Argentina will be a hard-court host for the first time in its Davis Cup history. The Davis Cup final will be contested on an indoor hard court in Mar del Plata's Islas Estadio Polideporvito.
The Davis Cup Committee, in a conference call meeting held earlier today, decided unanimously that Mar del Plata would host the the between Argentina and Spain set for November 21-23. The arena was completed in 1995 for the Pan American Games.
The Argentine Tennis Association had nominated a fast indoor court at the Estadio Orfeo Superdomo in David Nalbandian's hometown of Cordoba to host a Spanish squad led by World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Mar del Plata's Islas Estadio Polideporvito was nominated as the second choice in the event the Cordoba site was not approved by the ITF, the governing body of Davis Cup.
The decision to forgo Cordoba in favor of Mar del Plata left Nalbandian fuming.
"It's a very strange decision," said the top-seeded Nalbandian after dismissing seventh-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the Stockholm Open semifinals. "The players and captain and the federation want to play in Cordoba. I don't know why they chose the other place. Cordoba is better and has more infastructure. Everything looked like we were supposed to play there. There are poor conditions in Mar del Plata. That's why we chose Cordoba."
Nalbandian suggested compensation could have possibly played a part in the decision.
"There must be something under the table with Mar del Plata," Nalbandian said in comments published by the AFP.
ITF representatives made separate visits to inspect both the Mar del Plata and Cordoba venues immediately after Argentina's 3-2 victory over 2006 champion Russia in the September semifinals staged on red clay in Buenos Aires.
Since both venues are smaller than the 12,000-seat capacity, which is typically a standard requirement for the the Davis Cup final, the ITF had final approval over the site. In its decision, the ITF said there were "many factors to consider" including the ability to expand seating at the site.
"This was one of the most challenging decisions we have made during my more than a decade-long tenure on the Davis Cup Committee," said Spain's Juan Margets, is the Davis Cup Committee chairman and also serves as Executive Vice President of the International Tennis Federation that owns and manages the Davis Cup competition. "There were many factors to consider including the wishes of the players to play on an indoor hard court, the feasibility of increasing the venue to the 12,000 seat minimum required in the regulations and other factors that contribute to the success of a Davis Cup Final. In the end, the Committee unanimously felt that Mar del Plata was the most appropriate venue for the 2008 final."
The Davis Cup Committee is comprised of chairman, Margets (ESP), Pierre Darmon (FRA), Neale Fraser (AUS), Enrique Morea (ARG) and Alan Schwartz (USA). Although both Margets and Morea contributed to the discussions during the meeting, they recused themselves in the voting as the nations they represent will meet in the 2008 final.
Argentina, which will play for the Davis Cup championship for the second time in three years, was Davis Cup runner-up in 1981 to the United States and 2006 to host Russia. Argentina has traditionally hosted its Davis Cup ties on red clay — the final will mark the first time Argentina hosts a Davis Cup tie on a fast surface.
In the aftermath of Juan Marin del Potro's convincing 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 conquest of Igor Andreev to clinch Argentina's 3-2 Davis Cup semifinal victory over Russia on the red clay of Buenos Aires, Argentine captain Alberto Mancini said he would select a fast indoor court in an effort to slow Nadal and Spain.
A ruthless Nadal put on another clay-court clinic, repelling Andy Roddick's charges in the bullring to secure Spain's sixth trip to the Davis Cup final with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 rout that sealed Spain's semifinal conquest of the defending Davis Cup champion United States on September 21.
The four-time French Open champion has won 123 of his last 126 clay-court matches and is bidding to lead Spain to its third Davis Cup championship and first since 2004 when it defeated the United States on the red clay of Seville. In an effort to take Nadal out of his comfort zone and take advantage of the hard-court skills of Nalbandian and Del Potro, Mancini has opted to pick up the pace.
Former Wimbledon finalist Nalbandian dismantled Nadal in their two career meetings sweeping successive Masters Series titles in Madrid and Paris on hard court last fall. Nalbandian is winless on clay against Spain's No. 2 singles starter David Ferrer, but has won three of their five hard-court matches.
Taking the ball early and persistently picking on Nadal's forehand, Nalbandian made the muscular Mallorcan look decidedly small in winning eight straight games at one stretch to score a convincing 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal conquest at the 2007 Tennis Masters Series Madrid last October.
The match was played less than 24 hours after Nadal fought off Andy Murray, 7-6(5), 6-4, in a physically-draining match and the second-seeded Spaniard looked a half-step slow while lacking his familiar fighting ferocity against the 2004 Madrid finalist.
Nalbandian went on to beat World No. 3 Novak Djokovic and top-seeded Roger Federer to capture the Mardid title. Three weeks later, Nalbandian did not face a break point in crushing Nadal, 6-4, 6-0, to claim the Paris Indoor title.
Nadal is 3-0 lifetime vs. Del Potro, Argentina's likely second singles starter, who has won 24 of his last 25 matches. Ferrer owns a 2-1 record against Del Potro with the 6-foot-5 Argentine winning their most recent encounter, 6-1, 7-5, in Tokyo last week.
