A-Z guide to the Davis Cup final
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A is for Argentina
Well, it’s not a bad one to start with is it? The hosts go into this week’s final against Spain as very strong favourites, despite never having won the event (captain Alberto Mancini reckons they can win 5-0). They’ve reached two finals before (in 1981 when they lost 3-1 to the US and in 2006 when they were edged out 3-2 by Russia), but given they hold the impressive record of being unbeaten on home soil since 1998 everything points to a home win.
B is for bookies
Back in September, we said back Argentina to reach the final
and, once again, we can’t see how the home side can fail to come away with a victory from this weekend’s tie. The bookmakers agree with us – they have the hosts at 1-5 to win – although you can find more friendly odds if you’re up for predicting the exact score after five rubbers (Argentina to win 4-1 is currently a tempting 15-8 with Victor Chandler). For match betting and more specific odds check the Bet Detective website once the draw has been made on Thursday to find the best deals around.
C is for Cordoba
The Argentine Tennis Association’s first choice of venue for the final was the Estadio Orfeo, an indoor hard court venue in Cordoba, the country’s second biggest city where their No.2 player David Nalbandian was born. Instead, though, the ITF decided on the seaside resort of Mar del Plata, a decision that prompted an outburst from Nalbo. “The players and captain and the federation want to play in Cordoba,” he said. “I don’t know why they chose the other place. There must be something under the table with Mar del Plata.” It was a bitter blow for the president of the Cordoba Tourism Agency, Gustavo Santos, who reckoned the final would attract a worldwide TV audience of 900 million.
D is for Davis Cup
This weekend’s tie will decide who wins the 97th staging of the event since the competition began in 1900. Altogether, 120 nations took part in 2008 although just 16 contest the elite World Group. They compete in a knock-out format with ties played over weekends in February (R1), April (QF), September (SF) and November (final). The rest of the nations are split into three regions: Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe/Africa. To get into the World Group nations must fight their way through regional ties – eight teams qualify for the World Group play-offs from the Zonal Group I sections (two nations from Asia/Oceania Group I, two from Americas Group I, and four from Europe/Africa Group I). Those eight nations then play-off against that year’s World Group first round losers with the winners guaranteeing World Group tennis the following year. Anyone got any headache tablets?
E is for Emilio Sanchez
Spain’s Davis Cup captain, Emilio Angel Sanchez Vicario, comes from one of the world’s most famous tennis families – his brother Javier reached the top 30 in the world and sister Arantxa won 14 grand slam titles and reached No.1 in the women’s world rankings. Emilio was no slouch himself and won five grand slam men’s doubles titles and the men’s doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympics.
F is for Ferrer
With Rafael Nadal absent from the Spanish team, the responsibility of leading the visitors into battle falls on the shoulders of David Ferrer.
Had the tie come 12 months earlier, the 26-year-old from Valencia might be more fancied to come away with a couple of wins, but Ferrer hasn’t had the best of years and in the last 12 months has slipped seven places down the world rankings from five to No.12. There’s one thing that can be said of Senor Ferrer, though, and that is he’s a fighter, a quality he showed in the semi-final when he came back from two sets to one down to beat American Andy Roddick 8-6 in the fifth set. Interestingly, he will go into the tie with a winning record against both Argentina’s singles players – he’s 6-3 ahead in matches against Nalbandian and has beaten Del Potro twice in 2008.
G is for Granollers
Marcel Granollers is the Spanish rookie who was brought in to replace Nadal when the Mallorcan decided he wouldn’t be fit enough to play. Granollers, 23, is the world No.56 but it’d be a big surprise if he made it onto court for any of the live rubbers as he’s never played a Davis Cup match in his life. He did win his first ATP singles title back in April though when he beat James Blake to land the US clay court event in Houston, Texas.
H is for Hand of God
You’ve guessed it. Spain will have Ana Ivanovic as their celebrity supporter (see below) while Argentina are expected to be cheered on by footballing legend and Davis Cup regular Diego Maradona. The 48-year-old is in Scotland this week when the Argentine side that he now coaches play a friendly in Glasgow on Wednesday night, but don’t be surprised if ‘El Diego’ jets back to Mar del Plata for a spot of live tennis before the weekend’s out. If he makes it the city should bring back happy memories for the pint-sized predator – it was where he scored his first two goals in the Argentina First Division on 14 November 1976. [Ed – did he score them with his hands?]
