Argentina Davis Cup captain Alberto Mancini said on Tuesday he
was counting on the support of soccer great Diego Maradona to give
his team a boost in this weekend's final against hot favourites
Russia.
Asked by Reuters if he knew of Maradona's plans to attend the
December 1-3 showdown at Moscow's Olympic arena, Mancini just
smiled: "I think he'll be on court with us on Friday.
"Seriously speaking, we heard the same thing that you already
know, that he was planning to come to Moscow.
"We hope that he comes to give us his support. He is still our
country's greatest athlete and it would be great for our young team
to have him here," Mancini said.
His opposite number Shamil Tarpishchev said the Russians would
counter with their own brand of VIP support.
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, a big tennis fan, has
attended all of his country's Davis Cup home matches in recent
years.
"It's quite possible that all our leaders, current and former,
will attend," said Tarpishchev, referring to the incumbent
President Vladimir Putin.
NO HANGOVER
Tarpishchev said his players have recovered from celebrating
Nikolay Davydenko's wedding. "The hangover is gone, so they should
be ready to play," said Tarpishchev.
Davydenko, who married his long-time sweetheart Irina Vasina
last Saturday, said: "It (wedding) is all in the past now.
"I had a little rest on Sunday, then from Monday on we've been
just training," added the world number three.
"I'm not thinking about the marriage, at least for now. The
honeymoon can wait too."
Mancini said the visitors did not consider themselves underdogs
and were happy with the court.
"Of course, we would prefer clay, but we're quite happy with
carpet," he said.
"The surface is not as fast as we feared it would be."
Argentine number one David Nalbandian, who played in a 3-2
semi-final defeat by Russia four years ago in Moscow, sounded
confident his team would come on top this time round.
"I feel very comfortable right now," said the world number
eight. "We were a bit unlucky not to win in 2002, but we've gained
valuable experience from that clash.
"I can play all three days if I have to," he added.
"But our team is not just me, we have other very capable players
and everyone will do their best for Argentina to win."
(Reuters November 29, 2006)