Argentine tennis ace David Nalbandian believes that Argentina have a good chance of winning the Davis Cup this year, with several home ties coming their way and they must take advantage of the draw by making it count and win their long awaited first Davis Cup title.
Having been runners up four times in their history, three of them coming on or after 2006 in 2006, 2008 and 2011, the Argentine ace believes that this might as well be the year that they take the title home, after playing in it for 56 years without success.
Nalbandian, Martin Jaite, who will take over the responsibilities as captain of the team after the resignation of Modesto Tito Vasquez in the aftermath of the loss to Spain in the last final, Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco are all in Germany to take on the home nation in their first round tie over the weekend and David Nalbandian is confident that they have the team to win the tie quite easily.
Speaking about his own form and fitness ahead of the tie, Nalbandian said that he had been training hard after taking rest for a couple of days after his return from Australia and he hopes that he is in perfect condition for the tie. Nalbandian also commented how the new captain of the team, Martin Jaite, who was a popular player during his playing days, has been welcomed into the side by the players, who immediately took a liking to him.
David Nalbandian also believes that owing to the scheduling of the Davis Cup and the Olympic Games this year, many of the bigger teams will easily fall at the shortest of hurdles and this gives Argentina a decent chance to win their first title at the 57th time of asking.
Nalbandian has reacted angrily to claims by the Australian Open staff that he threw water at them after his tempestuous game against John Isner. The veteran Argentinean player lost in five sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 8-10 in a fantastic second round tie but there was controversy on and off the court during proceedings.
During the final set of the match, at 8-8, Nalbandian was denied the opportunity to use hawk-eye by the umpire when he had a break point, after the umpire overruled a fault call by one of the linesmen. The umpire informed the Argentine that he was too late to question the decision, and an argument ensued for several minutes, in which the umpire said that hawk-eye is used at his discretion and made it clear that the player wasn’t in a position to demand its use.
Nalbandian was still furious after the match, which ended with him losing the next two games. “I mean, it’s ridiculous playing this kind of tournament with this kind of umpires. What is this? Why did the ATP do this?” said Nalbandian. “I mean, can you be that stupid to do that in that moment?”
The other incident occurred straight after the match. The Argentine allegedly threw water at one of the staff members after the match, a charge which he utterly denies.
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David Nalbandian, formerly ranked no. 3, is all set to be Argentina’s leading player in the Davis Cup. Argentina was last year’s finalist, and they go to Germany this year to play in the first round.
The former world no. 3 will be heading the Argentinian team because their star player, Juan Del Potro will be unable to play in the Davis Cup. The Davis Cup team used to be headed by Modesto Vazquez, but he was replaced by Martin Jaite after the former’s team lost to Spain in Sevilla in December, 2011.
When the team was being announced, Martin Jaite also named Eduardo Schwank, Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela. The absence of their star player, Juan Del Potro, was ascribed to the fact that a clay tournament early in the season might affect the rest of the year.
David Nalbandian is one of the most experienced players in the Argentinian side, having led the team to three finals since 2006.
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Argentina’s former captain in the prestigious Davis Cup, Modesto ‘Tito’ Vazquez has said of the current skipper David Nalbandian is not at all a positive leader on the court. The 29 year old tennis star from Córdoba has been facing extreme criticism from fans and former players alike about his attitude on the court and it seems that only one who could possibly have taken his side has blasted the skipper as well. Vazquez was the coach of the Argentina side that was led by Nalbandian against Spain in Seville, a match the Spaniards won comprehensively against the Blues.
Speaking on his captain, Vazquez said that he did not see Nalbandian as the leader of the pack and considered him as just another player who was a part of the team. Vazquez said that the main reason for this was the fact that David Nalbandian oozes negativity in his approach and that is something that can easily demoralize the entire team. Vazquez did not get a contract renewal from the Argentine Tennis Association or the AAT after the team’s loss to Spain.
Modesto Vazquez also added that he and Nalbandian had two completely different approaches towards the game and visions as well. Vazquez also added that he did not agree with his captain’s decisions most of the times and when such a thing happens, it is not very good for the team as a whole.
David Nalbandian, who was ranked in the top 10 according to the ATP rankings only a few years back refused to comment on this situation but it seems that he might also lose the captaincy of the Davis Cup team in the light of the comments made by the departing coach and that is something which cannot be expected from a former captain as well.
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February 14, 2012 9:08 am | 
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