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Post by Elisabeth on Jun 9, 2005 17:07:17 GMT 3
wooow Thanks again!!!!!  LOL!Always a pleasure... ;D  |
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Post by annie on Jun 10, 2005 9:44:16 GMT 3
Niiiice photos Liz  Thanks |
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Post by lau on Jun 15, 2005 15:15:55 GMT 3
I know I`ve been neglecting my boys lately...  But It`s grass season, ;D ;D ;D I know Coria is in s-Hertogenbosch and today plays his second round match (not sure....) Good luck Guillermo!!! |
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Post by annie on Jun 15, 2005 15:17:55 GMT 3
Yeah!!!!!!! go Coria!!!!!!! LOL
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Post by lau on Jun 15, 2005 20:13:42 GMT 3
Hernych d. Coria 6-3, 6-4 I said it.... Grass season..  I`m sorry for him, because he made it to the final in ’s-Hertogenbosch last year  |
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Post by annie on Jun 16, 2005 10:18:33 GMT 3
I watched the match lau...he looked a little spaced out ..oh well....clay is over  |
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Post by annie on Jun 17, 2005 16:38:39 GMT 3
an article from the official Davis cup site
Argentina primed for 'Mission Impossible'
Amid the disappointment of losing to Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round at Roland Garros, Guillermo Coria managed to sound quite upbeat about the prospect of getting onto grass in preparation for Wimbledon.
South American enthusiasm for grass is not a normal occurrence but, this year, members of Alberto Mancini’s Davis Cup squad have an ulterior motive. By the middle of July – or sooner if exits from Wimbledon are earlier than planned – Coria, along with David Nalbandian, Guillermo Cañas and, possibly, the surprise success of the French Open, Mariano Puerta, will be hard at practice on the specially laid grass court at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, where the Argentinians will find themselves facing Australia in the World Group quarterfinals of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.
The task would be a tough one for any claycourt nation, but for Mancini, a former winner of the Italian Open during his chequered career as a player, there is a special problem to overcome in his first year of Davis Cup captaincy. He has to take a bunch of players who are notoriously bad travellers as a group – even though they seem to do quite well, thank you, as individuals on the pro tour – and make them play to their potential away from home. Erasing the memory of last year’s disaster in Minsk when Max Mirnyi led Belarus to such a crushing 5-0 defeat that Argentina did not win a set in any of the live rubbers, will be Mancini’s most important psychological task.
But the problem of grass can be psychological, too. Even Puerta, who has only played on the surface three times without ever having won a match on the stuff, has the technical ability to play well on the faster surface, especially if he can make good use of a left handed serve that slides away in the advantage court. But he needs to remove all negative thoughts from his mind, or another defeat will loom.
Whether or not Puerta makes the final squad depends on his own form in the coming weeks as well as Agustin Calleri’s hip injury. Among the choices at Mancini’s disposal, Calleri’s heavy hitting game is generally thought to be best suited to grass after that of Nalbandian who was the Wimbledon finalist of 2002. Gaston Gaudio is another with an outside chance of at least making the bench. If the tie was being played in Buenos Aires, Mancini would have such an embarrassment of riches that he would be the envy of every other captain in the competition. But Davis Cup is not that simple, and a change of surface, the loss of crowd support and an awkward journey can turn a bunch of world beaters into a team lacking confidence, or even hope.
At least the Argentinians are taking the challenge seriously. All the leading contenders are playing at least one pre-Wimbledon tournament, and the likely doubles team of Nalbandian and Cañas are playing together in Halle. Yet the order is still tall.
“Unless the Australians make the mistake of using a heavy ball, the Argentines have no chance,” says another captain Mats Wilander, who in September will be worrying how he can extract a victory over India in New Delhi so his Swedish team can stay in the World Group. “If Wayne Arthurs gets that big left handed serve in and Lleyton Hewitt plays at his usual level, it is impossible to see how Argentina can win. But you never know with Davis Cup. France won there on grass, remember.”
As far as Australia is concerned, there is still the chance that Mark Philippoussis could be recruited to the Aussie cause. He played at Queen's, having recovered from injury, and won a round before running into Andy Roddick, so all eyes will be on 'Scud' at Wimbledon to see how he performs - and how his body holds up.
But even if it doesn't work out for Philippoussis, John Fitzgerald should be quite happy with his usual squad of Hewitt and Arthurs backed up by the vastly experienced Todd Woodbridge for the doubles. For the hard-nosed Sydney sports fans who expect nothing but victory, there will be no tears shed for Argentina.
