[DC]Coria to Make Davis Cup Debut
05 Feb 2004 - Salle Inbiaat, Agadir, MAR - Chris Bowers
Coria to Make Davis Cup Debut
The draw has been made in Agadir and is as follows:
Mounir EL AAREJ (MAR) vs. Guillermo CORIA (ARG)
Hicham ARAZI (MAR) vs. David NALBANDIAN (ARG)
Hicham ARAZI / Mounir EL AAREJ (MAR) vs. Lucas ARNOLD / Agustin CALLERI (ARG)
Hicham ARAZI (MAR) vs. Guillermo CORIA (ARG)
Mounir EL AAREJ (MAR) vs. David NALBANDIAN (ARG)
The beauty of the Davis Cup format is that a team with just two quality
players can go a long way. But the other side of that coin comes when one
of them gets injured just before a major tie, it can make a potentially
even tie suddenly look very imbalanced.
That is the reality going into the first day of the Morocco v Argentina
match. This should have been a major celebration for Moroccan tennis. It
is the country's first World Group tie at home, and the hustle and bustle
among photographers at both Wednesday night's official dinner and Thursday
lunchtime's draw testified to what a big event this is for the home nation.
It was even holding its own in media attention despite the on-going African
Cup of Nations soccer tournament taking place in Tunisia, an important
tournament for Morocco which is bidding to host the 2010 soccer World Cup.
But the Moroccans' greatest fear - that Younes el Aynaoui would not recover
in time from his persistent foot injury - has been borne out. The 31-year-old
world No 24 has been nominated by captain Karim Alami, but the chances of his
taking any on-court part in this weekend's matches are slim.
"I could play," he said, "but the doctors tell me that I could make it worse
if I play before it's really ready."
El Aynaoui was surprised to be nominated at all, thinking that Alami - his
long-term tour colleague, friend and erstwhile doubles partner - should have
dropped him in favour of the promising 17-year-old Mehdi Zaidi, who doesn't
even have a ranking. Clearly Alami, himself now retired though an outside
possibility for the doubles until the nominations were confirmed, wants to
see if el Aynaoui's experience might be called for on the final day, though
the only circumstances in which he would be risked seem to be if it were 2-2
after the fourth rubber.
For that to happen, Hicham Arazi would probably have to beat both Guillermo
Coria on Sunday and David Nalbandian in the second of the opening day's
singles. The 30-year-old left-hander is in great form, having reached the
quarter-finals of the Australian Open, but Nalbandian did the same. Arazi
might have a better chance on Sunday against Guillermo Coria, the higher-
ranked Argentine but who has played just three matches this year (and lost
two of them), but el Aynaoui's withdrawal means Arazi has to play the in-form
Nalbandian on the first day.
Opening the tie for the home nation against Coria will be Mounir el Aarej,
a 26-year-old from Tangier now based in Barcelona. His ranking is 428, he
played all his tennis last year on the Futures circuit, and while Alami says
el Aarej can play "to a high level", he adds "but we're not sure for how long".
El Aarej has played in nine ties over six years, and has won three of his
seven singles, but most were against lowly opposition in dead rubbers, and
the task facing him is immense. He is due to partner Arazi in the doubles,
against the Argentine team of Lucas Arnold and Agustin Calleri which beat
Albert Costa and Alex Corretja in the doubles of September's semi-final
against Spain.
Asked by a Moroccan journalist whether el Aynaoui's withdrawal had deflated
the morale of the Moroccan team, el Aynaoui responded angrily: "It will if
you keep talking about it! We have a team, and Mounir is now going to play
a big part. It's up to everyone to support everyone and not dwell on my
absence."
Heartfelt words, which also testify to how important this weekend is to
Morocco. But just as the India of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the
Great Britain of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, and (until the 2002 final)
the Russia of Kafelnikov and Safin have found, if your team is built on
just two world-class players with no back-up, you are in the mire if one
of them gets injured.
Against an Argentina team boasting three of the world's top 20 players,
it will take a miracle for Morocco to win this weekend.
--
在月亮的大廳，燈光流著血。人──魚，交換著寒冷的反光。
--
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◆ From: 61.230.112.139
※ 編輯: esnique 來自: 61.230.112.139 (02/07 12:24)
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