The dispute over the famous silver salad bowl will put an end to the season of white sports in the year, with Madrid as the main stage that will also host two rounds of the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the grand final.
They qualify with a direct pass the first place of each series and only the two best second places of the six keys that will be developed in this phase.
The Spanish, captained by former tennis player Sergi Bruguera, will not be able to count on the services of superstar Rafael Nadal, who is recovering from an injury and is not ready for these tasks.
A sensitive loss that puts them in a difficult situation, assuming that they must beat Ecuador in their first match next Friday, but will collide on Sunday with a Russian squad that has Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov, among others.
«Russia, by ranking, is the most complete team and the strongest rival, because it comes with the fittest player, Daniil Medvedev, and also Rublev, Khachanov and Karatsev. It has an impressive squad, “Bruguera admitted to the press.
Spain will appeal to rising young Carlos Alcaraz, Olympic bronze medalist Pablo Carreño, and tour players like Roberto Bautista and Feliciano López, along with Marcel Granollers.
Obviously when you have Rafa Nadal, who is the best player in the history of Davis, you become a direct favorite, but we still have a strong and very good team. They are high quality players and for me it is good to be able to choose between such a level, said Bruguera, who was a benchmark in Spanish tennis in the 90s.
Two reasons add greater responsibilities to Spain, its status as headquarters and the defense of the title achieved in 2019.
“The pandemic always conditions, but all the players have already regularized this (…) we have a very strong, very good team and we will fight for the best we can,” he said.
In the rest of the groups, in key B, Canada appears as the favorite against Sweden and Kazakhstan; In C, the stubbornness between France and the United Kingdom, also the Czech Republic, seems more fierce, with the doubts generated by the scenario, Innsbruck, after Austria announced total confinement to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
In Innsbruck, the F series was also due to be ahead, which launches Serbia as favorites with world number one Novak Djokovic, against Germany and Austria.
Then in group D, in Turin as well as E, Croatia and Australia stand out, with Hungary as the opening act, and the United States and Italy, with Colombia, respectively.
The quarterfinals start on the same Monday, November 29, the semifinals on December 3 and 4, and the grand final on December 5 in Madrid.
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