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Post by lau on Jun 17, 2005 16:42:20 GMT 3
Thanks for that Annie!!  I`ll post something about the Wimbledon draw for argentine players as soon as I have time Apart from all the arg. players that are not playing W (including Gaudio, Calleri, Zabaleta, Chela.... and I think there`s another one... I`ll post their reasons for this too ), they had a pretty good draw . But... it`s grass again. I don´t expect a lot from them (Please, please, David... you can do it....). And I agree with the article, confidence will be important... |
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Post by lau on Jun 18, 2005 18:25:58 GMT 3
Difficult time of the year for argentine players (grass season). I`m worried about the DC too.. Maybe I should forget about this year and hope that next year we`ll do it better.... (But I can´t help having hopes..., haha). And lots of my boys (and girls) are injured!!! As far as I know, only 5 arg. players played in W last year. This year, until now... 4. Sounds suspicious..... soo many arg. players injured at the same time during the grass season.... But most of them are dealing with really bad injuries. This is the list of those who won´t play in Wimbledon and the reason: *Cañas: I knew he wouldn´t play in W yesterday. A really bad news.... for three reasons: 1st He can play well on grass. In fact one of the few arg. players that is quite good (and sometimes very good) on grass. He could earn some points in W; 2nd DAVIS CUP in coming!!!!; 3rd and the most important, in my opinion, the main injury is in his left wrist (a wrist in which he had surgery two times!!!!! Remember his last match against Marat in Hale??). The other injury is in one of his elbows... it happened during the match against Puerta in RG where he felt 2 times*Mariano Zabaleta: the problem in his foot... He is still dealing with that (quite serious)....*Calleri: I don´t know exactly the kind of injury. I guess that is in his back (from what I saw in his last match, when he retired from the match..... ) I really like Agustín. And he was starting to have good results..... it`s a pity... And again: OMG!!! Davis Cup....*Edgardo Massa (brother of recent juniors doubles champ in RG, Emiliano Massa and from the same generation that Coria and David): Like I said in previous posts, this is the most tragic and funny injury/injuries. He needed surgery in both shoulders. In one of them, the same or similar injury Coria had, in the other, he felt playing a pro am when he tried to avoid hurting or hitting a girl that was playing with him (I don´t remember exactly)*Gaudio: shoulder injury (I`m not sure)*Chela: I have no idea , lol Maybe he though he would feel lonely without Zabaleta and Gastón there....hahahah (just kidding, I don´t know nothing about his injury yet )*Paola Suarez: I read she has got a hip injury.... That`s sad,  because in doubles (she plays with Virginia Ruano Pascual from Spain), the only GS title they are missing is W.... |
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Post by lau on Jun 18, 2005 18:30:30 GMT 3
The good news will come soon!!! hahahaha ;D(I`m looking for the seeds, W draw, etc)
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Post by lau on Jun 18, 2005 19:01:09 GMT 3
OK, here are the good news.... The arg. players left had a quite good draw...... * Let`s skip Guillermo Cañas now..... *Juan Monaco(67th in ATP ranking): Will play against a qualifier Novak Djokovic (SCG). He is in Andy`s and Coria`s quarter.*Guillermo Coria (15th seeded): His first round match will be against Tomas Behrend (GER)*Mariano Puerta (16th seeded): His first round match will be against Lars Burgsmuller (GER). He is in Marat`s and Mario`s and Lleyton`s quarter of the draw.*David Nalbandian (18th seeded): First round match against Raemon Sluiter (NED). He is in in Nadal´s, Gasquet´s and Haas´ quarter of the draw. Please, please, David!! *José Acasuso (CHUCHO!!!!!, lol): First round match against Tomas Zib (CZE). He is in in the same quarter of the draw that Federer, Davydenko, Youzhny and Pim Pim. Good luck boys!! I forgot about the girls... I`ll post later... I`m tired of typing, haha Yeah... I know it looks green, boys.... ;D  |
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Post by pau on Jun 18, 2005 20:42:51 GMT 3
I love that pic!!! thanks for the info lau! ;D |
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Post by lau on Jun 21, 2005 1:25:38 GMT 3
I`m sorry If someone reads this thread, hahaha. But I won´t pay much attention to arg. players, at least, as long as Marat is doing it well. ;D I`ll just post the results and if I know, the order of play.... After all, it`s grass season!!!! And the only one I`m expecting good results from is David . The girls:Mariana Díaz Oliva (ARG) d. Anne Keothavong (GB), 6-3, 6-4 The boys:Tomas Zib (CZE) d. José Acasuso (ARG) 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 Chucho... Lars Burgsmuller (ALE) d. Mariano Puerta (ARG) 6-1, 6-1 y 6-4 What was expected happened. It was a painful match to watch |
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Post by annie on Jun 21, 2005 10:50:14 GMT 3
Poor Chucho and Mariano....oh well I guess no surprises there |
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Post by pau on Jun 21, 2005 20:42:26 GMT 3
Coria won, and I'm expecting Nalbandian's match, good luck David!!!
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Thanks
But It`s grass season, ;D ;D ;D 
I`m sorry for him, because he made it to the final in ’s-Hertogenbosch last year 
because in doubles (she plays with Virginia Ruano Pascual from Spain), the only GS title they are missing is W....
