Argentines feel Davis Cup within grasp; Football legend, Diego Maradona at the practice

Argentina believes winning its first Davis Cup is within its grasp on the eve of hosting its first semifinal at its Parque Roca Stadium fortress.

If the team beats Russia this weekend, the Argentines will also host its first final against either Spain or the trophy-holding United States.

The chance to make history has the Argentine team highly motivated, and even drew football great Diego Maradona to practice on Wednesday.

"The boys are really dedicated to this tournament," Argentina captain Alberto Mancini told TyC Sports television on Wednesday.

"They're pumped up by the opportunity to play another final — and at home. They have a lot of motivation, you can see it on the court."

Argentina hasn't lost at home in 10 years, winning 12 straight ties. That record made Argentina favored to win this week, said the country's greatest player, Guillermo Vilas.

"Argentina has a very good record at home," Vilas told the Davis Cup Web site. "The people are very warm and passionate when the matches start, and the Argentines always seem to play at their best."

To ease the pressure on his team, Mancini on Tuesday named David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro for Friday's opening singles at the sold-out, 14,000-seat, clay-court stadium.

Diego Maradona wishing David Nalbandian success.

Guillermo Canas gets some love from the football legend.

Same goes to Juan Martin del Potro. Alberto Mancini is waiting for his turn.

(Via GMANews.TV, Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Argentine, Russian teams train for Davis Cup

Argentine and Russian teams trained on Monday in the central stadium of Roca Park in the city of Buenos Aires, where on Friday they will open the semifinals of the Davis Cup.

Argentine team formed by David Nalbandian (world no.7), Juan Martin Del Potro (13th), Agustin Calleri (51st) and Guillermo Canas (55th), trained in the morning under the supervision of their coaches and the captain Alberto Mancini.

The players complained about the conditions of the court.

On the same day, Russians Igor Andreev (19th) and Dmitry Tursunov (26th) arrived for training but Nicolay Davydenko (6th) is nowhere to be seen.

In Russian team, the main last-hour news was the confirmation that Marat Safin (38th) will not compete in the Davis Cup.

The other semi final will be played between Spain and U.S. in Madrid.

Here are some of their practice photos.

Argentina's Captain Alberto Mancini drinks a tradtional drink called "mate".

Russia's Dmitry Tursunov wishes he had some boobs.

Argentina's Guillermo Canas serves during a practice.

Argentina's David Nalbandian returns a ball during a practice.

Russia's Igor Andreev, says hi to Argentina's Alberto Mancini during a tennis practice.

Igor Andreev, the Russian PR guy greets Argentina's Agustin Calleri during a practice.

Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro getting some advice from Captain, Alberto Mancini.

(Via www.chinaview.cn, Images by Yahoo! Sports)

Shirtless tennis players: It's hot right here in Beijing!

The Olympics 2008 will start in less than 12 hours! But before that...

It was hazy and it was definitely hot in Beijing yesterday!

With that kind of weather, there's only one things for the ladies, shirtless players. Novak Djokovic, Guillermo Canas, Nicolas Massu, Fernando Gonzalez, Jonas Bjorkman, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal (pictures all in sequence) sure couldn't stand the heat and took their shirts off. Nadal's picture is a repeat from this post.

UPDATES: Checking the latest weather report, it's raining now in Beijing, which is good for the Opening Ceremony tonight.

(Images by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Footballers fancy tennis too

AS Roma's forward and captain Francesco Totti and team-mate Chilean midfielder David Pizarro were spotted at the WTA Italian Tennis Open in Rome. They were following the match between Roger Federer and Guillermo Canas. Federer won the game 6-3, 6-3.

(Images from FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)