The best player in the world talks about the final which could make history.
by Andres Ugarte Larraín
Adolfo Cambiaso looks relaxed. Despite being days away from playing perhaps the most important final of his career, the eleven time Argentine Open Champion is concentrating on watching his children, Poroto and Mia, play a kids tournament at La Dolfina. It will be another final for him; this year alone he won the US Open, the Silver and Gold Cup in Sotogrande, as well as the Tortugas Open and Hurlingham Open in Argentina. Now, alongside his teammates, he’ll go for a new record: The Triple Triple.
How do you prepare for a final? What’s the week prior to the Open final like for you?
We start tomorrow (Tuesday), otherwise it gets too long, and you put too much pressure on yourself. We generally get together as a team on Wednesday. We’ll play a practice tomorrow and Friday, and between tomorrow and Friday we’ll meet twice. That’s it; we’re pretty calm at the moment.
Do you start thinking about past finals or do you focus on the one at hand?
I think about the final that’s coming up. I think that, in this case, we’re playing for something more; we play against ourselves nowadays. I think that La Dolfina’s greatest competitor is La Dolfina, and we’re trying to endure all that. But we always feel like we have big chances.
Why do you say that La Dolfina is your greatest competitor?
Because we hold a record we don’t want to lose, we have gone a long time without losing a match, and we want to go for the Triple Championship. I think that plays with our head and it’s a battle with ourselves. I think that we can win if we play well.
What do you think will be the key to this final?
I don’t know. Finals have to be played. Tactically, we are not sure. We generally start playing one way and finish playing another. It will develop depending on the needs of the game.
Is this the best La Dolfina team you have played in?
We are in a position where our team is about to make history with this lineup, and that makes a difference. But I have great respect for all the players who formed part of the previous teams, so I couldn’t choose just one.
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