The Argentines can be forgiven for thinking they perhaps shouldn't have to play this tie. We recall that in early April in Santiago, unruly fan behaviour stopped the hotly contested tie between Argentina and Chile during the Mariano Zabaleta - Nicolas Massu match, with Chile having won the first singles match and the Argentine Zabaleta leading 2 sets to 1 in the second. Officials of the two countries agreed to play rest of the matches in an empty stadium, but the Argentine players refused to go along with the idea, fearing for their safety from possible angry mobs outside the stadium. After deliberations, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) decided that Argentina lost the tie by forfeit. Consequently, Argentina is forced to play this relegation tie in order to stay in American Zone Group One.

The nation's top singles players ? Mariano Zabaleta, Mariano Puerta, Franco Squillari, Hernan Gumy and Gaston Gaudio ? all decided to pass on the trip to Canada. Their official reason was that they preferred to play ATP tournaments to improve their individual ranking, but one wonders whether bitter feelings from the calamity in Chile might be the real reason.

Even though Argentina is sending its "B team", the depth of tennis in that nation is such that the two singles players who will play in Montreal are ranked in the top 100, and are in fact ranked higher than Canada's "A team". Indeed, we have a chance this weekend to check out two of the nation's rising young singles stars. Since young Chela and Calleri prefer clay, they will be put to the test on the fast hard courts by their modestly-ranked but experienced opponents. In fact, all four team members are making their inaugural Davis Cup appearance.

Juan Ignacio Chela
Entry ranking #56
Race ranking #47
Doubles rank: #793

Chela is a thinly-built (6'3", 165 pounds) 20-year-old with an impressive two-handed backhand. Last year he had a fine record in Challenger events, winning three tournaments and bringing his ranking up to where he could qualify for the main tour events this season. He won his first tour match in Mexico in February of this year, and did not stop there ? he went on to win the tournament, beating established pros Byron Black, Gustavo Kuerten, Stefan Koubek and Mariano Puerta in the process. Since then he h as continued to play well, notching wins over Todd Martin, Tim Henman and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. His 2000 won-loss record is 13-10. Chela will almost certainly be one of the singles players here.

Agustin Calleri
Entry rank: #84
Race rank: #100
Doubles rank: #330

We expect Calleri, a 23-year-old from Buenos Aires, to be the second singles player. The 6'0", 185-pounder made his debut on the tour last season, and this year has divided his time between Challenger and tour events. On the main tour Calleri has compiled a 5-3 record, notably upsetting Felix Mantilla and Dominik Hrbaty at Roland Garros. He also proved his worth on the hard courts of Miami, beating Marc Rosset and taking Tim Henman to three sets. In addition, Calleri has fared well in clay court Chal lengers, winning in San Luis Potosi (Mexico) and Venice (Italy), and reaching the finals in Zagreb (Croatia).

Martin Rodriguez
Entry rank: #130
Race rank: #112
Doubles rank: #72

Martin Garcia
Entry rank: #798
Race rank: #227
Doubles rank: #28

Argentina is bringing two "doblistas" named Martin, both ranked in the top 100, to counter Lareau-Nestor, the excellent Canadian doubles pair. 30-year-old veteran Rodriguez, who was ranked #71 in singles in June of last year and could fill in as a singles player in a pinch, usually teams with countryman Gaston Etlis, with whom he reached the Mexico City final this year. 22-year-old Garcia has had an excellent year playing with several different partners, most notably at the French Open where he and Span iard Tomas Carbonell beat three seeded teams in a surprising run to the semifinals.

We should note that Rodriguez had to pull out of a match in Europe last week with a knee problem, and it is questionable whether he will be able to play. If not, and if captain Franco Davin is unable to round up a pro replacement, he may have to insert Cristian Villagran, a junior who is serving as a practice partner for the team. Villagran is the 19th-ranked world junior.

Like Argentina, Canada placed itself in relegation danger thanks to a loss to Chile. Without Nestor, who was recovering from shoulder surgery, Canada fell 4-1 to the Chileans in Santiago. With Nestor back, Canada must feel they have a chance to upset the Argentines on the fast surface that both Nestor and Lareau like. The biggest problem captain Louis Cayer (who is retiring at the end of this year, to be replaced by Grant Connell) has is that this is basically a two-man team, as Canada has not develope d any decent pro talent in the last five years, and Lareau and Nestor may be asked to perform both singles and doubles duty.

Sébastien Lareau
Entry rank: #129
Race rank: #146
Doubles rank: #6

Native Montrealer Lareau has been ranked no higher than 76th in singles in his career, that coming in 1995. 2000 has been a very lean year for him in singles, with only one win in eight matches on the tour. On the bright side, Lareau was impressive in taking Arazi to five tough sets at Wimbledon, and he did win a Challenger indoors at Magdeburg (Germany). In doubles he excelled in 1999, winning seven tournaments, including the US Open and ATP Championships with Alex O'Brien. Teaming with countryman Ne stor this year, Lareau reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon, and Lareau also won Memphis in February with Justin Gimelstob. Lareau is a serve-volleyer with an excellent return of serve, but has difficulty in extended baseline rallies and can be prone to nervous errors in crucial situations.

Daniel Nestor
Entry rank: #203
Race rank: #148
Doubles rank: #38

The Belgrade-born left-hander underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season, and returned to the tour two months ago. His singles record this year is 3-4, and his doubles quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon have been the high points of his year. Nestor has a tough lefty serve and volleys well: mobility and stamina are his chief flaws. Lack of match play and an elbow injury (tendinitis) that forced him to retire from his first-round match at Newport last week might limit his effectiveness this weekend. Nestor achieved his highest singles ranking (#58) in 1999, and his doubles ranking has been as high as #5.

Frederic Niemeyer
Entry rank: #268
Race rank: no ranking
Doubles rank: #349

Jocelyn Robichaud
Entry rank: #1163
Race rank: no ranking
Doubles rank: #130

It is expected that Niemeyer would serve as a replacement singles player if need be. Niemeyer has a big serve and big forehand, but has never refined his game beyond that, and has yet to show more than Challenger-level talent. Robichaud may see action in doubles to save energy for Nestor or Lareau if the situation calls for it. Robichaud is a stylish volleyer who has given up on any aspirations to be a singles player, and is devoting himself exclusively to trying to make a breakthrough in the big time a s a doubles specialist.