Don't Cry for Argentina
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Though the sizeable group of Spaniards on the men's tour are
popularly referred to as "The Armada" there is another fast-
increasing fleet making the headlines for considerable achievement
- the players of Argentina. The all-round ability of Argentina's
armada was graphically illustrated at The Championships last summer
when, on his Wimbledon debut, David Nalbandian reached the final.
Their "home" surface of clay is, naturally, where the men of
Argentina excel (illustrated by Guillermo Coria's exploits in
the French Open this year) but Nalbandian's success, joyfully
reported back home as an antidote to the nation's disappointing
showing in the football World Cup, was an example of how that
country is again establishing itself as a power in global tennis.
This season Argentina can boast five players in the top 25 and
a total of eight in the top 50, with Nalbandian and Guillermo
Coria leading the way, followed by Agustin Calleri, Gaston Gaudio,
Guillermo Canas, Juan Ignacio Chela, Mariano Zabaleta and Jose Acasuso.
There are even more of them a little further down the ranking
list, but that top-50 total is the best of any country, better
than the United States, better even than those prolific Spanish.
Though it should not - and certainly will not - be forgotten that
Argentina also produced a female tennis icon in the statuesque
beauty, Gabriela Sabatini, the fountainhead for the new "Argie army"
is beyond doubt the marvellous Guillermo Vilas, winner of 62 titles,
including four Grand Slams (two Australian, one French and one
US Open) in the Seventies and early Eighties.
The influence of Vilas on the game in his homeland is shown by
the fact that two of the present bunch, Coria and Canas, were
named by their parents after Guillermo the Great.
It is Coria who has proved narrowly the best of them on the tour
so far this year, having won the Masters Series event in Hamburg
and been runner-up at another TMS tournament, Monte Carlo, and his
hometown event in Buenos Aires.
That Hamburg occasion was an historic one, with all four semi-final
places filled by Argentinians, the first time this had happened at
a Masters Series for 13 years, the others to reach the final four
being Nalbandian, Calleri and the runner-up, Gaudio.
Coria was the first from Argentina to win in Hamburg since Vilas
in 1978 and said,"It is very nice to follow in those famous
footsteps but all of us are still very far from his achievements.
I will be happy if I achieve half of what Vilas did."
What Vilas did not manage, of course was great success at Wimbledon,
where he was twice a quarter-finalist (1975 and 1976) before largely
giving up on grass court tennis and ending with a 15-11 record at
the Championships.
As Nalbandian showed so dramatically last summer, there is no
such inhibition among the present generation. Tito Vasquez, a
former Argentinian player and Davis Cup captain who now works
for the Lawn Tennis Association in Britain, was responsible for
recruiting Nalbandian to the Argentina junior squad.
"Nalbandian and Coria are two of the best we have had in a long,
long time," said Vasquez. "They are very competitive and have the
modern game adaptable to all surfaces, and they have proved that
by winning different events.
Nalbandian, in fact, reached the Wimbledon junior semi-finals
in 1999 before suffering the misfortune of being defaulted
because he had misheard the starting time of his match. So
he went into last year's final against Lleyton Hewitt with the
curious record of being unbeaten in match play on the grass of
London SW19.
As can be imagined, Argentina's Davis Cup squad is spoiled for
choice and their semi-final against Spain in September should
be a stunner. As Nalbandian quite rightly pointed out, "Argentina
can make two or three teams, all of them good."
True enough. So far this year Argentina may have won just two
titles (Calleri in Acapulco and Coria in Hamburg) but they have
also produced five runners-up and clearly are going to be an
armada to be reckoned with on any surface.
Written by Ron Atkin
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