Bautista saves his commitment, but Alcaraz defeats and doubles put the standings to Malaga on hold
It’s no drama, but this Friday Spain lost a golden opportunity to qualify for the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga by losing to Canada (2-1). The victory of Roberto Bautista in the first match made the fight for Sergi Bruguera’s men very facet, but the defeats of Carlos Alcaraz and the doubles team formed by Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez forced Spain to beat South Korea on the day from Sunday to November in the final phase of the tournament.
It was not a good day for Spain and Bautista started in the best possible way. The man from Castellón was let go after a good performance against Serbia against Vasek Pospisil, who had to come back from 3-6, 6-3 and 6-3 in more than two hours and fifteen minutes.
Very comfortable on the indoor track in Valencia, the Canadian always took the initiative with a serve that gave him 11 aces and a forehand and a backhand that resulted in a whopping 35 winners. Bautista had to keep his cool, especially after giving up on the first lap, and based on a lot of work from the back of the track he managed to beat the Canadian, much higher than what his ranking says – he is 141 in the world-.
The win, very important for Bautista to make up for the weak last part of the year on the cement tracks, paved the way for Spain, who had a chance to take the top spot after a 3-0 win over Serbia on the first day. the group.
It was also the turn of the big star of the Bruguera team, Carlos Alcaraz, who was ready to take on the fight after three days of training in Valencia. He did it with the sluggishness of the US Open, winning a very tough first set from Felix Auger-Aliassime in the tiebreak and partial after over an hour.
The effort had been huge for a 19-year-old boy who fought for his first Grand Slam on the other side of the world a few days ago. And the physicist took its toll. Auger-Aliassime, who collapsed against South Korea on Wednesday, turned the score around and tied the score (6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2). Alcaraz ended up melted. “I haven’t reached 100% physically yet, as I normally do,” explained the Murcian after the game.
The Spaniards had one bullet left and to take advantage of that, Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez jumped onto the track, against Pospisil and Auger-Aliassime; Canada held back nothing.
The match started very calmly for the Spaniards, who broke the Canadian service in the first game and took the set without surprises. They gave no chance with their service. The Fuente de San Luis pavilion, which had been filled since the duel with Alcaraz, still contained enough people to let the Spanish warmth feel and victory was close.
But the Spanish pair took advantage of neither of the two break opportunities they had and when Canada got one, the set went to Pospisil and Auger-Aliassime. The alarms went off in Valencia and Granollers and Martínez deactivated it with an early ‘break’ and the opportunity to end the game and the tie with the service. There were nerves, missed opportunities and a pause that brought Canada back to life and killed Spain. The last four games of the game went to the Americans, who sealed the win 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Spain will play the classification to Malaga against South Korea next Sunday; It is only worth it to beat the Koreans, a priori, the weakest in Group B of this Davis Cup.
Source: La Verdad
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