He Argentine team captained by Guillermo Coria takes the field to face Great Britainin the second point of the Group D of the Davis Cup Finals 2024 which is disputed in Manchester. After the 1-2 defeat against Canadathe national team is going for the recovery against the home team, who in a very even area has the home team as a fundamental weapon to get among the two best and access the playoffs.
Canada’s victory against Finlandthe weakest rival in Group D, left Argentina with no margin for error, so it will be essential to defeat Great Britain, who have the support of the public that came to the AO Arena in Manchester. The TyC Sports signal is broadcast on TV.
In the first turn, Tomas Etcheverrywho did not play against the Canadians (Sebastián Báez played), faces Daniel Evansin a sign of confidence from Coria because it will be a key point. Then it will be the turn of Francisco Cerúndolowho will have to work hard to defeat Jack Draper20th in the world and recent US Open semi-finalist. Later it will be the turn of the doubles, with Maximo Gonzalez y Andres Molteni hunting for another victory, in this case against Daniel Evans y Neal Skupski.
Guillermo Coria and his players had warned before the start of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals that the area they had been given was very even. They had also remembered an old phrase that is repeated in each qualifying round: in this event, logic does not always work and the rankings are liars. And what happened on the first day of competition in Manchester proved them right. Because Canada, led by a solid Felix Auger Aliassime and with a Denis Shapovalov who played as he had not played in a long time, won 2 to 1 in the series that opened the action of Group D and dealt a hard blow to the Argentine team, which He was faced with a difficult situation thinking about his chances of qualifying for the Final 8 in Malaga.
In the first singles of the day, Francisco Cerúndolo, 31st in the world, played a good match but did not find a way to hurt Shapovalov, who is currently 100th in the ranking but displayed a very high level on the indoor hard court of the AO Arena . The former top 10 was solid on all fronts and won 7-5, 6-3 to give his country the initial advantage in the duel. Then, Sebastián Báez, 26th, fought against Auger Aliassime, 21st, although he also ended up losing in two sets 6-3 and 6-3. And in the doubles that closed the day, Máximo González (34th in the pairs ranking) and Andrés Molteni (30th) defeated Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil 2-6, 6-3 and 6-2 and got a point that could be decisive in the definition of the area.
Defeat could cost those led by Coria dearly. On paper, the duel against the North American team was key to the chances of finishing among the best two in the group and getting into the playoffs. Because in an area without a clear favorite, Great Britain, with Jack Draper, 20th in the ATP and recent US Open semifinalist, seemed to be a step ahead of the rest. And the albicelestes will now have the difficult task of defeating the home team and on Saturday Finland, perhaps the most “playable” without their best player, Emil Ruusuvuori, to avoid complications.