In the previous three decisive matches of the prestigious tournament, the Russian team won only once, four years ago in Paris, while in the two home finals of the mid-1990s it was defeated. On the eve of the meeting, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation and team captain Shamil Tarpishchev answered Alexander Shmurnov’s questions.
- Preparing for the finals, tuning in to the match with Argentina, many remembered the game with the French in “Bercy”. I admit, my language even spun: this is our second final, despite the fact that there were two more matches. The fact is, probably, that consciousness offers only one parallel - with a victorious ending. In other words, we expect success and only success ...
- I'm not sure that Russia is a favorite. I would rate the chances to be approximately equal, I would even give Argentina a slight advantage, because she has a more even, balanced composition and more opportunities to vary tactics. But this does not mean that we must lose.
- In general, how useful is the status of a favorite, does he sometimes turn into a burden, especially in front of his audience?
- The status of the favorite, undoubtedly, works better on the road, because away there is no such burden of responsibility. In tennis, the home field factor is extremely important, because you do not just play with your spectators, but choose the surface and balls that are convenient for you. But at the same time, there is a feeling of “mandatory victory”. And it’s very difficult to hide when everyone around is talking about it - journalists, friends who pat on the shoulder, they say, come on, come on, you have to win. It is very difficult to avoid stress in such a situation. Only experienced players can cope with this pressure.
- In your practice, captain of national teams - male or female - have there been cases when the status of a favorite turned into problems?
- Of course. The most striking example: the final of the Federation Cup in Moscow with the French in 2004. The match, which logically we had to win at least 4: 1, we barely managed to snatch in the last, doubles game. And the problems were not in the field of physical condition, technical capabilities or tactics, but exclusively in the field of psychology. As for the men's team, I recall the opposite situation: the favorites in the final of 2002 were the French. And responsibility, an almost imperative need to win, literally ate Mathieu in the fifth match.
- But did Misha Yuzhny care?
- Psychologically, I was counting on that. Yuzhny, by all estimates, was not a favorite, despite the fact that in the only full-time meeting he had outplayed Mathieu in Sopot in the same 2002.
- The score of personal meetings has a serious impact on the psychology of the player on the eve of the next match? And - if we take it more broadly - how can the memory of previous meetings of the national teams affect? We played with Argentina twice not so long ago: in the semifinals of that same year 2002 and almost immediately after that, at the beginning of the 2003 season.
- The match we won is more indicative. It is useful to recall it: we had two players - then, in fact, there were no options. This made Safin and Kafelnikov play a doubles match on Saturday, and everyone remembers how it turned out: 6 hours 20 minutes and a defeat in the fifth set 17:19. The fact that Safin won against Nalbandian the next day was a feat, and recalling this is very appropriate now, on the eve of their meeting. And Marat has repeatedly recalled those matches - both doubles and singles - tune in to the current finals. On the other hand, if we return to the face-to-face meetings of tennis players, a serious problem is the balance of Davydenko with Nalbandyan and Chela, whom he has never won and has 0: 4 and 0: 5 respectively.
- And yet: will singles be played by Safin and Davydenko?
- Yes, because now it’s pointless to think up tactics and select players for an opponent. I have already said that Argentina has a more even composition, more and more diverse choice, and an attempt to guess who will play - well, let's say, “hide” Davydenko from Chela - is a dead end. We need to act on our own, and Safin and Davydenko are obviously the strongest for today.
- Two more words about pair combination. In men's matches, she always has a special status, because couples play on Saturday, when the score is either 1: 1 or 2: 0 in anyone's favor, but still nothing is completely clear. It happens that paired matches bring a break, and in general, according to statistics, who wins the pair, in the vast majority of cases, wins the whole match.
- We were able to win two single matches on Friday in the last matches - both in France and with the US team in Moscow, and this allowed us to “exchange” the pair in order to maintain the freshness of the leading tennis players. However, with the score 1: 1, and even more so 0: 2, although I don’t want to think about it, you need to go to court the strongest. Unfortunately, there are currently no pair play specialists in Russia now, as there used to be, for example, Leonyuk or Olkhovsky, as the Brian brothers are now in the USA. But Misha Yuzhny plays the pair very well, and the main, strongest option is Safin and Yuzhny, and the backup - Yuzhny and Tursunov.
Alexander SHMURNOV