Neither the physical and mental exhaustion, nor the many hours of travel from New York erased the smile from the face of Carlos Alcaraz upon arrival in Valencia. The new world number one draws crowds and gives a new impetus to the final group stage of the Davis cupwhich Spain starts today against a Serbia without Novak Djokovic.
Dressed in jeans, a pristine white T-shirt and a black cap on which, in no casual way, the word ‘supreme’ could be read, the man from Murcia feels on top of the planet and eager to celebrate at home, but not even such special circumstances make him lose the commitment. “I am here to contribute my grain of sand to the team, it is a pride to be able to represent Spain on all sides”, he declares as soon as he lands on a private flight with his coach, John Charles Ferrero. David Ferrer, director of the Davis Cup, is waiting for him at the airport, more than happy to keep the presence of the player, who is surprised to go out into the street and see the overcast sky, and even sticks his hand out to check if it’s raining.
Alcaraz, however, finds it difficult to debut today in the competition. Yesterday he dedicated the day to rest and treatment with the physios. Not a single second on the very slow track that the players will find in the pavilion of the Fuente de San Luis. “I just got here, I have to settle in, get attached to the team and we’ll see,” he says. Prudence advises not to force. The mystery will be revealed today by Sergi Bruguera, the Spanish captain, who will wait until the last moment to see first-hand the sensations and physical condition of the US Open champion. If logic prevails, Alcaraz will watch the duels against Serbia from the stands, and will now join the team’s routine to prepare for the second match against Canada (Friday) and South Korea (Sunday). In exchange, it will be Roberto Bautista and Albert Ramos, Alejandro Davidovich’s last-minute substitute, who will face the first two individual duels of the confrontation against Serbia.
On the Balkan side everything is doubt. By ranking, Miomir Kecmanovic and Filip Krajinovic should be the main players, but both Laszlo Djere and Dusan Lajovic also have options. Whoever plays, the figure of Djokovic will continue to be elongated. Nole, who has started the week moved to seventh place in the world ranking due to his forced absence on the American tour, did plan to go to Valencia to play the Davis Cup, but he resigned at the beginning of last week for “personal reasons”. The only one with a guaranteed place in the doubles is Nikola Cacic. There are also no doubts there in Spain. Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez will defend the last point at stake.
Spain needs to finish in the top two of their group to ensure their presence in the quarterfinals, already in a knockout format, in Malaga (November 22-27).
