Spain He started his Davis Cup group stage journey on the right foot. The team led by David Ferrer They defeated the Czech Republic in a series that Carlos Alcaraz sealed with his saddest victory.
The champion of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, who came to the event in Valencia looking to defend himself after an unfortunate end to the summer, He benefited from the injury retirement of his rival Tomas Machac in the first game of the third set.after losing the first 7-6(3) and winning the second 6-1.
The Czech was injured midway through the second set after a spectacular point by Alcaraz where he tried a couple of rhythm changes that left him deeply moved.
Limping visibly, he managed to finish the second set, losing 6-1. After receiving treatment in the locker room, the Czech returned to the court and tried to continue playing, but it was impossible. After going down to try to volley a passing ball from Alcaraz, he decided to retire.
A sad end to a great match by the Czech, who dominated Alcaraz for many moments with the first set taken in a tiebreak. After starting off losing his serve, Macchac raised his level against an Alcaraz who showed once again that he is far from the level that led him to wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
With no spark or confidence, the world number 3 was unable to break his rival’s serve againwhich led to the first in a tiebreaker where they failed at key moments to see an inspired Macac win 7-3.
The start of the second set was not encouraging. Alcaraz forced himself to hold his serve until, at 2-1, the long-awaited break arrived. a break that culminated in an acrobatic point that left his rival injured.
Alcaraz capped a day that started in style with Roberto Bautista’s win. The man from Castellón showed again that he is a real life insurance in this type of event and gave Spain the first point of the series after defeating Jiri Lehecka 7-6(1), 6-4 in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Things didn’t start well for the Spanish tennis player, who dropped his serve in the opening game and saw how Lehecka put the score at 2-0. It’s a mirage. From the third game Bautista fully entered the match and started to show his best tennis.
After recovering from a break in the fourth game, Bautista took the initiative backed by a good serve and his groundstrokes. Lehecka held her own and managed to take the set to a tiebreak where she had no choice.
The Spaniard gave a real performance to go up 6-0 and finally finish the tiebreaker 7-1 to the frenzy of the public that almost filled the San Luis Fountain.
The start of the second set continued until 2-2. There Bautista made a move that, along with the Czech’s mistakes, allowed him to get the two breaks that sealed the match.
Lehecka didn’t give up and managed to get one of the breaks back to close at 5-4, with Bautista sealing the win with a flawless service game.
Spain, who still have a doubles match to play, will face France on Fridaywho lost on the opening day against Australia, and will rival the Spaniards on the final day on Sunday.
Source: La Verdad
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