Final Count Down for 2006 Davis Cup (against Argentina) --戴維斯杯決賽前一兩天





MOSCOW, RUSSIA - NOVEMBER 30: Marat Safin of Russia attends the Davis Cup Final 2006 draw ceremony on November 30, 2006 in Moscow, Russia. Russia hosts Argentina in the Davis Cup final on December 1-3, 2006. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - NOVEMBER 30: Marat Safin of Russia (L) shakes hands with David Nalbandian of Argentina next to the trophy during the Davis Cup Final 2006 draw ceremony on November 30, 2006 in Moscow, Russia. Russia hosts Argentina in the Davis Cup final on December 1-3, 2006. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images)

















MOS58 MOSCU (RUSIA) 29/11/06 : Russian tennis player Marat Safin (d) listens to trainer Alexandre Volkov during the practice session of the Russian team heading to the final of Davis Cup in Moscú, Rusia, wednesday, 29 november.

Translated from Russian

“We have won before and we will win now”

from www.gazeta.ru
by Sergey Bregovskiy

Russia’s DC team captain Shamil Tarpischev said that our opponents – the Argentine team are a very strong team with very stable players and also announced that he has decided who will play the singles matches. Marat Safin announced that Russian had beaten Argentina once and will do it again.
俄羅斯DAVIS CUP (DC) 隊長表示﹐我們決賽的對手阿根廷是堅強的隊伍﹐隊員表現穩定﹐並公單打名單。 薩芬說﹐俄羅斯曾擊敗阿根廷﹐這次絕對會再重演好戲碼。

As a preview of the DC final on Tuesday Olympiyski Sports Complex hosted a Russian team press-conference attended by our captain Shamil Tarpischev, Marat, Safin, Mikhail Youzhny, Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov.
星期二﹐在DC 決賽之前﹐俄羅斯隊長及成員-薩芬﹑尤茲尼﹑達維登科及屠薩夫 在Olympiyski運動場舉行記者會。

A few days ago Davydenko’s wedding took place in Moscow, which was attended by all members of the team. As it turned out this event must have had a very positive reflection on the team spirit because they all showed up in a really good mood.
幾天前﹐達維登科在莫斯科完成終身大事﹐ 整個DC的隊員都參加婚禮給予祝福。成員參加盛會時心情都很好﹐此樁喜事因此也大大提振了大家的士氣。

Obviously the first question was related to Davydenko’s wedding.
第一個問題自然跟達維有關囉
- A question for Shamil Tarpischev. Won’t the celebrations that have just finished interfere with the team’s preparations for the match?
對隊長Tarpischev的問題: 剛剛結束的婚禮慶祝活動不會影響決賽的訓練進度嗎?

Who said they have finished? Weddings don’t last one day we are still celebrating. On a more serious note though, we are acting in accordance with our plan and schedule, all is well.
誰說慶祝已經結束了?婚禮進行不到一天﹐我們還沒盡興呢。 不過﹐回歸正題﹐我們一直按照訓練的時程表在進行﹐一切都很順利。

- A question for Marat Safin. You have played Argentina three times already, what can you say about the opponent?
對MARAT的問題。你跟阿根廷隊已有三次對陣經驗﹐你對於他們有什麼看法

I have good memories about those meetings. We beat them twice and lost once. They are definitely a strong team but we won before and we will win this time.
那幾次對陣我都留下深刻美好的印象。我們打敗他們兩次﹐輸了一次。他們實力絕不容小覲﹐但這次我們會贏的。

- A question for Shamil Tarpischev. Argentines said they are happy with a surface chosen for the match, that it’s not as fast as they thought it would be. Can you comment on that?
對隊長的問題。阿根廷隊說他們很高興你們選擇這樣的場地﹐沒有他們預期的那麼快速。你有個評論

We laid the court for ourselves in the first place and not for our opponents, it suits us perfectly. If we have done it faster it would have not been comfortable neither for us nor for the Argentines, so we preferred to meet halfway.
我們首先當然是為自己準備場地﹐而不是為了他們﹐這場地對我們再合適不過了。如果我們採用更快的球場﹐相信兩隊的球員都不會打得很順手﹐所以我們選擇適中的。

- A question for Nikolay Davydenko. You lost against Nalbandian in Shanghai. What reflection might this have on the upcoming match?
對達維的問題。你在上海輸給納班﹐對於未來的比賽有個影響 ?