I is for Ivanovic
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last few weeks, you’ll be aware that one Fernando Verdasco (the Spanish No.2) is dating Serb beauty and reigning French Open champ Ana Ivanovic. Fernando did the gentlemanly thing and was by his girl’s side at the recent Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha and Ana is expected to return the favour by flying out to Argentina to support the 25-year-old world No.16.
J is for Juan Martin Del Potro
Enano, Palito and Delpo (take your pick), as he’s otherwise known, has had one heck of a year. He began 2008 ranked 50 in the world but after four successive titles this summer (Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, LA and Washington DC) he ends 2008 at No.9. Nalbandian has up until recently been the country’s star player, but it was Del Potro who recorded two singles victories in Argentina’s 3-2 semi-final win over Russia, including a straight-sets win over Igor Andreev in the decisive fifth rubber. The only question mark over the 20-year-old is whether he’ll have recovered sufficiently from his 27-hour flight from Shanghai where he competed at the end-of-season Tennis Masters Cup last week. A spot of Red Bull should do the trick.
K is for Kiley
Bear with us on this one… The venue for the final, Mar del Plata, is mentioned in a handful of Hollywood movies and made its first big screen debut in 1969. The third story of the horror trilogy Night Gallery depicts the life of a former Nazi camp commander played by Richard Kiley. Driven to the edge of madness (re-reading this entry, we’re beginning to understand how he feels), he tries to escape from Buenos Aires and is told by the man at the bus station that “I only have tickets for Mar del Plata”. (We said we’d get there in the end.) The city also crops up in 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Mar del Plata is the name of the barge that takes the rescue team to Isla Sorna. And in 1990s comedy Truly, Madly, Deeply Juliet Stevenson’s character receives a postcard from her daughter who is on holiday in Mar del Plata. Phew, that’s K done…
L is for Lopez
Feliciano is the eye candy on the Spanish side, but with a world ranking of No.31 he can play a bit too. While captain Sanchez is likely to nominate Ferrer and Verdasco to play singles, 27-year-old Lopez and Verdasco are expected to feature in Saturday’s doubles against Calleri and Acasuso. It may be Spain’s best chance of getting a point on the board – the Spaniards have turned into a pretty formidable Davis Cup doubles pair, winning two out of their three matches in this year’s competition.
M is for Mancini
The man responsible for bringing home the cup for Argentina is captain Alberto Mancini. The big man knows a thing or two about top-flight tennis having reached a career-high world ranking of No.8. His best tennis came in 1989 when he won two massive clay court titles – the Monte Carlo event and the Italian Open. In Monaco he outlasted Boris Becker in the final 7-5, 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 while in Rome he claimed the title with a marathon 6-3, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 win over Andre Agassi.
N is for Nalbandian
You never quite know what to expect when David Nalbandian walks onto court. One minute he’s swatting the likes of Roger Federer aside, the next he looks like he barely knows which end of the racket to hold. OK, that’s perhaps a little harsh, but you know where we’re coming from. Supremely gifted, the 26-year-old from Cordoba certainly knows how to perform in the Davis Cup arena – he currently lies in third place for the most Davis Cup wins among Argentine players with a 26-8 win-loss record. By his standards, 2008 has been a bit ropey although he showed flashes of the form that took him to a career-high world ranking of No.3 in 2006 when he reached the final of the Paris Masters, beating Del Potro, Andy Murray and Niokolay Davydenko along the way. If he’s up for it then he’s a force to be reckoned with and with most of Argentina looking on motivation shouldn’t be a problem.
O is for order of play
Davis Cup ties are held over three days. Friday features two singles, there’s one doubles on Saturday and two reverse singles on Sunday. Details of who’s playing who will be released on Thursday when the official draw is made. Play begins at 1pm local time on Friday, 2pm on Saturday and 12 noon on Sunday.
P is for previous
Argentina and Spain are currently ranked third and fourth respectively in the Davis Cup rankings and this is only the third meeting between the two countries. The Spanish go into the clash with the knowledge that they’ve won both previous meetings (both on clay in Spain) although we probably shouldn’t read too much into the results from their first encounter given it took place in 1926.
