It didn’t take long for Leonardo Mayer to reconnect with tennis. After receiving multiple tributes after announcing months ago his retirement from professional activity, the Yacaré returned to approach a court to work, although from another function: assistant to the Davis Cup national team.
The champion of the Silver Salad Bowl in 2016, and one of the most important tennis players in the history of national tennis, told about his work with the coaching staff of the Argentine Tennis Team ahead of the 2022 Qualifiers series against Argentina. Czech Republic, which will be played between tomorrow and Saturday at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.
“Assistant is a bit of everything. It’s helping the players, mainly the juniors, trying to give some advice without bothering them too much, because it’s a difficult week and the players have a lot of tension”, explained the man from Corrientes.
Mayer has been actively participating in training together with Horacio Zeballos, Máximo González and the youth players Mariano Navone and Tomás Etcheverry, and he was seen very close to the players. “It is a new stage for me, different from when I played, with other nerves, another type of tension and another responsibility”.
“There are players I know quite a bit; then I know if I can approach him, or at what time to mark him or advise him something. In order not to invade, what I always do is talk to the coach (Guillermo Coria). There are a lot of tensions and the idea is to try to give an opinion that works for them without invading their space,” he added.
“I have known Leo since we were 15 years old, we share many things and we have a beautiful friendship. He not only brings us tennis things, but also sentimental ones. That helps a lot. Tomorrow one is nervous playing, and the fact of looking outside and seeing known people who support you, becomes something fundamental”, explained Zeballos, number 5 in the world in doubles regarding the inclusion of Leo in the body technical.
The Serie
The series that the Argentine team will play against the Czech Republic will be played on March 4 and 5 at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.
The winner of the series will qualify directly for the finals, an instance that Argentina has not reached since 2019.
It will be the first series for Guillermo Coria as captain and for Sebastián Báez as a player.