First of all, I lost against him in 2005 and not in 2006. Second of all, it wo
n’t be me who will be playing Nalbandian on Friday.

首先﹐我是在2005年輸他的﹐而不是今年﹔第二﹐星期五對陣納班的不是我。

- A question for Shamil Tarpischev. They say Diego Maradona is coming to support his team in Moscow. What is your answer to that gonna be?
對隊長的問題。 他們說馬拉杜納會來莫斯科為他們的隊伍加油。你覺得會是什麼樣的情形

Kalashnikov* (laughter in the audience). The most important thing is that practically all tickets are sold out. Possible that high officials will visit this match. Our supporters will be there for us and we don’t really care who supports Argentina. We will try to make our fans happy.

卡費 (聽眾一片笑聲。重點是﹐所有的票都賣光了。很有可能一些高官也會蒞臨加油打氣。支持球迷們全員到齊來為我們加油﹐我們不在乎誰幫阿根廷加油。我們只想盡力讓球迷快樂地享受比賽。

- A question for Marat Safin. During one of the matches against Argentines you had spent over 6 hours on court, are you ready to do it again?
對MARAT的問題。有一次對戰阿根廷﹐你曾連續在場六小時﹐如果還有同樣的情況﹐你已經準備好了嗎

The team has had additions since then. We have many options and a choice of who would play a certain match. As for me – I am ready to play any match if it’s necessary.

團隊已有更多成員了。我們有更多選擇去決賽誰上場打哪一場比賽。而我呢﹐如果有需要﹐打任何一場我都沒問題的。

- A question for Shamil Tarpischev. What has changed in both teams since our 0:5 loss last time?

對隊長的問題。上次0:5的慘敗之後﹐我們的隊伍有什麼改變嗎

Argentines have a more stable team now that allows them to play practically on any surface. However, our team has also left the times of when we would only play on one surface far behind. Therefore it will all depend on players’ conditions. As for that last match, our main player – Safin was absent and the youngsters that are now the base of the team were not ready at the time. Right now the team is well balanced for playing on different surfaces.

阿根廷現在已經一支較成熟穩定的隊伍﹐能適應各種球場。而我們團隊也擺托了早期只能打特定球場的限制。因此﹐比賽的結果取決於成員的臨場表現。上次的對陣﹐我們的主將薩芬缺席﹐年輕選手在那時還不夠成熟﹐但現在已經可以獨當一面了。

- A question for Mikhail Youzhny. You suffered an injury not long ago, but managed to get back to normal. What’s the secret of such speedy recovery and are you ready to play?

對尤茲尼的問題。不久前你受傷了﹐及時恢復了健康。你是如何在短時間內復原的﹐已經作好萬全準備了嗎

I am totally ready for the match. Whether I would play or not is a captain’s decision to make. As for my speedy recovery I have undergone rehabilitation on a medical centre of Evgeniy Blum.

我完全準備好了。會不會上場由隊長決定。有關快速復原的問題﹐我是在Evegeniy Blum 醫學中心進行復健的。

- A question for Shamil Tarpischev. Have you already decided who will play the singles matches?
對隊長的問題。你已經決定誰要參加單打了嗎

I think so. But sometimes it turns out that I have to change my decision at the very last minute. Right now I will obviously not say anything.

我心裡是有譜了。不過有時候因為情況改變﹐我得在最後一刻重新調度。此刻﹐我無法詳細回答。

- Mr. Tarpischev what’s a financial content of the final match? What’s the prize fund and if there addition stimuli for the players?

隊長﹐可解釋這決賽的財務事宜嗎。獎金的出處為何﹐有沒有追加隊員的獎勵呢

In accordance with recommendations of the ITF. The prize fund will be split 50/50 between the national tennis federation and the players. There are additional stimuli. When we won the Davis Cup there were organisations that wanted to issue additional bonuses for the players.

一切依據ITF的建議。獎金由網協和隊員平分。我們有額外的變勵﹐如果我們贏了DAVIS CUP﹐有一些機構會給球員更多獎金以示鼓勵。

- A question for Shamil Tarpischev. The Tennis Federation has supported the idea of holding Winter Olympics in Sochi…

對隊員的問題。網協支持冬季奧運在SOCHI.... 舉行...

