Nalbandian suspicious of Davis Cup venue

Stockholm, Oct 11 (DPA) Argentina's David Nalbandian expressed doubts on the imposed choice of Mar del Plate as the venue for next month's Davis Cup final against Spain.

'It's a very strange decision,' said the Argentine number one Friday, whose hometown of Cordoba was rejected by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for the Nov 21-23 tie.

'Players and captain and the federation want to play in Cordoba,' he added of the 1.3 million metropolis, second-largest city in Argentina.

'I don't know why they chose the other. Cordoba is better and has more infrastructure. Everything looked like we were supposed to play there. It's poor conditions (in Mar del Plata).

'That's why we chose Cordoba. There must be something under the table with Mar del Plata,' he suggested.

The Argentines - finalists for the third time in the worldwide team event but still without a trophy - had offered the Atlantic coast city but were heavily in favour of more cosmopolitan Cordoba.

The hosts have chosen a fast indoor hard court in hope of thwarting Spain's clay-court monster Rafael Nadal.

The Davis Cup committee made the decision in a conference call after 'careful consideration of the plans proposed by the Argentine Tennis Association and the site visit reports made by ITF Representatives'.

The site will need to have seats added to bring the capacity up to the required 12,000 spectators.