Translated material
Without fear and reproach
Russian tennis players lost in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup
The Russian tennis team lost to the Argentines in the semifinals of the Davis Cup in Buenos Aires - 2:3. In the final, which will take place on November 21-23, the Russians will compete with the Spaniards, who defeated the current team title holders, the Americans, 4:1 in the other semi-final match.In the Argentina-Russia semi-final, the home team's chances were initially preferable. And it’s not even a matter of the composition of the players, it’s just that the motivation of the Argentine tennis players, all together and each individually, was higher than that of our athletes. The Argentines had no right to lose at home, in the presence of 14 thousand fans who passionately supported them. In addition, the Argentine players had a little more time to adapt and prepare for the match. Team leader David Nalbandian, who reached the third round of the US Open, switched to clay training immediately after the Grand Slam tournament.
It was on the experienced Nalbandian that Argentine captain Alberto Mancini placed his bets. Both he and the tennis players themselves did not hide the fact that if everything went well, their winning plan would be limited to two days of play. On Friday, Nalbandian and national team recruit Juan Martin Del Potro should bring two points to the team, and the required third point will be earned in the doubles match on Saturday. And indeed, after the first day of the meeting, the Argentines took the lead - 2:0. Nalbandian won the first singles match, suppressing the resistance of Igor Andreev - 7:6 (7:5), 6:2, 6:4. Then Del Potro dealt with Nikolai Davydenko relatively easily - 6:1, 6:4, 6:2.
However, the Argentine “blitzkrieg” did not happen. And even David Nalbandian, who came on as a substitute in the doubles game, instead of Augustin Callieri, in a duet with Guillermo Cañas in a difficult match that lasted more than three hours, could not defeat the Russians - an experienced team player Dmitry Tursunov and the debutant of our team Igor Kunitsyn. The Russians did not allow the home team to kill the intrigue of the confrontation between the two teams and, despite the desperate attempts of the Argentines, they defeated Nalbandian and Cañas - 6:2, 6:1, 6:7 (9:11), 3:6, 8:6 .
Summing up the results of the first two days, the captain of the Russian national team Shamil Tarpishchev said that his players, who flew to Argentina at the beginning of the week, did not have enough to adapt, and that by Sunday the Russians would be in better shape. Previously, Tarpishchev often repeated that sometimes the outcome of a meeting depends on the pair: the one who wins this duel most often then wins the match. So, taking this factor into account, by the last day the Russians, who had a clean sheet, in addition to psychological confidence, had to gain optimal physical shape. In addition, hope for a favorable outcome was instilled by the fact that Nalbandian, who was quite tired physically and mentally during the first two days, would not be able to fully control the upcoming game. And the team's debutant, Del Potro, will not cope with the psychological pressure if he has to play a decisive match.
But this forecast was half true. Davydenko, who was the first to enter the court, doubled the Russian score, winning against Nalbandyan - 3:6, 6:3, 7:6 (7:2), 6:0. Having lost in the first set - 3:6, Davydenko then leveled the situation - 6:3. However, the key moment of the match was the end of the third set, in which the Russian managed to put the squeeze on his opponent in a tiebreaker. In the last game, the exhausted Nalbandyan could no longer oppose the Russian and lost dry - 6:0. The score in the match between Argentina and Russia was level - 2:2, and now the fate of the semi-final depended on the outcome of the final, fifth match between Del Potro and Andreev.
Andreev had invaluable experience playing for the national team. Del Potro's advantages included a successful season, four tournaments won, a higher ranking (he was ahead of the Russian by six positions, being the 13th racket in the world), but most importantly - his native soil. The entire first set was actually an even game, if you don’t take into account the fact that Andreev lost his serve in the opening. However, then he literally followed on the heels of his opponent, and only at the end of the game did he give up. The tension of this fight, due to its decisive nature, was so great that at some point the meeting was stopped: one of the spectators became ill. After receiving medical assistance, the woman refused to leave the stands and remained to watch the game. And for good reason. Del Potro won the decisive match - 6:4, 6:2, 6:1 and led the Argentine team to the Davis Cup final. After the match, the Argentinean debutant admitted that it was all more like a dream, that he really did not sleep a wink on Sunday night, that he was very worried and did not expect that he would be able to bring his team two points and win this semi-final. That now he wants to remember everything that happened on the court, down to the smallest detail, because he does not believe that this could happen again in the future.
For the first time in the last three years, the Russian team failed to make it to the finals of the team tournament. Last year our tennis players lost to the Americans, and in 2006 they beat the Argentines in Moscow. And yet, the Russian players and captain Shamil Tarpishchev, even after the lost semi-final, have nothing to reproach themselves with. In the absence of two strong players - Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny - our guys showed everything they could. In addition, Kunitsyn’s successful debut for the national team lengthened our team’s bench.
After the semi-final, Shamil Tarpishchev gave his forecast for the final. In his opinion, the 2008 Davis Cup will be won by the Argentines, who “proved with their attitude that they can do it.”