Carlos Alcaraz came to the rescue of Spain, balanced on the wire after Rafael Nadal lost against Botic Van de Zandschulp and left the Spanish team on the brink of elimination from the Davis Cup, with no margin for error and in the hands of the Murcian, who fulfilled with the expectations against Tallon Griekspoor (7-6 and 6-3) and tied the duel against the Netherlands, now in the hands of the doubles clash.
The survival of the team led by David Ferrer and the withdrawal of Nadal is pending the third point of the series, the final one. The first semi-finalist of the competition will emerge from it.
The survival of the team led by David Ferrer and the withdrawal of Nadal is pending the third point of the series in the doubles
The scenario was new for Carlos Alcaraz. At twenty-one years old, the El Palmar player has experienced all kinds of situations on the circuit. Accustomed to breaking historical records, becoming a benchmark for precocity, he had not found himself in this position in an event like the Davis Cup.
The winner of four Grand Slam titles still has little experience in this event. Only six games, with five wins, including three this season. His only loss was in the group stage of the 2022 Finals against Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime. Among his victories is the one obtained in doubles, together with Marcel Granollers against the Czechs Jakub Mensik and Adam Pavlasek.
Read also
A good reference for David Ferrer who, in his bet for doubles, before knowing whether or not it was going to be as decisive as it is now, had designated this same duel, the Murcian with the Catalan, number one in the modality.
Once again, Alcaraz has assumed responsibility for the event, which carried out his face-to-face match against a rival whom he has taken the measure of and who is very far from him in the ranking and in the history.
The 29-year-old tennis player from Harleem had lost all four head to head with Alcaraz. He has never managed to win a set. Not now either. Among them, he won twice this year, in the Olympic Games and in Beijing. Fixed in 40th place in the ATP ranking, his best year has already passed. It was in 2023, when he won the two titles on his resume in addition to the Washington final that he lost.
It was difficult for Alcaraz to get rid of the Dutchman. The Netherlands was elated after Botic Van Zandschulp beat Rafael Nadal 6-4 to put his team one win away from the semi-finals. The Netherlands’ number one kept the pulse. He even broke the Murcian’s serve in the fifth game, which he consolidated in the sixth to acquire his 4-2 lead.
It was his moment of glory. The Wimbledon and Roland Garros champion reacted immediately and broke for the first time and equalized the situation. He got fully into the game. The first round reached the jump-off and Alcaraz accelerated. He won the tie break 7-0. The first set, in the pocket.
Afterwards everything was better. The Spaniard went up to 3-0 and moved forward with a certain calm, without pressure and driven by the public and his team, especially Rafael Nadal, Palmar’s first follower.
He went to the rescue, Alcaraz did not fail, keeping Spain alive and Rafael Nadal’s goodbye in the air, pending whether Ferrer’s team is eliminated or not. The future of the duel, in the hands of the doubles. Alcaraz and Granollers meet Botic Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof, those initially chosen by captain Paul Haarhuis.
#Alcaraz #Spain #alive #Netherlands