The whole country did. How can it be any different? Russia is the only country that won the winter Olympics but never hosted it, it’s nonsense.

這是國家的共識﹐怎麼會可能不一樣?俄羅斯是唯一一贏了冬季奧運﹐但不曾是主辦者的國家﹐那實在太離譜了。

Russia captain chasing Davis Cup milestones
2006/11/28 by Gennady Fyodorov

俄羅斯DAVIS CUP 隊長尋求里程埤

MOSCOW, Nov 28 (Reuters) - With a powerful line-up featuring Nikolay Davydenko, Marat Safin and Dmitry Tursunov, Russia are considered the overwhelming favourites when they host Argentina in this weekend's Davis Cup final.

Team insiders say, however, that Russia's secret weapon could be their 58-year-old non-playing captain Shamil Tarpishchev, who has more than three decades of coaching experience in major international competitions.

The Russian is fast approaching the Davis Cup record of former Australia captain Neale Fraser who collected 49 wins as he led his side to four Davis Cup titles in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tarpishchev, who doubles as Russia's Fed Cup captain, has chalked up 41 victories in 62 Davis Cup ties. He has also won 24 of 33 Fed Cup matches.

"This must be some kind of record, worthy of being in the Guinness Book of Records," Tarpishchev, who keeps a log of all his matches on the bench, told Reuters.

"I don't think anybody else has more wins," said the man dubbed a "tennis genius" by U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe after Russia beat his team 3-2 in this year's Davis Cup semi-finals.

Although the International Tennis Federation (ITF) does not keep official statistics for team captains in Davis or Fed Cup play, Tarpishchev has reached several coaching milestones.

Two years ago, the Muscovite became only the third person to win both trophies, matching the feat of Frenchmen Yannick Noah and Guy Forget, when Russia beat a Forget-led France 3-2 in the Moscow final to clinch their maiden Fed Cup crown.

UNIQUE DOUBLE

Tarpishchev also got the better of his old rival Forget in 2002 when he steered Russia to their first Davis Cup triumph, edging France 3-2 in the Paris final.

Last year, Russia successfully defended their Fed Cup crown, again overcoming France 3-2 in the final at Roland Garros.

Tarpishchev, however, narrowly missed a unique double of winning both titles in the same year after losing to eventual winners Croatia 3-2 in the Davis Cup semi-finals in Zagreb.

If Russia win the final, he would become the first captain to guide his country to both Fed and Davis Cup titles more than once.

Tarpishchev said he began plotting strategy for the Argentina clash the minute Tursunov beat Andy Roddick in an epic five-set battle to put Russia into the Davis Cup final.

"Choosing the right surface is crucial to winning the tie," said Tarpishchev, who needs five more Davis or Fed Cup ties to reach a century mark in the coach's chair.

"The hosts always have an advantage because they can pick the surface that gives them the biggest edge."

The Russians laid a slow clay court at Moscow's Olympic arena to host the Americans, mainly to neutralise the speed and power of Roddick's booming serve, and will use a fast carpet surface against the clay-court specialists from South America.

"Both Marat and Dmitry like a high bounce, so will make sure the court fits them perfectly," Tarpishchev said.

PARQUET FLOOR

"Years ago the Davis Cup rules regarding the playing surface were not as clearly defined as they are now so home teams often went to extremes to give themselves an edge," recalled Tarpishchev, who coached his first Davis Cup tie in 1974.

"Playing matches in Central and South America was always the most difficult because those countries would bend the rules to the maximum limit.

"I remember a Davis Cup tie was once held on an asphalt court while another took place on a parquet floor, which was also waxed with paraffin to unsettle a visiting team."

Tarpishchev, who has not lost a home time in the Davis Cup since taking the Russian job in 1997, said he might borrow a few ideas from his Belarus colleague Sergei Teterin, whose team crushed Argentina 5-0 in the 2004 Davis Cup quarter-finals.

Then, after beating Russia 3-2 on a tartan indoor court in a first-round clash in Minsk, Teterin was asked if he would want to meet the South Americans on a similarly fast surface.

