And it can also celebrate a new Davis Cup hero, the rising star Juan Martin del Potro.
Argentina has twice been in the final, but in both 1981 and 2006 it involved away trips to unfavourable surfaces in the northern hemisphere.
But following Juan-Martín del Potro’s 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win over Russia's Igor Andreev in a live fifth rubber here in Buenos Aires, Argentina will host Spain in November’s final in what is likely to be the first outdoor final in seven years.
In Madrid, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal turned in a virtuoso performance to defeat American Andy Roddick 64 60 64 to secure Spain’s place in the Davis Cup by final.It wasn’t that Roddick, ranked No. 8 in the world, played badly; it was just that, on this occasion, he was outclassed by Nadal, who played almost faultless tennis.
It will be another few days before the venue is confirmed, but it is likely to be in Buenos Aires, and the front-runner is the 14,000-seater Parque Roca that has hosted all Argentina’s home ties since the start of 2006.
Today I play an almost perfect match and it is very, very exciting,” said Nadal after the win. “Today I played very well. I shocked myself with some of the winners I played, was near perfect tennis.”
The only logistical issue is that the home nation will probably want to choose a moderately quick hard court to face Nadal and co – having waited so long for a first home final, Argentina will not want to welcome the world’s greatest claycourter on his favourite surface.
For complete results and other World Group playoffs results, go to the Davis Cup official website.
(Via Davis Cup official website)
