Vilas Wants To Be Argentine Davis Cup Captain

Written by: Resendiz on 26th September 2012

Vilas Wants To Be Argentine Davis Cup Captain

epa01861424 Guillermo Vilas of Argentina reacts in the crowd as he is announced after Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland in the men's final at the 2009 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 14 September 2009. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

Guillermo Vilas, still regarded as the greatest player Argentina has ever produced by virtue of four Grand Slam titles, sees himself as the captain to bring internal harmony back to the nation’s unsettled Davis Cup team.

Martin Jaite , the current incumbent of the job, would appear to have a tough task holding onto office after the World Group semi-final defeat by the Czech Republic at Buenos Aires’ Parc Roque, long regarded as a fortress with an unbeaten record stretching back nine previous ties.

After just three ties it seems apparent that Jaite, once coach to Argentine veteran David Nalbandian, cannot bring harmony to the camp and lead player Juan Martin Del Potro still feels something of a loner.

Tito Vasquez, sacked as captain immediately after last December’s Davis Cup final defeat to Spain in Seville, suffered similar problems but according to reports in Argentina, Del Potro did not communicate with the captain throughout the tie and failed to play the crucial fourth rubber against Tomas Berdych due to injury.

Vilas sees himself as the man to restore team spirit and speaking to 2 de Punta de Radio Concepto, the 59 year-old said: “I want to be Davis Cup captain. It’s the destiny of a good player is to be a Davis Cup captain. It’s a must. It can’t be avoided.”

Differences with Davis Cup team-mates is a problem Vilas can encounter with experience. In 1981 he led Argentina to the nation’s first ever Davis Cup final without talking to his team-mate Jose Luis Clerc and it was only the United States’ triumvirate of John McEnroe, Roscoe Tanner and Peter Fleming who beat them in Cincinnati.

A former champion of the Australian, French and U.S. Opens, Vilas dominates the Argentine Davis Cup record book with the most years played (14), the most ties played (29) and the most total wins (57). However he has long been at odds with the Federacion Argentina de Tenis after repeated criticism.

Vilas was appalled when fans heckled the decision of Del Potro not to play in order to safeguard a left wrist that had been troubling him for some time.

“It’s not good to whistle in Davis Cup,” Vilas said, “However tennis is a sport of codes and when you break one, there is no communication and you do not receive the advice that you need.

“As a player the first thing that you fear is to be booed by the audience. You want to be celebrated when you are nominated for Davis Cup and you must recapture that spirit.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Argentine tennis news, Davis Cup, Guillermo Villas