Davis Cup - Ecuador vs Romania - Sept 2003
PRE-TIE & DRAW

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Pre-Tie

Ever since attending other Ecuador Davis Cup ties in 2003, I decided I just had to see the final chapter for 2003 and another attempt by Nico and Giovanni to put Ecuador into the World Group.

One of my best tennis memories is that historic tie at Wimbledon and I can still remember it as if it was yesterday - it was such a privilege to actually be there when Nicolas and Giovanni beat the British establishment to win their place in the world group and I really wanted to be in Ecuador this time if they ever did it again.

2003 had been a busy year Davis Cup wise for Nicolas and Giovanni as they had played all 9 live rubbers between them to get victories against Chile and Venezuela, both ties having the extra pressure for them of being played at home in Ecuador. The only reward for their hardwork was another tie at home – this time against Romania – in the Play-offs for the right to enter the Davis Cup World Group for 2004.

After a busy summer travelling the globe and clocking up many more air miles, Nico and Giovanni returned home to Guayaquil once their commitments at the US Open were over, to rest and prepare again for Davis Cup. The team and the Federation had decided to play the tie in Quito again, thus using the 'advantage' of the altitude, so all the players needed time to acclimatise themselves to the height and general conditions in Ecuador's capital city.

The tie itself was to be played at the Quito Golf and Tenis Club, in the El Condado residential neighbourhood, a short way north-east of the main city, and only a short distance from the famous "Mitel Del Mundo" monument – the "magnetic" centre point of the world where the Equator crosses the North/South 0 degrees dividing line.

With time on their hands and the desire to be in the peak of physical fitness for the tie, Nico and Giovanni spent the entire fortnight before the tie in Quito (which included a chance to see Ecuador play Venezuela in their soccer world cup qualifier) and with just days to go before the start of the tie the Romanian contingent began to arrive. With the top two players for the visitors, Pavel and Voinea, injured, it gave the Ecuadorians and in particular the local media more impetus to believe the home players could win.

The Draw

At the official draw ceremony, Giovanni had obviously drawn the "short straw" because he was drawn to play the first rubber against the Romanian number one player, Victor Hanescu, on the Friday morning. This left Nico to play the Romanian second player, Razvan Sabau, in the second singles match. These two players might not be the best known names in Romanian tennis but they were by no means "second string". Nico and Giovanni would then team up in doubles on the Saturday against the young Junior team of Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau (who won the Wimbledon Junior Doubles title this summer), before the final reverse single rubbers on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I arrived in Quito too late to witness the draw ceremony (a photo opportunity and a half as all the players were there in their official team suits!) but well in time to see the Thursday training session and final preparations before the big day.

Although Team Ecu was essentially just Team Lapentti, Nico and Giova did not practice together on the last day before the tie started. Instead they preferred to do different things. Nico practised on the main match court with both Carlos Avellan and Jhony De Leon whilst Giovanni had a training session with his fitness trainer, Hermes Romero. Nico began and finished his practice period with a game of "tennis football" with the lads and it was lovely to see him so relaxed before the stresses of the tie could take hold.

Whenever they play Davis Cup, Nico and Giovanni have a big responsibility because they are playing for their country as well as themselves and even though 2003 has not been a particularly good tennis year for Nico personally, he always gives his best when representing his country – for some reason he seems to have no problem with motivation and confidence when he is playing in the Davis Cup situation.

Next part - March 1.