Why the Davis Cup series endangers the presence of our country’s best tennis players at the tournament in Buenos Aires

The start of the 2026 clay court tour in South America will bring an additional challenge for the Argentine players and the organization Argentina Openwhich was officially presented this Monday in the presence of its director Martin Jaite and from Francisco Cerundoloone of the numbers confirmed for the main draw. This tournament will launch on Monday, February 9th, just one day after the series ends Qualifiers des Davis Cup that the selected ones Albiceleste will play with South Korea as a visitor on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th. And the proximity between the two events and the distances between the two venues will be more than just a headache.

“Confirming the date of this series is bad for the tournament and for the players, who will have problems returning and adapting to the changes in the surface, the climate, the schedule… It will be complicated,” Jaite commented at the press conference held at a well-known hotel in retreat.

It is the Argentinians who travel there Busan -The city chosen to host the duel is located in the extreme southeast of Korea, on the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan and an hour’s flight away Seoul– They would just be back Buenos Aires Tuesday morning at best. The first round of the competition ends on this day.

For the eldest Cerúndolo, who is now 21st in the rankings, the return to time will not complicate matters so much and will certainly start as one of the top favorites. This means he starts in the round of 16 and can only make his debut on Thursday, which would give him a few days to get used to it.

The most affected would be players like Tomas Etcheverry either Francisco ComesanaCandidates summoned by the captain Javier França for the series and that, based on the rankings, they would not be among the top eight seeds in the Buenos Aires competition, so they would have to play the first round on Monday or Tuesday.

The man from La Plata and the man from Mar del Plata – or any of his compatriots who find themselves in this situation – must play in the league BALTZ with the Jet lag and the accumulated fatigue from travel and little time to readjust to the clay court (the Korea clash will be a hard court) or opt out of Davis or the tournament that represents the season’s only chance to compete at home.

“The Davis question was heavily influenced by competition. Cordova. Now this ATP It took a week and we will endure it. But these are things that we cannot handle as a tournament,” lamented Jaite. And he revealed that the confirmation of the date for the duel against the Koreans is not the first bad news that the traditional competition has brought to the countries.

“When looking for players, we also use the Davis draw. And this time the draw wasn’t good for us because Argentina becomes South Korea and because we had a few players who, if they played with their countries in South America, would be candidates to come to the tournament too,” he explained, without revealing their names.

However, one name came up in the conversation: that of Novak Djokovic. The thing is Serbia will collide with chili in Santiago on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th, raising hopes that if the winner of 24 Grand Slams is part of the Balkan team for this duel, he will be encouraged to appear in Buenos Aires the following week.

“If he comes to Davis, of course we would be happy,” Jaite began. “First we have to see if he comes, because Nole Due to his age, he takes part in eight to nine tournaments a year. If he comes, we will try to “seduce” him. But it’s not up to us for now.

Reflections on the juggling act that Argentinians will have to complete to compete in the Davis Open and the Argentina Open in February were part of the discussion that resurfaces each season as the date of the tournament approaches, about the future of the South American clay-court tour, complicated this year by the proximity of the first qualifying round and, for a long time, by the increase in cement tournaments and the decline in clay-court tournaments.

“Today the one ATP It’s about stirring up dust Roland Garros. The players prepare for this Grand Slam and then practically do not play on slow courts. “This has been happening for a long time,” Jaite commented.

And he assured that if at some point they had thought about becoming a hard court competition, today he no longer likes this idea so much.

“We’ve said for a long time that it was a possibility. But I think if we switched to cement it would be a setback for the tournament because what sets us apart today is an event on clay. If we have a competition on cement in the same week.” Dubai or one in Europe“It is impossible to compete with the Arabs and Europeans, who have greater economic power,” he explained.

“The number of clay court tournaments has been declining for many years. I think that after the grass tour in 2026 there will only be two weeks of competition on this surface. So it’s basically the South American tour and then the European tour before Roland Garros “Great, but at the highest level you have no choice but to keep improving on hard courts because that’s what the circuit takes us,” analyzed Cerúndolo.

Asked what you think about the future of this tournament series that concludes ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro and the 250 from Santiago de Chilethey were optimistic.

“I talk about the tour with the South American players and the Europeans who like to play on clay and usually come. They all love it, they enjoy it very much for three weeks a year, they have a great time, they go from playing in the cold indoors to competing on clay and in the heat. Many of them love it and want it to continue over time. And I have also spoken to others who intend to come and play it. Then I speak privately with Martín for the 2027 edition …,” he commented to Cerúndolo, with a knowing smile.

Jaite explained: “The three tournaments must work together not to disappear and to improve the tour. The good thing is that although it is said that the ATP wants to end the South American tour, we understand from the meetings with the federation that this is not the case and that they want it to continue from 2028. We continue to do our work, we always try to get the best players and we cannot do more.” Tennisthe license holder wants to continue South America. This tournament is like our baby, that’s why we will always defend it. “And the players are progressing despite the difficult schedule, so in a way they are defending it.”

The Buenos Aires ATP where the game is played Lawn tennis in Buenos Aires From February 9th to 15th, the presence of five characters who promise a good show has already been confirmed. with Italian Lorenzo MusettiNumber eight in the world, at the top, this shortlist is completed by Cerúndolo, finalist in Buenos Aires in 2021 and 2025; The young Brazilian star Joao Fonsecawho will defend the title he won this year precisely against Francisco; Matteo Berrettini And Gael Monfilstwo names that Jaite really wanted to preserve.

“These were two players that we wanted to bring. Matteo, because I like the way he plays and he was close to having a year but in the end he couldn’t. And Gael, who once took part in the tournament a few years ago and announced that 2026 would be his last year as a professional. It was also important to have Musetti and Fonseca back,” commented the director of the competition.

“Fran is already something of an emblem of the tournament,” he continued. “For us, the Argentine presence is very important and I think that today it is as strong an attraction as that of foreigners. There must always be Argentinians because you always have to support someone. Today we have seven or eight players who are very attractive, they are already established in the top 100 and can beat anyone.”

The tournament roster will close in the first week of January. With today’s ranking and reaching 80th place (more or less like previous years), the oldest Cerúndolo would be in the peloton, Sebastian Baez, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Tomas Etcheverry, Francisco Comesana And Mariano Navone.

And there is another Argentine who knows that he will at least play the preliminary round in the BALTC, the Corrientes Lautaro Midon21 years old, 232nd in the ranking and from 2025, who received the first wildcard for the qualification table. “He earned it on the court, in all the tournaments he played in Argentina this year. For us, supporting young Argentine tennis players is very important. And we believe that Lautaro has shown that he is ready to take part in the qualification and the Argentina Open,” said Jaite.