Saturday, November 16, 2024, 17:48
It didn’t take Carlos Alcaraz 24 hours to change Turin for Malaga. The Murcian, eliminated on Friday by Alexander Zverev in the ATP Finals, traveled to Malaga this Saturday morning and plans to join training for the Davis Cup this Sunday.
Alcaraz could not complete one of the objectives of the season, to be crowned master, but he can finish the course with a more special title, the seventh Davis Cup for Spain, which will always remain in history like that of Rafa Nadal’s retirement. that will put an end to his professional career when the tournament ends.
The Spaniard has been training since this week at the Martín Carpena Pavilion in Malaga, although it is still not clear what he will play, whether singles and doubles or even neither of the two. «First I have to see how I’m feeling these days in training and if I really don’t see myself ready to have a chance of winning the individual, I’ll be the first one who won’t want to play. If I don’t see myself ready, I will be the first to talk to the captain,” Nadal said in an interview with the Spanish Tennis Federation.
Despite the lack of rhythm of the Spaniard, who has not competed officially since the Olympic Games and unofficially since the ‘Six Kings Slam’ exhibition, he should be a fixture, at least, in the doubles, where he has a medal of gold, in Rio de Janeiro 2016, and has won eight of the twelve matches he has played in this competition, including the three most recent in the last Davis Cup he played, in 2019 at the Caja Mágica in Madrid.
“I have told David on many occasions, not to make any decision based on what is my last week as a professional tennis player,” added the Spaniard, who could win next week what would be his sixth salad bowl. «What I would like is for the team to perform well and have a chance of winning one more Davis Cup, whether playing or cheering from the stands. “I’m here to live this week with enthusiasm and then we’ll see what happens.”
Debut on Tuesday
The team led by David Ferrer will debut on Tuesday the 19th against the Netherlands, in a match that, given the expectations generated by Nadal’s retirement, has all its tickets sold out. Alcaraz is expected to assume the role of number one on the team and play against Tallon Griekspoor, while the second sword could be Nadal or Roberto Bautista, who has had a great ‘indoor’ tour with the title in Antwerp and getting back among the fifty best in the world.
In the doubles, if it were necessary to play, since each tie will consist of two singles first and a doubles if a tiebreaker is necessary, Nadal, if he is ready, would play with Marcel Granollers, who played this week in the ATP Finals with Horacio Zeballos, falling in the group stage.
