Davis Cup: Embarrassing defeat for Diego Schwartzman
Diego Schwartzman suffered a painful two-set defeat against 18-year-old Daniil Ostapenkov in the Davis Cup match between Argentina and Belarus.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Sep 18, 2021, 09:01 pm
The Davis Cup has its own laws, it is said again and again, but nobody expected such a result at the World Group I encounter between Argentina and Belarus in Buenos Aires. Team leader of the local heroes Diego Schwartzman suffered a sensitive 4: 6, -3: 6 defeat against the only 18-year-old Daniil Ostapenkov in the first match of the country duel. The Eastern European, on position 63 in the ITF junior rankings, has neither an ATP ranking nor any other notable successes on the adult tour.
In the second match that followed, Guido Pella was able to mend the gap for the home team against Erik Arutiunian, winning 6: 1, 6: 2 after just over an hour of playing time. In the Argentine capital, the game is played on sandy ground. On Sunday it will continue with the doubles and the two remaining singles games. Overall, the Argentines remain the clear favorites in the battle. It remains to be seen whether Schwartzman will play his game against Arutiunian after the bitter defeat or whether Federico Coria will be used.
Finland and Norway are already on
The following World Group I encounters have already been decided: Japan won 4-0 in Islamabad against Pakistan without Kei Nishikori, Slovakia is already in the lead with 3-1 in Bratislava against Chile, Finland also wins at home against India 3: 1 like Norway with Casper Ruud in Oslo against Uzbekistan, New Zealand lost on neutral ground (Newport, USA) against South Korea and Ukraine defeated Israel 3: 2 in Kiev. Five more matches are still pending and some of them will not be played to the end until tomorrow.
At the beginning of 2022, the winners of these international matches will play their starting positions for the Davis Cup final tournament in autumn of next year in qualifying duels.