Last minute change in Davis Cup: why Coria replaces Zeballos a week before playing Kazakhstan

An unexpected event affected the preparation of the Argentina tennis team for the qualifying series Davis Cup in view of Kazakhstan, the weekend of February 3 and 4 in Rosario. This is a last minute change among the squad, the left-footed player from Mar del Plata is missing Horace Zeballos and the quote from André Molteniso that the captain Guillermo Coria repeat the team you deployed in the last two presentations.

“I’ve been dealing with a shoulder injury since preseason. I got rid of it during the Australian tour but in the last few games I have felt a lot of pain in my left shoulder. I don’t want to hurt myself or run the risk of damaging the team. I prefer to get out of the Davis Cup, leave Córdoba and see if I can make it to the tournaments in Buenos Aires onwards. I prefer to give way to the González and Molteni couple who are also good, they are consolidated”explained the left-hander of Mar del Plata.

After speaking with Zeballos, the Argentine captain quickly contacted Molteni, who did not hesitate to accept the challenge. On Tuesday evening the Argentine Davis Cup pair fell in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, the new world number one in the specialty.

Beyond the very high level of the man from Mar del Plata on the circuit, Coria had selected him primarily to give him the opportunity to be able to access the Olympic Games, since the man from Mar del Plata had not played any Davis Cup series in 2023 and was supposed to do so in the only one to be played before Paris 2024.

The rest of the players called up are already in the country after participating in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. They are the singles Francisco Cerúndolo (21st in the ATP ranking), Sebastiano Baez (29) e Tomas Etcheverry (32).

The series between Argentina and Kazakhstan will mark an unprecedented event for the Santa Fe province, as it will receive the Davis Cup for the first time in its history. The matches will be played on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 February (both days at 11.00 am), at the Jockey Club of Rosario, in a place specially set up for the occasion. Tickets are already sold out.

The venue of the event is in the assembly period under the supervision of the staff of the Argentine Tennis Association (AAT). The match against Kazakhstan, corresponding to the Qualifiers, will be played on a pitch specially equipped for the occasion, with stands for 3,500 people.