Nalbandian splits with coach

David Nalbandian is now without a coach after parting with Martin Jaite earlier this week. There's a strong possiblity the Argentine may go solo for next month's Australian Open.

It shouldn't affect Nalbandian's chances of bettering his previous best result in Melbourne (he made the semis in 2006, losing a five-setter to Marcos Baghdatis). He's been on tour for enough years to not really need an ever-present coach. The likes of Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, and Tim Henman have all done it for lengthy periods in recent years.

Jaite has been linked with the Argentina Davis Cup captain job since Alberto Mancini announced he was stepping down after the Davis Cup final defeat to Spain, so this latest news could well be another ramification of that loss.

Mancini's replacement will apparently be announced within the next month and names are currently being bandied around. '70s legend and former French Open champion Guillermo Vilas put himself in the mix earlier this week as well as another former Nalbandian coach, Gabriel Markus.

The inquest into the Davis Cup final is continuing in the Argentinian press. The latest reports are that financial conflict divided the team. Nalbandian was going to receive half of the total $2.8 million pot which their national tennis association had to pay the team, but Juan Martin Del Potro felt he deserved a bigger share after his success in 2008.

Spain is also looking for a new Davis Cup captain after Emilio Sanchez (who runs the elite Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona, which has produced Andy Murray among others) stepped down after the Davis Cup final. At present, Albert Costa is the big favorite for the job, having received public backing from Nadal, David Ferrer, and Sanchez. Alex Corretja is also in the mix.