World No 1 absent

The encouraging news for captain Alberto Mancini’s team is that it no longer has to be a host to Rafael Nadal, the world’s No. 1 player, who withdrew from Spain’s team last week because of tendinitis in his right knee.

Nadal’s buff right biceps still features prominently on the official poster promoting this final. But the only Spanish players genuinely present are the slumping if still dangerous David Ferrer, two talented but erratic left-handers, Feliciano López and Fernando Verdasco, and a newcomer, Marcel Granollers.

Vilas is expected to make a rare appearance. That seems appropriate; he was born in Mar del Plata and polished his game as a teenager at the Lawn Tennis Club. Vilas memorabilia is a constant presence in Argentina. The only Argentine man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Vilas remains Gastón Gaudio, at the French Open in 2004. Nalbandian reached the Wimbledon final in 2002 and won the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup as an alternate in 2005.

Both those achievements would pale in the collective Argentine consciousness compared with finally securing La Copa Davis. “If we win the Davis Cup, there will be a before and an after,” Nalbandian said.