The news had been spreading since fall against Italy last Thursday for the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup: Guillermo Coria will no longer be the captain of the Argentine tennis team, after leading the team for three years.
The “Wizard” had succeeded Gaston Gaudiowho left the position in September 2021, and has since disputed 11 Davis Cup series and led the delegation at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In this last tournament, a controversy arose within the team after Coria decided not to call Horacio Zeballosat that time the number 1 doubles player in the world, and who later decided not to respond to future calls from the captain.
In the last edition of the international tennis cup, Argentina was again among the eight best. However, in a disputed series, he could not overcome Italy, who finally became champion of the tournament, and said goodbye in the quarterfinals. The “Wizard” says goodbye to the national team with a record of 5 wins and 6 losses.
The departure of Coria was confirmed by the Argentine Tennis Association through their social networks. “Thank you, Mago! After 3 years, Guillermo Coria will no longer be the captain of the Selection. “El Mago arrived in 2021 and was in charge of the team in 11 series, leaving Argentina among the 8 best in the world in the last Davis Cup. Success in whatever comes!”
Guillermo Coria’s Davis Cup series
The first series of Coria leading the Argentine team was in March 2022 against the Czech Republic at home in the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club of Palermo. The national team comfortably won 4-0 against the visitors who traveled with an alternative team. This series was in the classification instance.
Then came a tough streak of consecutive defeats: they lost 2-1 against Sweden and by the same result against Italy. He closed the year and the finals with a 3-0 loss to Croatia.
2023 started on the wrong foot and Argentina lost a new series against Finland. However, in the second and last crossing of the year he returned to victory and won with a resounding 4-0 against Lithuania.
This year, the balance for Coria was positive: he achieved three victories and two defeats. In the qualifying stage, Argentina beat Kazakhstan 3-2 and entered the group stage of the final part of the tournament. There, he fell before Canada but beat Great Britain and Finland to advance to the quarterfinals.
In this instance, they faced Italy, the great world power of the moment, and lost 2-1. The series was even, it featured a great match of Francisco Cerúndolo in view of Lorenzo Musetti (6-4 and 6-1), a victory for the number 1 in the ATP ranking, Jannik Sinnerin view of Sebastian Baez(6-2 and 6-1) and a disputed definition in the doubles that finally went to the Europeans 6-4 and 7-5.
Source: Ambito
