Nicolás Massú’s strategy to reposition Chile in the Davis Cup World Group

If it was by ranking, today Alejandro Tabilo (97th ATP) and Christian Garin (102nd) would come out on the field of Club Trentino de La Serena to face Kazakhstan. But no. Nicolás Massú, captain of the Davis Cup team, chose to change the logic and give the singles matches to Chile’s numbers two and three. Tabilo, the best in the standings, will only play doubles with his great teammate Tomás Barrios (213th). A strategy that aims to bring the country back into the global group.

Decision that is guided by the presence of Chilean tennis players in the circuit. If we refer to the form, the best placed to start alone in the series against the Eurasians was undoubtedly Nicolás Jarry (126th). The man from Santiago has had an excellent start to the season in Australia, where managed to enter the main draw of the first Oceanic Grand Slam after passing the qualifications , with victory against Timofey Skatov (129th in the world and his rival at a hypothetical fifth point) included. Moreover, in the main draw of the Open which takes place in Melbourne, he passed the first round by beating Miomir Kecmanovic (34th).

“I’m very happy with the start, since pre-season I’ve been very good and I’ve been able to carry it so far. The work is almost done off the pitch, doing things well focused, with the best possible energy and now tomorrow (today) we have to go out and drop everything and compete. It’s a long, hard-fought series and we have to be very close “, he said after his confirmation as a single player.

That, yes, brought changes in the order by classification and finally caused Alejandro Tabilo to be excluded from the individual duels. A decision that is made due to the little filming he comes with, the great bond he has with Barrios and, without a doubt, the fact that he lost last week to Timofey Skatov in Concepción.

But despite the fact that reality left him with fewer chances, the left-hander took his non-inclusion on the first day of competition like a bucket of cold water, since he arrived as alone and because He came to be very important in the series against Peru in Lima . In this key, played in September 2022, he played three games, winning two and losing one. Of course, for this particular series, the national team suffered the losses of Garin and Barrios.

Now, with a full squad, the Chilean-Canadian’s reality has suddenly changed. In La Serena they will only play doubles, because in the event that the key extends to a fourth or fifth point, it will also not come out in the field . For this instance, the protagonists of Saturday will be those who will play the passage to the World Group.

This because in addition to Jarry, Garin will be in singles. The world number 102 was one of Massú’s great proteges during his time with the national team and the player with the longest career in the team, if we measure the achievements achieved. He became 17th in the world, made the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and won five titles as a professional, including the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro. Now, even if he’s not having his best tennis moment (left the Top 100 chart after four years ), has found reason to believe in a further resurgence. This year, he continued his work with Andrés Schneiter, reached the semi-finals of the Noumea Challenger and lost in the first round of the Australian Open, battling Sebastian Korda (26th), who reached the quarter-finals .

Strategy, as much as it hurts Tabilo, could be the big key for Chile in the series against Kazakhstan. In a tone that promises to be very even, the rest of the players will be key and in the case of the nationals, no tennis player will end up playing three duels . A distribution that the rival has also replicated.

Along with this, Chile also manage to have their most effective duo on the pitch. In a team made up of Tabilo, Garin, Jarry, Barrios and Lama, no combination is as proven as the one born in Toronto and the chillanejo. already together They played doubles in four Davis Cup brackets so they know each other by heart. The first was in the 2019 final against Germany and the last was in March 2022 when they secured the third point in the series against Slovenia.

Nicolás Massú clings to all this. He risked it to give importance to the two who played better and relegated his number one racquet to doubles, but because he is a modality specialist. Decisions that made noise and hurt Tabilo, but which in the long term could allow Chile to return to the Davis Cup World Group. Whether this is achieved or not, we will know tomorrow afternoon. “We are playing a very important series, we are in the playoffs for the World Group, where the 16 best in the world are; where everyone wants to be there and very few are there. We have worked conscientiously to arrive in the best way ”, said Massú, the historical Chilean tennis player who seeks to continue expanding his legend.