The 2023 Davis Cup finals begin this Tuesday with eight countries, Canada, Italy, Holland, Finland, Great Britain, Czechia, Australia and Novak Djokovic’s Serbiathe main icon of the tournament, who will fight to lift the Salad Bowl on Sunday in the final of Martín Carpena from Malaga.
The most prestigious team competition in the tennis universe comes to Malaga for the second year in a row with a huge loss of Spain, without Carlos Alcaraz or Rafael Nadal will be the main absence of this edition.
This fact helps the name of the recent ATP Finals champion, Novak Djokovic, to attract all the attention. of the tournament taking place at the Martín Carpena pavilion. The Serbian arrives after winning the title this Sunday in Turin, defeating Jannik Sinner, leader of the Italian team, number four in the world.
The undisputed World number one, who with Roger Federer’s retirement and Rafa Nadal’s injuries has remained the undefeated soldier of the old guard, will lead the Serbian team and try to achieve his second Davis Cup, as he achieved in 2010, although he will face other top tennis players like Jannik Sinner himself or the Australian Álex de Miñaur.
The other top racket is British Cameron Norrie (18), who will not have veteran Andy Murray in his team due to a shoulder injury that kept him out at the last minute; the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (29), the transalpine Lorenzo Musetti (27) or the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor (23).
Crossings and schedules
The countries that will compete in the 2023 Davis Cup Final 8 They earned their place after passing a group stage in September. The qualifiers were held in four cities, Bologna, Manchester, Split and Valencia, from September 12 to 17, with two winners in each group.
Canada defended its title and won Group A in Bologna, and Italy took second place in that group. Hosts Great Britain achieved a thrilling victory over France in a decisive tie-break in Manchester.
Australia, for its part, sealed the other qualifying spot at stake in that group. The Czech Republic and Serbia advanced to Group C in Valencia, leaving Spain behind, and in Split, Holland and Finland defeated the United States and host Croatia, shattering all expectations.
The matches in the quarterfinals are as follows: Canada vs. Finland (Tuesday, 4:00 pm); Czechia vs Australia (Wednesday, 4:00 pm); Italy vs Netherlands (Thursday, 10:00 am) and Serbia against Great Britain (Thursday, not before 4:00 pm).
The first semi-final will take place on Friday 24th at 4:00 pm and will face the winner of Canada-Finland against the winner of Czechia-Australia, while the second is on Saturday the 25th at 12:00 pm between Italy or the Netherlands and Serbia or Great Britain.
The eight teams will compete in direct elimination crosseswhere there will be two singles matches and one doubles match to decide the passage to the next round.
special environment
In the 2022 edition there are six days of the Davis Cup in Malaga experienced in a very special way, despite the fact that Spain fell for the first time in the quarterfinals. Beyond the colors of each recreation, thousands of people attended a small tennis city set up outside the pavilion, just like this year, although with a slight difference.
Since the tournament, now organized by the ITF and not Gerard Piqué’s Kosmos company, They aim to match or surpass the 2022 edition, the first Salad Bowl in history for Canadawhich is almost full at the Palacio de los Deportes in Malaga, which reaches 61,916 fans in total, more than ten thousand per day on average, is almost full.
The forecasts of the organizers of the tournament are good, the president of the tournament himself, Feliciano López commented on Thursday that almost 90 percent of the tickets have been sold.. Without Spain in the conflict, international tourism would be greater.
One from last year is remembered for being Davis of the domain of Felix Auger-Aliassime, that of a Spain who fought without victory with Pablo Carreño, Roberto Bautista, Marcel Granollers, Albert Ramos and Pedro Martínez -without Carlos Alcaraz or Rafa Nadal- until falling in the quarterfinals, or of the curious support for fellow Australian Alex De Miñaur, son of a Uruguayan and a Madrid native and raised in Alicante.
This guy is destined to be the unstoppable Djokovic, but the beauty of this tournament is its surprise factor and the power of the group over the individual. It won’t be easy, in terms of success, for him to be Djokovic’s Davis when it rains confetti on court on Sunday the 26th.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
