The Buenos Aires ATP dreamed for many years of having the man from Tandil in its main draw. “Delpo” claimed differences with his schedule, since in those days he used to play tournaments on hard courts to prepare for the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami. But the Buenos Aires brick dust, in reality, was only the ideal pretext to mask the quarrels he had with the tournament director.
The origin of the disputes dates back to the end of November 2008, in the conflictive and wasted Davis Cup final played in Mar del Plata. In those days, the conflict between Del Potro, the great rising star, and david nalbandian, the sports and spiritual leader of the Argentine team, whose coach was precisely Jaite. The crossings and differences appeared in private and also in public, without hesitation to bring to light the internal one that they starred in.
The disagreements between Unquillo and Tandil never ceased, although they were sustained precariously when they were part of the national team. It was during the captaincy of Modesto Vázquez that both moved closer to each other. But the final explosion occurred in December 2011, before the final against Spain in Seville. Within Argentine tennis it was already known: the AAT had decided that Jaite was the new captainwithout giving “Tito” the opportunity to decide his eventual continuity in the position even with the possibility of obtaining the title ahead.
This generated the absolute break between both heavyweights of Argentine tennis. “Delpo”, an undisputed figure, felt that he should have been consulted to choose the next coach and that the decision sought to consolidate Nalbandian’s power in the group. “Del Potro is our ace of spades”Jaite quickly argued in his presentation at the end of December 2011. He wanted to seduce him and build a bridge that was never built.
With the exception of 2007, the year of his debut, Del Potro never played in the first round of the Davis Cup World Group. This led to the discomfort between the captain and the athlete climbing one more step. The “Tandil Tower” was not in Germany for the beginning of the Jaite era, exactly a decade ago, but he was summoned against Croatia and the Czech Republic, two of the most conflictive series of his career.
April 2012. For the quarterfinals, Argentina received the Balkans in Parque Roca. The 2009 US Open champion had vomiting before beating Ivo Karlovic on day one. Following Nalbandian’s loss to Marin Cilic on Friday, the ace of spades was due to seal the national win on Sunday morning. It was victory, but more suffered than thought.
The most tense moments occurred in September of the same year, when the team led by Jaite received the Czech Republic for the semifinals. During that week, the then 8th in the ATP ranking trained in a different place than the rest of his teammates, who rehearsed in the same Parque Roca. Those were days of pain in his left wrist, an injury that would later end up stopping his career for more than two years.
Del Potro beat Radek Stepanek on Friday, but rumors of an absence on Sunday quickly surfaced. On Saturday afternoon Jaite was in charge of confirming that he was not going to have his most valuable card on Sunday morning and that he would be replaced by Carlos Berlocq, who could not beat Tomas Berdych (then number 6 in the world ).
In that game the first whistles were heard towards the man from Tandil. The captain stated before the press that both had spoken on Friday night about the loss of the national No. 1 but that they had not communicated it to the rest of the players so as not to affect the preparation of the last day. It was the first chapter of a war that lasted, apparently, a decade.
December 2012. The conflict could no longer be hidden and was installed in the media when the captain set the deadline to confirm the availability of the players on the 10th and the double Olympic medalist, according to official versions, never responded.
“I am going to work with my team on communication”“Delpo” commented hours later at a press conference in Uruguay. Despite acknowledging his mistake, he also shot at the coaching staff: “I found out that he didn’t play through the media.” It was the last move before dealing his final blow, the resignation to play the Davis in all of 2013.
Almost the entire following season passed with the eternal query, to one side or the other, about the return of the best Argentine racket. Del Potro had one of his best years, with four ATP 500 titles and two Masters 1000 finals. Consecrated as the leader of albiceleste tennis, on November 15 he published an explosive letter in which he accused the AAT and Jaite of using a “ hypocritical speech.
“I am tired of being invited by mail or messages and being pressured through certain press taking notes on whether or not I play Davis”, dynamited the then 5 in the world. He also argued that the body “tries to leave me in a bad light in front of public opinion”, and closed the text with the announcement that he would not play the first series of 2014 against Italy.
The end of Jaite’s cycle as captain came during that season. After losing to the Europeans in the first round, Argentina played the playoff against Israel in Sunrise. Despite the victory, the former ATP number 10 left his position. These were times of change in the AAT, since a few days after that duel the president passed away Arthur Grimaldi and the power of the AAT was exercised Diego Gutierrez Y daniel fidalgowho retrieved “Delpo” and listened to his opinion of choosing a low-key captain. It was the beginning of the Daniel Orsanic era.
During his time as captain, Jaite never left his position as Director of the Argentina Open. Since del Potro’s emergence in the elite, the former Nalbandian coach has always publicly stated that he wanted to have him in the main draw of the tournament. However, the man from Tandil always chose to play the cement tour prior to the M1000 in Indian Wells and Miami.
The fracture of the right patella that the “Tower” suffered in 2018 changed everything. Inactive since July 2019 after a slip at Queen’s that suffered his injury, he tried various alternatives to recover and underwent surgery four times. Although he was clinically fit to play, the pain did not stop. So brick dust, a more knee-friendly surface, emerged as a concrete option to attempt a comeback. Buenos Aires was closer than ever.
Last September, within the framework of an exhibition at the US Open, he installed the idea of returning to the circuit in Argentina. These words alerted the Buenos Aires ATP, whose organizers began negotiations for the return that took place this week. However, as he learned Ambit, Jaite did not participate in the negotiations for the winner of 22 titles to play the contest.
His return to tennis at the BALTC transcended sports. Del Potro wanted a last? meeting with his public to begin the farewell and hence the need to approach people from Argentine tennis with whom even an exchange of words was unimaginable before. His last performance at the legendary Palermo stadium would set the perfect closing for his documentary series.
The final surprise occurred on Thursday morning, when the man from Tandil approached the Palermo club to do a clinic with boys. Jaite, whom some underhand call the “Black Monk”, left his office, located in the bowels of the Argentine Tennis Cathedral, to receive Del Potro and hugging in a gesture that tries to demonstrate a truce, although it is very far from reality.
Ten years passed in a relationship that started badly and did not improve over time, despite the feints and attempts to seduce with words the most decisive figure in Argentine tennis in the last decade. Nor did Del Potro opt for an early reconciliation that would turn the course of the relationship. Everything was precipitated by the injury and the long hiatus that will continue after his final performance in Buenos Aires. In times of social networks, images hide more stories than can be seen.
