The man from Castellón got the final point after winning 6-2 and 6-3 / Sergi Bruguera’s team will be among the 16 candidates for the title
Was Robert Baptist, the oldest of the group, a man committed like few others to the Davis Cup, the one in charge of signing the classification of Spain for the Finals of the tournament. There will be a group stage from September 14-17 at four different venues and a final tournament at a single venue from November 23-27. The loss in the doubles match had added some spice to a series where the hosts had everything to win. Bautista, the player who returned from firing his father in Castellón to continue contributing to the conquest of the sixth Salad Bowl in 2019, in Madrid, the same one who always showed his face although sometimes it cost him painful disappointments, prevailed over Marius Copil 6-2 and 6-3, in one hour and 28 minutes, and made it 3-1 against Rumana at the Puente Romano Tennis Club, shortly after the court experienced a moving tribute to Manolo Santana.
Spain will thus be among the 16 countries that will fight for the title, in the place that corresponds to one of the great powers of this sport. In a team tending to renew itself and on a surface that is not theirs, Bautista, recent champion in Doha, kept the pulse in a game with an awkward start, which he began to make his own after the break in the sixth game of the first set.
attractive game
Entrusted to Copil, who returned to the court after winning the doubles match with Horia Tecau, Romania wanted to take the tie to the limit. His few options went through the talent of Copil, today relegated to position 261 in the ATP, and the skill of Tecau, a proven specialist in the game of couples. Copil is not the one he was, the man I fought against Federer in 2018 for the title in Basel, but he still defends a risky and attractive style, with a good hand when it comes to poisoning the ball with his slice backhand, skill at the net and improvisation capacity.
Bautista, who has started a new professional stage this season with Toms Carbonell and Daniel Gimeno Traver on his bench, he knew how to deactivate him and make his solvent proposal prevail to achieve the fourth victory in as many clashes between the two. Happy climax to the series where he successfully debuted Carlos Alcarazin a Spain immersed in the generational change that can still enjoy players like the recent champion in Doha, who closed the door to the combative Romanian team.
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