Davis Cup: Nadal, Alcaraz on Spain’s roster for Finals; Sinner to lead Italy’s title defense
Madrid, Sep 23 (IANS) Spain have named Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in their roster for the Davis Cup Finals to be played in November in Malaga, keeping alive the possibility of renewing their doubles partnership from the recent Paris Olympics.
Spain will take on the Netherlands in the quarterfinal round of the Davis Cup Finals, an eight-team event Nov. 19-24 in Malaga, Spain.
The eight nations who will vie for the 2024 Davis Cup title have announced their teams for the Final 8 with some of the game’s biggest stars set to do battle for the right to be named 2024 world champions.
While World No.1 Jannik Sinner will lead an Italian team that is aiming to become the first nation to successfully defend their title since the Czech Republic in 2012-13, the focus will be on Spain with Nadal and Alcaraz in the mix.
The 38-year-old Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, had lost in the second round of the singles to archrivals Novak Djokovic while in men’s doubles, he and Alcaraz went down in the quarterfinals to Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. Nadal has not played since the Paris Olympics as he withdrew from the US Open and the Laver Cup as he dealt with health issues that have forced him to play limited events in the season.
Alcaraz has won two of the four Grand Slam titles of the season, claiming the French Open and following it up with Wimbledon in July.
While Spain will start against the Netherlands, the other opening matchups in the Davis Cup Finals pit defending champion Italy against Argentina; the United States vs. Australia; and Germany vs. Canada.
Italy’s quarterfinal opponent Argentina are also at full strength, with Sebastian Baez, Francisco Cerundolo, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry all offering captain Guillermo Coria multiple options in the singles matches.
The two most successful nations in Davis Cup history, USA and Australia, will go head-to-head. The Americans will field three Top 20 singles players in Malaga – US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz alongside Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton – while Australia are led by Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin.
In the bottom half of the draw, Germany take on Canada. Germans’ quest for a fourth Davis Cup title will be spearheaded by Jan-Lennard Struff, while Canada have selected the same team that won the 2022 title, with Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov leading the line.
Spain, who have also named veterans Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Marcel Granollers in their team, are up against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, with the Dutch team led by Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp – the latter of whom earned a victory against Alcaraz at the US Open this year.
The Davis Cup quarterfinals will take place from November 19-21, while the semifinals will be played on November 22-23 and the final on November 24.
–IANS
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