Federico Delbonis and the best tribute after the announcement of his retirement: he joined Rosario’s Davis Cup team

The duel that will be played this weekend against Kazakhstan for the Qualifiers of the Davis Cup 2024 in Rosario it will be special for the Argentine team. Because it will be the first time that a series will take place in the city of Santa Fe. But also because it will mark the farewell to the competition of an iconic Biancocelesti player, the FedEric Delbonis.

The 33-year-old from Azulejo, who a few days ago announced his retirement at the age of 33, has joined the national delegation and will be part of the technical staff as a “collaborator” to help Francisco Cerúndolo, Sebastiano Baez, Tomas Etcheverry, Massimo González AND André Molteni to prepare for the clash against the Kazakhs, which will qualify the winner to the group stage of the Finals.

“I came to say goodbye to you in the place where I was happy”he said in a conversation with the AAT who won the most important match in Argentine history in Davis.

The thing is Delboone of those players who became stronger when he defended the national colors on the pitch, he was part of the team in that historic and unforgettable consecration of Argentina in the 2016 Davis Cup. Not only that: in Zagreb he was the coach of the fifth game point of the final against Croatia and neither the responsibility nor the rival he faced weighed on him. He played the match of his life, defeating the giant 6-3, 6-4 and 6-2 Ivo Karlovic and seals the 3-2 which gives the team captained by Daniele Orsanico the scope Silver salad bowl.

Although he achieved several noteworthy results throughout his career, nothing compared to what he experienced when wearing the Argentina shirt. That’s why the idea of ​​being able to say goodbye to Davis from the inside was born.

“I was at home and thinking ‘What happens if I go to Rosario? Would you come back?”. It hit me like a fly, I thought this was one of the places I should say goodbye, because the Davis Cup marked an important point in my career. As a group, everything we experienced was impressive. TO Guille (Coria) thought the idea was great. I’m happy and super grateful. I’m like a boy returning to his habitat. We’ve just started and I’m already having a lot of fun,” he commented after landing in Rosario.

“The welcome was impressive. I immediately felt that relaxation that I felt when I was in the team. It was always different, we could train but also have other moments to have fun. We were a giant group, there were conversations, different situations… This it’s what marks Davis, what makes him special and why I’ve always loved playing him and being there. Today I’m in a different role, but I enjoy it one hundred percent,” he added.

This Wednesday the Azuleño was already “working”. Dressed in a blue t-shirt and light blue trousers, he played with the players called up by captain Coria on the clay courts of Jockeys’ club of that city, which will host the series.

Delbonis, who played a total of six series between 2014 and 2016 and had a 5-3 singles record, was the only one of that quartet of champions still active. The Corrientes Leonardo Mayer -also present in Rosario as vice-captain of Coria- brought the curtain down on his career in 2021; Guido Pella, early last year; AND Juan Martin del PotroAlthough he never officially announced his retirement, he has not played since February 2022 – in a duel in the ATP Buenos Aires against Azuleño – due to the right knee injury.

Delbo He will say goodbye from the bench to a competition in which he experienced the happiest moments of his career. But in a few weeks he will also have the chance to say goodbye to tennis on the court, because he will play the doubles draw of the Argentina Openafter receiving a special invitation from the competition to compete in the company of his friend Facundo Bagnis.

Left-handed and with a two-handed backhand, he began his professional career in 2007, reached 33rd place in the rankings in May 2016 and won two ATP titles, St. Paul in 2014 and Marrakech in 2016. He also had big wins against big players. The most remembered, the one that came first Roger Federer in the semi-finals of ATP 500 Hamburg 2013. He was one of the seven Argentines who managed to beat the Swiss at least once, one of the best players in history.

The duel against Kazakhstan

In Rosario, Delbonis will try to give his grain of sand Argentina defeat Kazakhstan and keep your ticket for the group stage of the 2024 Finals, which will be played in September in four venues to be defined.

The team led by Coria, who in September earned a place in the qualifiers by overwhelming Lithuania by 4 to 0 for the first round of the World Group I at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis starts as a big favorite.

Francisco Cerúndolo22nd in the world, Sebastiano Baez25°, e Tomas Etcheverry, 28, will be the three singles. And they will also have a strong double: Massimo González AND André Molteniwho share 13th place in the rankings in that specialty and have been an established duo for a couple of seasons.

The Argentinians carried out their first training session this Wednesday on the Jockey Club courts, although, as the captain commented, they were already adapting to clay since last week, returning from the Australian hard court tour.

The Kazakh team, meanwhile, confirmed this Wednesday the loss of its best singles player Alexander Bublik, without surprising anyone. It was already known that the 27th in the world would not play in Rosario because he was registered at the ATP in Montpellier, where he will debut this Thursday as second favourite.

The guests – who started training on Sunday in Rosario – will also not have Beibit Zhukayev (189th), absent due to injury. So, they will form with Denis Evseev (184th), Timofey Skatov (227th), Dmitry Popko (358º) e Alexander Nedovyesov (46th in the doubles rankings).

The series will begin on Saturday at 11am with two singles duels, pitting one team’s first singles match against the other’s second, and vice versa (the order will be drawn on Friday). On Sunday, starting at 11:00, the doubles will be played and then the challenge between the top rackets of each nation. And, if necessary, the cross between the individual 2. All matches will be televised by TyC Sports.