MELBOURNE – Román Burruchaga made an unusual decision in Argentine tennis: he turned down his Davis Cup debut. The country’s ninth-highest-ranked player declined a call-up that would have marked a milestone in his career, choosing instead to prioritise his sporting schedule at the start of the season.
“It was a very difficult decision, and it hurts to have said no – that’s the truth. Considering the circumstances and what I would have had to give up, it meant a lot of time away from home and it was very hard to make it work,” the world No. 104 told CLAY.
“Playing Davis Cup for my country is a goal in my career, something very special that can happen to a tennis player. I hope that one day I’ll be able to represent Argentina, because it’s something that excites me a lot. If the call comes again, I clearly won’t hesitate,” said the 23-year-old.
Argentina will play the first round of the World Group against South Korea on 7–8 February on indoor hard courts in Busan.
“After competing in Australia, I would have had to stay in this part of the world, because going back to Argentina, dealing with the time change and then travelling again to Korea… it was too much all at once, especially with the South American clay swing coming up. That’s why we made this decision as a team,” he explained.
Captain Javier Frana named a squad with four debutants and no top-100 singles players, despite Argentina having seven players in that bracket. Horacio Zeballos, world No. 5 in doubles and the reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion, also declined to play the tie in Asia.
After refusals from players such as Francisco Cerúndolo, Sebastián Báez, Tomás Etcheverry, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Francisco Comesaña and Mariano Navone, Frana had hoped to count on Burruchaga.
“I was honest with Javier, I explained my reasons and he understood. Everything ended on good terms, and now I’ll support Argentina from afar,” said Burruchaga in Melbourne, where he played the Australian Open qualifying event.
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Despite the absences, Argentina will be favourites against South Korea, at least on paper. The South Americans will be represented by Thiago Tirante (No. 103), Marco Trungelliti (No. 130), Federico Gómez (No. 190), Andrés Molteni (No. 26 in doubles) and Guido Andreozzi (No. 32 in doubles). None of them, apart from Molteni, have previously played Davis Cup.
South Korea, meanwhile, will feature Hyeon Chung (No. 423, former world No. 19) and former ATP No. 52 Soonwoo Kwon.
“Argentina always have a great Davis Cup team. They’re very experienced players, they’ve played big tournaments and a lot of high-level matches, so I’m sure they’ll do very well,” Burruchaga, the son of Jorge Burruchaga, who won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina alongside Diego Maradona, said.
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