Wonderful World of Tennis / Scott Ferguson / 01 February 2008 /

Scott's Spot - Scott looks at South American champions of the past and wonders where the ones for the future are coming from

This week's ATP event in Vina del Mar brought back two former stars of the circuit in Guillermo Coria and Gaston Gaudio. Both top ten players for some time, they faced off in a theatrical, or was it comical, French Open final in 2005. Players cramping, feigning injury and almost certainly lacking the mental strength to claim a Grand Slam title on merit alone. Don't get me wrong, at their peaks they were two of the most exciting players to grace a claycourt, Gaudio's single-hand backhand was artistic flair at its best, but these guys were exposed that fateful Sunday in June, and the men in white coats were put on alert.

But has it hurt Argentine or even South American tennis at all? It's a weird state of affairs down there, there seem to be very few capable of consistency on the tour over a sustained period.

Let's start with the champions of the 90s. Gustavo Kuerten was an amazing story, winning the French Open at massive odds then returning to prove it was no fluke on two more occasions. His game was never really suited to other surfaces and chronic hip injuries stopped him from maintaining his ranking and results. I find it odd that tennis in Brazil hasn't kicked on from his success, he was such a personality in the game that everyone loved him, yet Brazilian tennis really is quite poor overall.

Marcelo Rios was an enigma, ranked number one on both the junior and ATP Tours yet he never won a Grand Slam event and was retired by the age of 30. Allegedly this was due to injury but it wasn't long before he was being wheeled out on the veterans' tour, annoying the likes of John McEnroe who genuinely were veterans, playing against someone who had many players older than him still on the circuit! He could never be regarded as the most mentally stable or media-friendly personality and his reign at the top was very short-lived.

Argentina has provided the bulk of South American players in recent years and has some amazing depth. As well as the aforementioned Coria and Gaudio, Nalbandian, Chela, Canas, Calleri, Acasuso, Zabaleta, del Potro, Monaco, Puerta and Squillari have all been quality players over the past five years. Their Davis Cup team, particularly when at home on the red dirt, really does have a plethora of choices.

Argentina does now have a virtual bye in the first round of the Davis Cup. With Andy Murray pulling out (what was the point of qualifying for the World Group if he was just going to pull out anyway? It was only ever going to be a one-man team!), the odds for a 5-0 whitewash over Great Britain will now be long odds-on.

Only Russia or Serbia in the semi-final look to be any sort of danger to the South American nation before the final. Serbia will rely heavily on Novak Djokovic and the psychology student Janko Tipsarevic. Should one get injured, their chances are history. Russia made it to the final last year which often means early danger against a lower-ranked side, let alone one with a new Grand Slam winner aboard.

No South American nation has won the Davis Cup yet. Argentina have gone close twice, runners-up in 1981 and 2006, and judging by the draw ahead of them, they have an enormous chance to go the distance. Certainly the early betting rates them at least as equal favourites.

For the global spread of the game, a South American victory would be a good thing and it's about time too.

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