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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 10, 2008 20:48:06 GMT
In less than two weeks the Davis Cup Final will take place in Mar del Plata. I thought we needed a cheering and news thread about this very important event for Argentine tennis  |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 10, 2008 20:53:01 GMT
This is an interesting article about how the Argentine country looks forward to the final. Enjoy www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=1511103 Nov 2008 - Maximilano Boso of La Nación 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 mapMar 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 historyTo 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. |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 17, 2008 20:38:42 GMT
www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=15395Final touches in Mar del PlataAs the strong winds ease off in Mar del Plata, making way for glorious 27ºC weather, preparations for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Argentina and Spain are also heating up at the Estadio Polideportivo Islas Malvinas. Since Mar del Plata was confirmed as the host city six weeks ago, the stadium has undergone an extensive and impressive revamp, from the fundamentals of laying a tennis court, to increasing the seating capacity of the stadium, building television commentary booths, installing and positioning multiple CCTV-style cameras for Hawkeye Officiating, and even the exterior getting a re-paint. With play beginning on Friday 21 November, final touches are being made inside and around the site, while the media start to arrive and the players make the most of their daily practice sessions. The Spanish team were the first to arrive on Friday, and after attending the wedding of fellow player Juan Ignacio Chela, the Argentine team returned to Mar del Plata on Sunday, with del Potro in tow, who flew straight from competing at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. The final, the most high-profile and highly-anticipated final in years, has also received plenty of coverage in local and national press, with more than 500 accredited national and international media yet to arrive in the city. When tickets went on sale over a week ago, almost three million people clogged the phonelines and fans even camped out overnight to buy tickets from the stadium. Whether Argentina fulfils its dream of winning the treasured Cup, or the Spaniards cause the biggest upset on South American soil, the Argentina v Spain showdown is assured to be one of the hottest tickets on the tennis calendar this year. VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!!!
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 21, 2008 8:11:46 GMT
Today is the day! VAMOS ARGENTINA! It's time to bring the Cup to Argentina  Anyone has tv coverage? I hope I will find a decent working livestream. VAMOS ARGENTINA |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 22, 2008 21:40:39 GMT
 This is a cool pic, taken from lanacion.com Well, the results are not the way we wished them to be, but nothing is lost yet!! VAMOS ARGENTINA! Keep fighting! |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 23, 2008 16:40:28 GMT
M is having a good timing cheering for Chucho on the bench, so nice to see VAMOS ARGENTINA!!! VAMOS!!!! |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 23, 2008 18:50:10 GMT
Congrats to the Spanish team, it was a deserved win. It was not meant to be for Argentina this year, but 2009 is another year, there are many other possiblities!! It was a nice DC weekend, great athmosphere, rollercoaster matches and lovely familiar faces in the crowd |
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Post by louiselpp on Nov 23, 2008 19:12:01 GMT
Bench report Our Commentators were reading from scripts saying that Gaston and Coria and Canas were somewhere at the tie, and that Coria was doing some commentating, not really interested in what they were saying.... more like they were reading what their Researchers told them to say... then.... Oh! this Guy jumping about yelling support for Acasuso is Mariano Zabaleta - followed by nice things about him too - NOT scripted! - so that was nice - and it got Lucas' attention!! Thank you "Barry the Commentator!" |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 23, 2008 23:16:14 GMT
Well, I did not have tv coverage and did have to sit in front of my laptop the whole weekend. The stream was not best quality, so I did not realize M was on the bench until the end of the third set when his face was BIG on the screen. Lovely moment It showed all his nervousness in that moment. Italian commentators did not recognize him, though. M was great at supporting, always jumping up and clapping. It was really nice that all the players showed up in Mar del Plata to support the team. It must have been especially hard for Pico, as he was still very hurt that he was not nominated for the team as Argentine's No. 3 player. This shows that the team spirit is there and that there is much hope that the Davis Cup will be brought home to Argentina soon!! VAMOS ARGENTINA! |
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Post by Corina2605 on Nov 24, 2008 11:02:31 GMT
espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=749788&s=copadavis2008&type=storyJuan Mónaco, Juan Ignacio Chela y Mariano Zabaleta alentaron este sábado al equipo argentino de Copa Davis en el dobles de la serie final ante España, en Mar del PlataActualizado: 22 de noviembre de 2008, 3:01 PM ET Comentarios MAR DEL PLATA -- Juan Mónaco, Juan Ignacio Chela y Mariano Zabaleta fueron tres de los exponentes de "La Legión" del tenis argentino que alentaron este sábado al equipo conducido por Alberto Mancini, en la final ante España, en Mar del Plata. Mónaco y Zabaleta, tandilenses y amigos personales de Juan Martín Del Potro, fueron los más entusiastas, mientras que Chela se acercó al estadio Islas Malvinas y presenció el partido de dobles tranquilo y mesurado, fiel a su estiloEn esta jornada no se lo vio al "Gato" Gastón Gaudio y sí a otros tenistas de bajo perfil, como el tandilense Máximo González y el "zurdo" Juan Pablo Guzmán. En tanto, repitieron su presencia por razones laborales el "Mago" Guillermo Coria, ahora comentarista de TyC Sports y cada vez más sobrio en su nueva función, Paola Suárez, quien trabaja para ESPN y Mariana Díaz Oliva, ahora como dirigente de la Asociación Argentina de Tenis. También estuvo José Luis Clerc en su rol de comentarista televisivo de Canal 13, y las ya mencionadas presencias de Guillermo Vilas y Gabriela Sabattini. _______________________________________________ Article mentions all the players who were there at Mar del Plata to support Team Argentina on Saturday. It says that Mariano and Juan Monaco, both personal friends of JMDP, were the most enthusiastic ones (suprise, surprise !), while Chela was more quite, like it is his style
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Post by Greg on Nov 24, 2008 12:53:41 GMT
Here is a picture of Mariano cheering on his team mates...  |
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reiko
New Member
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Post by reiko on Nov 24, 2008 20:54:33 GMT
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