At four o’clock this Wednesday afternoon, Roberto Bautista have an appointment at Borna Coric opening quarterfinal tie between Spain and Croatia at Martín Carpena in Malaga. An hour later, in Qatar, Spain made its World Cup debut against Costa Rica. An opportunity that could be another obstacle for the team he leads Sergi Bruguera if local fans don’t flock to the Davis Cup. With such a strong rival in front, nothing Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadalthe Hispanic formation counts in the hobby factor as an important aid.
After the duel between the numbers two, it will be the turn of this confrontation, Pablo Carreno and Marin Cilic. If a tie must be broken, it will be the doubles, where the Balkans will expose one of the best couples on the planet, the recent finalists at the ATP Finals in Turin, Nikola Metkic and Mate Pavic. The Spanish pair will rotate in the figure of the specialist Marcel Granollers, who played the Davis Cup with Pablo Carreño and Pedro Martínez. In the bedroom, more than the individual, Albert Ramos.
“Faced with such a tough tie against Croatia, we need the support of the public,” emphasized Roberto Bautista, 34 years old and world number 21, who has a record of 13-6 in the ‘salad bowl’ tournament. In front, a former junior number 1 who has been reborn after many injuries. Borna Coric, 26 years old and No. 26, won this course at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 ATP, where in the round of 16 he defeated the Castellón player 6-2, 6-3. The overall record is 4-4, although the one from Zagreb has dominated the last three. At Davis he is 12-9 in singles.
“Obviously I would prefer to be number two or three because we are stronger than them, but I think I am ready to be number one,” analyzed Pablo Carreño, who in Davis has a 3-5 in singles and a 2-1 in double. At 31 years old, world number 13, he has to face a dangerous opponent, Marin Cilic, 34 years old and number 17, 32-15 in singles and 10-6 in doubles. With a total of 42-21, leader in his country of parties.
He did not, nor Borna Coric, in the 3-0 defeat against Spain in Finals of Madrid 2019. The same number of international confrontations of both countries in this competition won six times by the Spanish team (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019), twice in the Balkans, in 2005 and 2018, as the last finalist , in 2021, defeated by Russia, not included in this edition due to the invasion of Ukraine.
“We have a very strong team,” summarizes Bruguera, despite the absences. And he complained that “the track is so fast, it doesn’t benefit us, it favors the big servers if they have a good day.” Coric and Cilic are, but solidity is usually a better companion for Carreño and Bautista.
“We all want to watch Spain play (soccer) and support them from afar, but the Davis Cup is a very special event. I’m sure the stands will be full”, said Bautista with the hope of covering a good part of 10,000 seats.
The Australia-Netherlands Tuesday attracted a total of around 8,000 viewers, from 4pm to just after 10pm.
Source: La Verdad
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