The captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team, David Ferrer, announced this Monday the call-up for the final phase to be held between November 18 and 23 in Bologna, with the confirmation of the return of Carlos Alcaraz to the roster. The Murcian, and absent in the previous series, last month against Denmark, will lead the block that will try to achieve the sixth Salad Cup for Spanish tennis, an elusive challenge since 2019. Jaume Munar, Pedro Martínez and doubles player Marcel Granollers complete the list. The first obstacle will be the Czech Republic, rival in the quarterfinals (Thursday the 20th), and if they manage to prosper they would face (Saturday the 22nd) the winner of the match between Germany and Argentina.
As long as there is no prior setback, Alcaraz will be the spearhead of the Spanish team, which missed him a little over a month ago, when it resolved access to the Finals in a very tough eliminatory. There, on the sand of the Puente Romano Tennis Club, Martínez’s contribution was transcendental and Spain managed to overcome a 0-2 deficit, something it had never achieved before. The 22-year-old from Murcia chose to rule out his attendance due to the “physical and mental demands” of the previous weeks, in which he successfully participated in the summer North American tour (Cincinnati and US Open). Now, however, he is willing to make an extra effort despite being faced with a similar circumstance.
Soon, Alcaraz will compete in the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 (between the 27th of this month and November 2) and also in the Turin Masters Cup (from the 9th to the 16th), so he will hardly have any rest. Even so, his desire is to play in Bologna and thus try to get rid of the bad taste of last year, in which Spain conceded, at the Martín Carpena in Málaga; Then, the player from El Palmar decided in his favor the individual match against Tallon Griekspoor, but the subsequent defeat in the doubles condemned Ferrer’s team. The captain, 43 years old and retired for six years, assumed the position in 2023 and, as anticipated in May by the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET), he will continue at least until 2027.
Both of them, Alcaraz and Ferrer, have between their eyebrows the conquest of the national team title. The first to unlock another historical tennis box and the second to close the circle, given that he won it three times as a player (2008, 2009 and 2011). The man from Alicante will be able to count on the governor of the circuit and will maintain his bet on the second line, since Martínez and Munar will repeat. The Valencian (28 years old) emerged as the great protagonist in Marbella and the Mallorcan (28) is completing the best season of his career. His inclusion means the discarding of Alejandro Davidovich from Malaga, who despite being above in the ranking (18th) has not been cited this time by the coach. He did receive the call for the previous series, but he argued “tiredness.”
“This will be the team, if there is no injury… Let’s hope not, but in a month many things can happen,” said captain Ferrer at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), who for now prefers not to reveal the fifth component, the theoretical substitute. Roberto Bautista (37 years old) has been absent for several weeks due to an ailment in his right knee and Pablo Carreño (34), present in Puente Romano for a month, could close the spot. In any case, the coach celebrates the return of Alcaraz and also that of Granollers, number one in doubles. The Catalan (39) was also unable to participate in the events in February (Switzerland) or September, due to an ankle problem, and will also parade through the Turin Finals in the company of the Argentine Horacio Zeballos.
43 WEEKS, LIKE KUERTEN
A. C. | Madrid
Ferrer was “excited” and assured that Spain will have “its options”, while underlining the difficulty of the initial crossing with the Czech Republic. The team led by Tomas Berdych has Jiri Lehecka (17th), Jakub Mensik (19th) and Tomas Machac (31st), in addition to their characteristic doubles ability.
It should be remembered that France and Belgium will open the competition on Tuesday the 18th and that one day later, on Wednesday the 19th, the other semi-finalist, Italy or Austria, will be certified. The transalpine team triumphed in the last two editions.
On the other hand, Jannik Sinner will compete this week in Vienna, where he could close the gap on Alcaraz. Number two aspires to get 500 points, with which he would reduce the Spaniard’s current income; Specifically, there are 1,340 points in the ranking and 2,540 in the annual race.
Precisely, Alcaraz equals the Brazilian’s 43 weeks this Monday Spring Kuerten on the throne. The next name is the American Jim Courier, with 58. Apart from this, this weekend the Ningbo and Osaka tournaments were resolved, this time in the hands of the Kazakh Elena Rybakina and the Canadian Leylah Fernandez respectively.
