LONDON, 18 September 2003 — Far from being the anticipated battle of the claycourt heavyweights, Spain’s Davis Cup semifinal against Argentina this weekend is turning into a damp squib before a ball is hit.
The tie in the Spanish holiday resort of Malaga had promised to be an entrancing contest between four top 10 players. However, the likely withdrawals of injured Argentines Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian have tipped the balance strongly in favor of the hosts.
French Open champion and newly-crowned world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero will spearhead the Spanish challenge. He will be ably aided in the singles by Carlos Moya, a former world No. 1 now ranked sixth.
Argentina will be severely hampered if, as expected, Coria and the ninth ranked Nalbandian miss the tie, especially as the duo would have fancied their chances of leading the South Americans to their first title in the team competition.
World No. 5 Coria has claimed four claycourt titles this year while Nalbandian agonizingly missed reaching the US Open final earlier this month when he failed to convert a match point against eventual champion Andy Roddick in the semis.
“This is a very unhappy situation for me because I was really looking forward to playing in the Davis Cup,” said a dejected Nalbandian, who is suffering from a back strain.
The Argentines have yet to confirm their final line-up because under Davis Cup rules, a nation can make two changes to their squad up to one hour before the draw.
But the likely Argentine back-up crew of Gaston Gaudio, Agustin Calleri, Mariano Zabaleta and Lucas Arnold will now have the task of steering their country into their first final since 1981. “It is always difficult to play against the Argentines because they are very strong, especially on clay,” said Ferrero, who was runner-up to Roddick at Flushing Meadows. “But we have a good team as well.
“We have the opportunity to be in final again and playing in Malaga we’ll have the crowd supporting us.”
With the Spaniards already looking to recapture the trophy they won for the first time in 2000, Australia - winners 27 times - are preparing to take on a Roger Federer-led Swiss team in the other semi-final.
Australia boast home-court advantage in Melbourne, exuberant fans and an impressive depth of talent while Swiss hopes rest largely with Wimbledon champion Federer.
World No. 3 Federer’s support cast consists of 129th-ranked Michel Kratochvil, No. 166 Ivo Heuberger and 233rd-ranked George Bastl.
“They (Australia) are one of the best teams in the world. They have got such an equal team and a great doubles team as well,” Federer said. “It is going to be very difficult but we are going to try our luck. Hopefully I can play well to put ourselves in a position to win and hopefully I can get some support from the other guys.”
Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis will be keen to crush Federer after the Australian’s disappointment at the All England Club in July. Fiery former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt has often spoken of his love for Davis Cup matches and will also be looking for a quick kill against Switzerland’s top player.
Hewitt was troubled by a left hip complaint when he lost his quarterfinal to Ferrero in the US Open earlier this month, but he has been training without discomfort with the Australian team.
“We see this as a huge opportunity for us, obviously a semi-final at home and the possibility of playing a Davis Cup final again at home,” Hewitt told reporters.
In Zwolle, Netherlands captain Tjerk Bogstra has urged his players to forget their favorites’ tag and face up to a tough fight from India in their Davis Cup world group playoff on Sept. 19-21.
“Davis Cup tennis something special,” he warned. “The Indians have nothing to lose.” Bogstra recalled the 3-2 defeat to India in 1996. India are without doubles specialist Leander Paes, the current Wimbledon mixed doubles champion with Martina Navratilova who was recovering from a suspected brain lesion.
“We have the strongest players and have chosen the surface so we are confident, but we must respect our opponents,” added Bogstra.
Sjeng Schalken (ranked 13 in the world) and Martin Verkerk (No. 14) will play the singles while Verkerk will team up with Raemon Sluiter in doubles.
Nineteen-year-old Prakash Amritraj, the son of India’s former tennis ace Vijay Amritraj ranked 324 in the world, lines up with Rohan Bopanna (No. 344), Harsh Mankad (No. 369) and doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi, who does not have an ATP singles ranking.
