The duel that will be played this weekend against Kazakhstan for the
2024 Davis Cup
Qualifiers
in
Rosario will be special for the Argentine team.
Because it will be the first time that a series will be played in that Santa Fe city.
But also, because it will mark the farewell to the competition of an iconic player of the light blue and white team, Fed
Erico Delbonis
.
The 33-year-old from Azulejo, who announced his retirement a few days ago at the age of 33, joined the national delegation and will be part of the coaching staff as a "collaborator", to help
Francisco Cerúndolo
,
Sebastián Báez
,
Tomás Etcheverry
,
Máximo González
and
Andrés Molteni
to prepare for the clash against the Kazakhs, which will qualify the winner to the group stage of the Finals.
"I came to say goodbye in the place where I was happy
," said in a talk with the
AAT
who won the most important match in Argentine history in Davis.
Delbo
, one of those players who became stronger when he defended the national colors on a court, was part of the team in that historic and unforgettable consecration of Argentina in the 2016 Davis Cup. Not only that :
in Zagreb, he was in charge of playing the fifth point in the final against
Croatia
and neither the responsibility nor the rival in front of him weighed on him.
He played the game of his life, defeated the giant
Ivo Karlovic
6-3, 6-4 and 6-2 and sealed the 3-2 that gave the team captained by
Daniel Orsanic
the coveted
Silver Salad Bowl
.
Federico Delbonis joined the Argentine Davis Cup team as a collaborator for the series against Kazakhstan in Rosario.
AAT Press Photo
Although throughout his career he achieved several notable achievements, nothing compared to what he experienced when he wore the Argentine shirt.
That's why the idea arose of being able to say goodbye to Davis from within.
“I was at home and I thought
'What happens if I go to Rosario?
Would she add?'
.
She bit me like a bug, I thought this was one of the places where I should say goodbye, because the Davis Cup marked an important point in my career.
As a group, everything we experienced there was impressive.
Guille
(
Coria
) thought the idea was great
.
I am happy and super grateful.
I'm like a boy returning to his home.
We've just started and I'm already enjoying it a lot," she commented after disembarking in Rosario.
"The reception was impressive. I immediately felt that relaxation that I felt when I was in the team. It was always different, we could train but also have other moments to enjoy. We were a giant group, there were talks, different situations... That's what marks to Davis, what makes it special and the reason why I always loved playing it and being there. Today I am in a different role, but enjoying it one hundred percent," he added.
This Wednesday, the Azuleño was already "working."
Dressed in a blue t-shirt and light blue pants, he played with the players summoned by captain Coria on the clay courts of the
Jockey Club
of that city, which will host the series.
Delbonis, who played a total of six series between 2014 and 2016 and had a record of 5-3 in singles, was the only one of that champion quartet who was still active.
Leonardo Mayer
from Corrientes
- also present in Rosario as Coria's vice-captain - lowered the curtain on his career in 2021;
Guido Pella
, at the beginning of last year;
and
Juan Martín Del Potro
, although he never officially announced his retirement, has not played since February 2022 - in a duel in the Buenos Aires ATP precisely against the Azuleño - due to the injury to his right knee.
Delbo
will say goodbye from the bench to a competition in which he lived the happiest moments of his career.
But in a few weeks he will also have the chance to say goodbye to tennis on the court, because he will play the doubles draw of the
Argentina Open
, after receiving a special invitation from the competition to play it in the company of his friend
Facundo Bagnis
.
Left-handed and with a two-handed backhand, he began his professional career in 2007, reached the 33rd place in the ranking in May 2016 and won two ATP titles,
Sao Paulo
in 2014 and
Marrakech
in 2016. He also scored great triumphs against enormous players.
The most remembered, the one he achieved against
Roger Federer
in the semis of the
ATP 500 in Hamburg 2013
.
He was one of the seven Argentines who was able to beat the Swiss, one of the best players in history, at least once.
The duel against Kazakhstan
In Rosario, Delbonis will try to do his part so that
Argentina
defeats
Kazakhstan
and wins the ticket to the group stage of the 2024 Finals, which will be played in September in four venues to be confirmed.
Etcheverry trained under the midday sun at the Jockey Club in Rosario.
Photo JUAN JOSE GARCIA
The team led by Coria, which in September earned a place in the Qualifiers by sweeping
Lithuania
4-0 in the first round of
World Group I
at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis, starts as a big favorite.
Francisco Cerúndolo
, 22nd in the world,
Sebastián Báez
, 25th, and
Tomás Etcheverry
, 28th, will be the three singles players.
And they will also have a strong doubles player:
Máximo González
and
Andrés Molteni
, who share the 13th place in the ranking in that specialty and have been established as a couple for a couple of seasons.
The Argentines carried out their first training sessions on the Jockey Club courts this Wednesday, although, as the captain commented, they had already been adapting to the clay since last week, after returning from the hard court tour of Australia.
The Argentine team began working at the Jockey Club.
Photo JUAN JOSE GARCIA
The Kazakh team, meanwhile, confirmed this Wednesday the loss of its best singles player
Alexander Bublik
, without surprising anyone.
It was already known that the 27th in the world was not going to play in Rosario because he had signed up for the Montpellier ATP, in which he will debut this Thursday as second favorite.
The visitors - who began training on Sunday in Rosario - will also not have Beibit Zhukayev (189th), who will be absent due to injury.
Thus, they will form with
Denis Yevseyev
(184th),
Timofey Skatov
(227th),
Dmitry Popko
(358th) and
Aleksandr Nedovyesov
(46th in the doubles ranking).
The series will start on Saturday at 11 with two singles duels, which will pit the first singles player of one team against the second of the other, and vice versa (the order will be drawn on Friday).
On Sunday, starting at 11:00, the doubles will be played and then the match between the first rackets of each country.
And, if necessary, the crossing between the singles 2. All matches will be televised by
TyC Sports
.