Massu And Rios Will Attempt To Revive Chilean Tennis

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 10th October 2013

Massu And Rios Will Attempt To Revive Chilean Tennis

epa03570031 Chilean tennis player Nicolas Massu returns the ball to Spanish Albert Montanes during the ATP Vina del Mar tennis tournament, held in Vina del Mar, Chile, 05 February 2013. EPA/MARIO RUIZ |

A captain/coach combination of Nicolas Massu and Marcelo Rios has been appointed in Chile to try and rescue the once-feared South American nation from the depths of the Americas Zone Group II that they have not contested for more than 20 years.

Chile were relegated in September’s play-off’s after losing to the Dominican Republic and it was clear inspirational leadership was needed to inspire an improvement. Former Olympic champion Massu, who announced his retirement last month, and ex world no.1 Rios seem the men who should attempt such a task.

Massu, Olympic gold medalist at both singles and doubles at the Athens Games of 2004, played 56 Davis Cup rubbers for his nation, and outlined his enthusiasm and ambition for the new task when he said: “Tennis is my passion, I love it, you can leave the game professionally but I always said that I wanted to stay as close as possible to the sport which gave me so much.”

He revealed he actually contacted the Chilean Tennis Federation in Santiago and enquired whether they had a job for him. “They asked me if I wanted to take on the role,” he said. “I told them I did, that I loved the idea of being Davis Cup captain. It’s a huge motivation for me and at this time it’s an important challenge for me because I think I’m still quite young, I’m only 33.”

Rios, world no.1 for a total of six weeks in two spells during 1998, has the title of technical coach and has said that his job will be to focus specifically on developing the talent of up-and-coming Chileans.

“I want to start from scratch, at the very bottom, work our way up and I hope we will be able to reach the World Group and go further than I did,” said the 37 year-old who registered 28 wins from 45 rubbers. “Perhaps, one day we might win the Davis Cup. Why not?”

Chile’s first tie under the new leadership partnership will be in Barbados, starting on January 31. “The important thing is to get out of our group as quickly as possible, get back to Group I where the players can grow and, as Marcelo said, in the future, progress to the World Group,” insisted new captain Massu.

Topics: 10sballs, Davis Cup, Marcelo Rios, Nicolas Massu, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News

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massublog says:

October 10, 2013 at 12:07 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Massu And Rios Will Attempt To Revive Chilean Tennis : A captain/coach combination of Nicolas Massu and… http://t.co/hF…