Davis Cup: the lesson of Argentina’s “almost nothing” against Kazakhstan in Rosario

Another series of Davis Cup, the first in the history of blue and white tennis in Rosario. A weekend passed in which the Argentine national team captained by Guillermo Coria He experienced extreme emotions. There was joy, anger and suffering. There were moments that forced us to play with our hearts more than with our racket, to swallow our anger and raise our heads, to draw strength from wherever we could when things weren’t working. And that moment of ecstasy, relief and happiness, when Sebastiano Baez sealed the victory in a series against Kazakhstan the matter got too complicated and established that Argentina will once again play the final of the most important national competition.

With the pulse now normalized, after that closure due to a heart attack in the tie break of the last set of the last point, it is worth analyzing what, beyond the result, that clash against an opponent who on paper was much inferior, but who demonstrated in court how accurate that sentence is “In Davis, logic is useless and the rankings are lies”.

The weekend party confirmed that Argentine fans are always present, especially when they play at home. It does not matter whether the event will be held at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis, the national team’s usual home (this time unavailable due to preparations for the Argentine Open, which will be played next week) or in a smaller indoor stadium. , like the Rosario Jockey Club. When Davis calls, people answer. And he makes himself felt so much that sometimes – like on this occasion – he ends up becoming an extra player.

“People held firm on Saturday in 45 degrees of wind chill and on Sunday they held on until the last point. For me it was special and emotional again, because this is my home. If there were stands for 10,000 or 15,000 people, I think that It would have been packed anyway. It’s nice to see Davis in the interior of the country. I hope it happens again,” Coria commented.

“The crowd played a key role in our match. When we were down a set and a break, feeling the support pushed us to keep fighting,” acknowledged Andrés Molteni. His doubles partner, Máximo González, agrees: “There are always moments in matches where you tend to go down, but the fans lift you up. It’s an added advantage to have people cheering you on.”

In sport, when we look back at what happened in Rosario, the first sensation is that the three young Argentinians are singular They still have a hard time dealing with that extra pressure. which is generated (as they themselves explained, without using it as an excuse to justify a disappointing performance) when they wear the Argentine shirt and go out to face Davis.

Neither Francisco Cerúndolo22nd in the world, nor Tomas Etcheverry28°, nor his Baez, 25th, had a lot of fun in their games. The first two, especially, seemed to suffer.

The man from Buenos Aires – who managed to win the first singles on Saturday but failed to win the second point on Sunday – was seen arguing with himself, berating himself for mistakes and even shrugging his shoulders as if to show that he couldn’t find a way to manage matches. The player from La Plata – who lost the only match played, the first day – acknowledged that he did not feel “comfortable on the pitch at any time” and that he was “neither precise nor aggressive” when he showed up the occasion. to him. And they found themselves facing two rivals who, without disrespect, were inferior: Timofey Skatov (278°) e Dmitry Popko (338°).

Báez, who played the last point, physically fresh and without margin for error, he walked along the ledge against a Popko who had just played singles on a sultry Saturday and doubles the Sunday before. The Kazakh, almost legless at the end, reached 5-4 for the match in the third set and equalized he had two match points in the tie break of the fifth, before Sebas managed to close the duel with just enough.

Why did he suffer so much? Because Argentina was on the verge of a defeat that would have been that a very hard blow when you had a team with three top 30 individual players who were young and talented and experiencing an important moment in their individual careers? Coria himself did it in a conference: “We must not forget that they will play their first series in Davis.”

“It was logical for the boys to take the field tense and that the rivals were looser. We have the responsibility to be the favorite in our house; them, nothing to lose. Fran, Tommy and Sebita were prepared, but it wasn’t an easy start for them. They need to take responsibility and go out and play. And we must continue to accompany and support them”, analyzed the captain.

Cerúndolo, 25, played his fifth series (3-3 record). He made his debut in the 2022 group stage in Bologna. They won their first match in last year’s qualifiers against Finland in Espoo and opened with a win against Lithuania in the BALTC for the World Group playoffs. Etcheverry, 24, played only his second match. Against the Lithuanians they had achieved the fourth point in September, with the group already defined. Báez, 23, has already played six series (two wins and three losses). Before Rosario, he had played in the 2022 qualifiers and group stages, as well as last year’s playoffs.

“Davis is not easy. Playing in Argentina is not easy. You go out on the pitch and know that you are not playing just for yourself, but for the team and for the country. Then you might forget how you were playing and how to go in with nerves or tension”, commented the Buenos Aires player.

It seems all three are missing a little more experience in this competition to be able to leave their nerves in the locker room or to learn to transform the pressure into something positive, which doesn’t cloud their head, but rather pushes them forward and doesn’t make them suffer so much on the pitch. Sometimes Báez found a way to do it in his game, even if, admittedly, it cost him.

Massimo Gonzales AND André Molteni, despite all their travel, also felt the pressure of playing Davis at home. This veteran couple, established on the circuit and 13th in the rankings of that specialty, was complicated in the first set by a couple formed at the last minute with a doubles of the top 50 and a singles outside the top 300. But they played a very tough first set “with more heart than tennis” (they managed to transform tension into energy) and they won a key match. And they confirmed that doubling, a point that had the Argentinians scratching their heads for years, is no longer a weak point.

In the balance, in Rosario it was suffered more than enjoyed. That crazy final celebration did not make us forget that Argentina was close to defeat several times and that, despite there being a lot of talent, commitment to the shirt and the will and desire to work, there is still there is a lot of room for improvement if you want to fight again for a salad bowl. Coria recognized him. But you also said that the series against Kazakhstan left you with something very positive: the certainty that there is the equipment for the future.

“What happened this weekend continues to strengthen us as a team and as a group. I am happy and proud of the behavior that the boys had from the first point to the last. In critical moments, of great tension, when things weren’t going they went well and the games slipped away, they were firm, they continued to fight. With an admirable respect and attitude”, analyzed the captain.

And he closed: “They are responsible for this joy. They won an amazing series. It was an intense and long two days and five points. But it was worth it. My aspiration is to form a team that wins the Davis Cup again and we are on track to achieve that. I am convinced”.