different characters. I usually take the initiative in the things that come up in the day, bullshit, to bring one or the other and laugh for a while. Who does evil, I am others.I am more on the fun, good side, they take care of the bad who (Massimo Gonzalez) Y Onion (Horace Zeballo), “he says, pointing to the two doubles players, the oldest of the team, at 39 and 37 years old.

-What worries you the most in the face of the clashes that Sweden, Italy and Croatia will play in Bologna? The level of the rivals, yours, the surface …?

The surface, more than anything else. Not for me, but why Fran (Cerudlo) Y Sebas (Baez) They don’t have that much competition on indoor courts and the rivals who have played there do and love it. If the folder is not preferred by Croatia, Sweden and Italy, press the lever. And it’s not ours, of course, so it will take some time to adapt. We have a few days and we will have to see how we feel. For me, in particular, it is a surface that I like and that has given me a lot of satisfaction in my career over the years, with several endings (Editor’s note: Five from 2016 to today) and great victories. And it’s a place where I feel comfortable.

on newspaper, Argentina do not start as Group A favoritesto be held from Tuesday to Unipol Arena from Bologna. Italy comes with a very tough team, with Sinner Jannik, Matteo Berretti and the couple Fabio Fogni–Simone Bolelli in the double. And Croatia with a Borna Coric inspired, coming from the victory of the Cincinnati Masters 1000. So, the challenge of finishing in the top two to move on to the playoffs, which will be played in November in Malaga, is great. But Schwartzman is confident he can do it.

“The Davis Cup does not respect the rankings very much and many times there are surprises, beyond the favorites. I have experienced it firsthand and that reality can work in our favor, as long as the fit is good. Because you always have to play well then these things can happen. Today I think that, as a team, we are much stronger than a year ago. Sebas (21 years and 37th in the world) and Fran (24th and 27th) have adapted very quickly to professionalism Look at what they are competing and what goals they are achieving, even if it is true that they still have a lot to grow.

-Do you feel more comfortable going to the point, starting without your favorite crest?

Can be. Even if in the end what matters is to play well. my last game US Open (lost in three sets a Francesca Tiafè) I think it was one of the best I’ve played in the last three months and I had to lose it. But when you leave the field like this, the feeling is different. The week before I lost to Tsitsipas (in Cincinnati round of 16) and I played badly. And I wasn’t a favorite in the match, but I started a thousand times worse than in the match against Tiafoe. First I always analyze my level, I see how I did it and then I see who is in front. This is what’s important.

Finalist this year in Buenos Aires Y Rio de Janeiro, Schwartzman had a great first half. After the passage Roland Garros (lost in the round of 16 a Novak Djokovic), suffered a slump and didn’t win two games again until Cincinnati. And in New York, he has finished recovering good feelings.

“Every year I have had ups and downs at different times of the season. Last year, ironically, it was on the dust tour: until Roland Garros I hadn’t won a match. After Paris I made a qualitative leap. year it happened was on the grass, which cost me a little more. But it happens there are moments of fatigue, physical and mental, which are harmful in the race, and I was not able to have regularity. I understand the expectation that it can be generated when the years pass and I am breaking barriers that I did not even think I could break. But there are also realities that arise and many times no one wonders why the level is lowered. I have started the 15th year of the world and I am 17 years old (Editor’s note: In the live standings), so if it’s bad, I hope it is for life, “he reflected.

-How you feel today?

Better. Over the past three weeks I have been going from bottom to top, mostly improving things over the competition. He came with wear and tear and didn’t do it the way I needed it. Not in terms of quality, but in terms of happiness and enjoying everyday life, which makes you compete better. Last month, while on tour in the United States, I was able to take that one step further. And I’m fine. Competition is another world, but the reality is that if you feel good, you usually compete much better.

El Peque has a near-perfect stake in Davis. Since its debut in 2015, in that series in Tecnópolis against Brazil, which went down in history for the eternal encounter between Leonard Mayer Y Joao Souza, was absent only in 2016, the very year in which the title was won. Since 2017 he hasn’t lost a game and when every call comes he doesn’t hesitate to accept it.

“I grew up with the whole Legion playing and representing the country. And I dreamed of doing the same. It comes to mind every time a Davis Cup comes up. That’s why I never hesitate to be there. I had a physical problem, I would have thought about it. But it never happened. And I am very happy to be back “, assured Schwartzman, the first singles of the Argentine team who will face a difficult match in Bologna.

The appointment of group A

Tuesday 13. Argentina-Sweden

Wednesday 14. Croatia-Italy

Thursday 15. Croatia-Sweden

Friday 16. Argentina-Italy

Saturday 17. Argentina-Croatia

Sunday 18. Italy-Sweden

* All series will start at 10 in our country.

The other Davis Cup groups

Group B, in Valencia: Spain, South Korea, Serbia and Canada.

Group C, in Hamburg: France, Germany, Australia and Belgium.

Group D, in Glasgow: United States, Great Britain, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands.