Argentine number one Leonardo Mayer is the man who headlines the Argentina squad for their upcoming Davis Cup semifinal tie against Belgium. Mayer has usually played third fiddle to the likes of Juan Monaco and Juan Martin del Potro for most of his career, but their injuries mean he is the man to open things up against David Goffin.
The rest of the team is made up of clay-court specialists with Federico Delbonis, Diego Schwartzman, and Carlos Berlocq. With the tie being held at the Forest National on an indoor hard court, Argentina come in as underdogs, but the veteran experience of this squad could prove vital if it comes down to a deciding rubber.
Road to the semifinals
The Argentine’s would not be in the semifinals had it not been for the massive heroics of Mayer and Delbonis in their first round tie against Brazil. After falling down 2-1 to their South American rivals, Mayer embattled himself in the longest Davis Cup rubber of all-time (also went down as the second longest match of all-time behind Isner-Mahut). Mayer took out Joao Souza 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 5-7, 5-7, 15-13 to set up a deciding rubber. Delbonis took out Thomaz Bellucci in four sets to give Argentina a quarterfinal spot.
With Serbia in their quarterfinal tie, it was a major concern if they were going to see Serbia’s best team which would include Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, and Viktor Troicki. Fortunately for the Argentine’s, they only saw the latter as they wrapped up the tie in the first three rubbers with Dusan Lajovic winning one rubber, but it was a dead rubber at that point.
Who's up after Mayer?
Mayer is the only player who is safe at this point being the top player. He might play three rubbers, depending on how dire of a situation the Argentine’s get. Throughout this year’s Davis Cup, we’ve seen Delbonis play in singles and doubles, Berlocq play singles and doubles, and Schwartzman play doubles. How they line-up after Mayer will be vital if they want to book a spot in the final.