Davis Cup Final
http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=15111
Football-mad country discovers passion for tennis
Everybody is talking about the final! The choice of city and stadium, the
tradition of both teams. The expectations are big and the anxiety is
increasing. But we are not talking about the Boca Juniors versus River Plate
derby – that always turns on the heat in this soccer-mad country. We are
talking about tennis, the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Final between
Argentina and Spain.
The influence of British sport has made football the most important game
around the pampas. It's been said that there is nothing quite like a
Boca-River match in the Bombonera Stadium. Even the tennis players are
football lovers and enjoy kicking a ball around in their spare time while on
the tour. But Argentina's sporting tradition goes far beyond football, and
this special final shows the importance of both tennis and the Davis Cup for
Argentina's players and people. Tennis is, after all, another sport brought
to this country by English people.
Davis Cup 'most important event of the year'
It is hard to say what place tennis has in the sporting preferences of
Argentineans, because it is difficult to compare an individual sport with
other team sports, in terms of people practising them. But we can certainly
say that tennis is one of the most popular nowadays, thanks to the success of
the players over the last few years. The popularity of football is
self-evident, but Argentina has a long tradition in racing cars too, while
Manu Ginobili and the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ have boosted the
profile of basketball. A special case is polo, a sport dominated by this
country but still played by people from the upper social groups. Yet there is
no doubt that the Davis Cup final will be the most important event of the
year – it will increase the number of tennis fans and will make more
children play the game.
Diego Maradona, a local icon and one of the best football players in history,
a friend of David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas, has given tennis a boost
with his support for the Argentinean Davis Cup team. He was among the crowd
that supported Argentina's challenge in Moscow two years ago, even if that
ended in the frustration of a second defeat in a final for the South
Americans. Until recently, he was expected to be there again, no doubt
dressed in his classic No. 10 shirt, singing and shouting, playing a similar
role with the crowd as a conductor does with an orchestra. If it is confirmed
that he will become the new coach of the national football team, he might not
be in Mar del Plata, but you can be sure he will be supporting the team from
somewhere.
Mar del Plata firmly on the map
Mar del Plata will host the third Argentinean attempt to win the Davis Cup
final, but the first with Argentina as the home team. Known as The Happy City
(La Ciudád Felíz), with a population that barely reaches the half million,
Mar del Plata is well known for its wide beaches, casinos, traditional
seafood and crowded streets during the summer. But somewhat surprisingly, it
has become the country's temporary capital of tennis.
The final will take place in the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas Stadium, a
venue set in the middle of the Parque Municipal de los Deportes, which hosted
the 1995 Pan-American Games and also has stadiums for football, roller
sports, cycling and hockey. The indoor arena, usually used for basketball,
has increased its capacity for this tie from 6,500 seats to 12,000.
The city is also special for tennis fans because it is the home town of
Guillermo Vilas, the most successful Argentinean tennis player in history,
the man who boosted the sport from a hobby played only in high society to one
of the country's most popular pastimes. ‘Willy’, an icon for many
generations and voted one of the five top Argentinean sportsman of the last
century, won 62 titles, including four Grand Slams, but could never win the
Davis Cup. In his only final, teaming up with Jose Luis Clerc, he lost to
John McEnroe's USA team in Cincinnati in 1981.
Argentina's bid to make history
To many, the choice of surface is also a little curious. Argentina and Spain
are the strongest clay court teams in the world, but for the first time,
Argentina has decided to play on indoor hard, in order to make things a
little bit more difficult for the world No. 1, Rafael Nadal, and his
teammates. Yet it sounds strange to say that Argentina has chosen a surface
manufactured by a Spanish company.
Nowadays, David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Potro are the players who
carry the banner of Argentina's hopes against Spain, but more than that, they
are part of the greatest generation of Argentine tennis players. It is going
to be difficult for any of them to achieve something similar to Vilas, but
after losing to Russia in 2006, they have a second chance to achieve the only
title Vilas would love to win for his country. And this time, the chance is
at home.
這次老馬可能沒空來當啦啦隊了 希望能在Vilas的故鄉贏下他沒拿過的DC冠軍
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