"No, we want to play them on an ice rink if that's possible," Teterin snapped back with a wry smile.
The cool-headed Tarpishchev, who also coached the Soviet Union from 1974 to 1991, has earned the deepest respect of all his players.

When a reporter asked Safin how he would prepare for Argentina, the former world number one just shrugged. "Well, we have our tennis genius to think about it. I'm sure he'll figure something out," he said.

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6243389,00.html

On an unrelated note...it looks like Marat is trying to sneak into Misha's pocket for some reason, in one of the posted photos.

The temperature rises in Moscow (Preparation for 2006 Davis Cup Final)
莫斯科緊張氣氛升高﹐DAVIS CUP 倒數計時了!!

The weather is unexpectedly warm at the moment in Moscow, just as things hot up inside the Olympic Stadium. The streets of this historic capital are free of snow, and the hosts will be hoping that isn’t the only thing that’s different from when they contested their two previous Davis Cup finals here in 1994 and 1995.


Russia bids for home triumph

With freezing conditions outside, Russia fell inside this same stadium, to Sweden in 1994, and the United States in 1995. Since then of course the nation has won the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, doing so in spectacular fashion against France in Paris in 2002. But triumphing at home is the goal that drives the team this week, and the chance to prove themselves in front of more than 10,000 home fans and dignitaries in Russian tennis’s spiritual home.

Playing Argentina in what should be a fascinating Davis Cup final, the question that will be answered over the next few days is which team’s desire is the greater: that of the Russians to win at home, or the Argentineans to win their first Davis Cup title in history.

It is the Argentineans’ first visit to the final for 25 years, and for most of them their first trip to Moscow. Since arriving from Geneva on Sunday there hasn’t been much time for sightseeing, but they have been to Red Square, the scale of which surely prepared them for the vastness of the task ahead and the sheer size of the venue, built for the 1980 Olympic Games.


'Good surprise' for Argentina

After two days’ practice on the indoor carpet the visitors are feeling comfortable. “Obviously we don’t prefer carpet over clay, but we had a good surprise when we came here; it’s not as fast as we thought it would be, so we’re adjusting well to the surface,” said captain Alberto Mancini.

Neither captain was giving much away at Tuesday’s press conferences about who will play singles, or even doubles. Both teams feature men who can play either, and both Mancini and Russian captain Shamil Tarpischev have the luxury of picking a line-up for Thursday’s draw, but then making the necessary tweaks and substitutions as they go along for doubles and the reverse singles. But they will need to get their tactics right.

Both Argentina and Russia present very united fronts, from their matching tracksuits – Argentina in blue and white, Russia in red and white – up. Although Guillermo Canas is in Moscow as the fifth player, for now the same Argentinean line-up that has featured in all three previous rounds in 2006 has been nominated. “I think this is a very strong team, and a very united team. We have come from the beginning of the year and feel strong together, which is very important,” said Mancini. The Russians seem equally close-knit, although the group is widened by the inclusion of Igor Andreev, who played in this year’s first round before injury, and 18-year-old hitting partner Evgeny Korolev.


Safin the leader of the hosts

The Russians are unconcerned about the speed of a court which has been built to suit them, and on which Safin and Davydenko reached the final of the Kremlin Cup seven weeks ago. “We’ll see how they’re [Argentina] gonna play during the match, because when it’s really fast, it’s not really good for us (either),” said Safin.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Safin is the lynchpin of the Russians, despite being the lowest-ranked member of the host team. The highest-ranked is world No. 3 Davydenko, whose dedication to the cause is unquestioned because he has delayed his honeymoon to represent his country, and practised on the day of his wedding to Irina Vasnina last Saturday. Davydenko’s fellow US Open semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny also arrives at this final with an impressive work ethic, having undergone a month’s worth of rehabilitation in a Moscow clinic to ensure his injured right ankle would be fit in time for this encounter.


Nalbandian the key Argentine

No-one doubts who the driving force and key player in the Argentinean team is, although Nalbandian plays down suggestions that a historic victory in Moscow depends on him. The world No. 8 said, “I can play three days, but the team needs everyone, not just me. If I play good or bad, I have the support of the team, the quality of players to help Argentina to win.”

“I think all the team believe in this chance for us,” Nalbandian added.

Marat audio link:
http://www.daviscup.com/shared/medialibrary/audio/mp3/DC_6751_mp3.MP3