Q is for qualify
How did the two teams qualify for the final, you say? Allow us to enlighten you… Argentina’s route saw them score 4-1 home victories over Great Britain and Sweden before a 3-2 semi-final win against Russia in Buenos Aires. The Spanish journey to the final featured a 5-0 first round demolition of Peru, a 4-1 quarter-final success over Germany and a 4-1 semi-final victory over the US in front of 21,000 fans packed into a Madrid bullring.
R is for red wine
We’re beginning to like the sound of Argentina – it’s the fifth-most important wine producer in the world and its annual per capita consumption of wine is among the highest on the planet. Malbec has become one of the country’s most famous exports and the city of Mendoza, which accounts for 70% of the country’s total production, is now one of the eight wine capitals of the world. We’ll drink to that!
S is for Saturday
Talk to any expert about Davis Cup tennis and they’ll start banging on about the importance of Saturday’s doubles. Should Spain somehow squeeze out a singles victory on Friday and go into day two with the scores at 1-1 then it could prove to be a crucial contest. Sanchez is expected to go with his regular pairing of Lopez and Verdasco while Agustin Calleri and Jose Acasuso are the obvious choices for home captain Mancini (they reached the semis together in Basel recently). Having said that, Nalbandian has 14 Davis Cup doubles appearances under his belt and a winning 10-4 record to boot. He and Acasuso have played together before and combined for a victory when Argentina beat Great Britain in the first round in February. All will be revealed on Saturday – both captains can change their nominated line-ups up to an hour before the start of play, which means they can tweak their doubles teams depending on Friday’s results and how their players feel when they wake up on Saturday morning.
T is for television
For details of who’s showing what and when they’re showing it visit the official Davis Cup website. Live commentary of the final is also being broadcast on Davis Cup radio and there’s live scoring on the DC site too.
U is for Uruguay
Home to 3.46 million people (1.7 million of which live in the capital Montevideo), Uruguay is bordered by Argentina across the bank of both the Uruguay River to the west and the estuary of Río de la Plata to the southwest. Unlike their neighbours Argentina, though, they’re rubbish at tennis, currently occupying 35th place in the Davis Cup rankings – even lower than Britain.
V is for visitors
Spain go into the contest having won the Davis Cup twice back in 2000 and 2004 and if you’re into superstitions or signs then back Spain to make it three trophies – both their triumphs came in Olympic years! The Spanish will be contesting their sixth Davis Cup final in all having filled the runners-up spot in 1965, 1967 and 2003.
W is for where?
Mar del Plata’s Estadio Polideportivo Islas Malvinas, that’s where. Since the seaside resort was confirmed as the venue for the final it’s been all hands on deck to get the venue ready for 11,000-plus fans. A blue indoor acrylic hard court has been laid, the seating capacity has been increased and TV commentary booths have been installed. Even the outside’s had a lick of paint.
X is for X Factor
Regular visitors to Tennishead should know by now that we’re big fans of reality TV… Strictly Come Dancing,
I’m a Celebrity
– we’re not fussy. The battle to find the winner of The X Factor 2008 is hotting up and the final six contestants features Spanish senorita Ruth Lorenzo. We’re determined to find a connection between Ruth and tennis and we’ve finally found one, extremely weak though it is. Despite now living in Ashtead, Kent, Ruth was born in Murcia, south east Spain, which (are you ready?) is home to the country’s No.1 tennis holiday destination, La Manga.
Y is for yellow
Yellow is the colour of the tennis balls that will be used this weekend. The home side has the honour of choosing the court surface and the type of ball used and the Argentines have gone for the Head ATP Hard Court. Find out more about the ITF’s list of approved tennis balls here.
Z is for Zabaleta
Mariano Zabaleta is the only person we could think of to link to this tie whose name begins with Z, although, having said that, he’s not really linked to the tie at all given he hasn’t been picked. He is an Argentine tennis player though, and he even played the last time the two countries met, throwing away a two-set lead against Carlos Moya on his way to a heartbreaking five-set defeat. Maybe he’ll be watching on tele? Complaints relating to the vague nature of this entry should be emailed to admin@tennishead.net.
