The 2023 Davis Cup final begins this Tuesday with eight nations, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Australia and Novak Djokovic’s Serbia. main icon of the tournament, who will fight to lift the Salad Bowl on Sunday in the final of the Martín Carpena de Malaga.

The most prestigious team competition in the world of tennis arrives in Malaga for second consecutive year with a significant decline in Spain, that without Carlos Alcaraz or Rafael Nadal will be the main absence of this edition.

This fact helps recent ATP Finals champion Novak Djokovic’s name monopolize all eyes of the tournament which takes place in the Martín Carpena pavilion. The Serbian arrives after winning the title this Sunday in Turin, beating Jannik Sinner, leader of the Italian team, number four in the world.

The undisputed world number one, who with the retirement of Roger Federer and the injuries of Rafa Nadal remained the invincible soldier of the old guardwill lead the Serbian team and try to win his second Davis Cup, as he achieved in 2010, although he will face other top tennis players like Jannik Sinner himself or the Australian Álex de Miñaur .

The other best rackets are those of Briton Cameron Norrie (18), who will not have veteran Andy Murray in his team due to a shoulder injury that kept him out at the last minute ; the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (29 years old), the transalpine Lorenzo Musetti (27 years old) and the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (23 years old).

PASSAGES AND TIMES

The nations that will participate in the Final 8 of the 2023 Davis Cup have earned their place after go through a group stage in September. The qualifiers took place in four cities, Bologna, Manchester, Split and Valencia, from September 12 to 17, with two winners in each group.

Canada defends its title and won Group A in Bologna, and Italy got second place in this group. Hosts Great Britain scored a resounding victory against France in a deciding tie-break in Manchester.

Australia, for its part, clinched the other qualifying spot at stake in this group. The Czech Republic and Serbia qualified from Group C in Valencia, leaving Spain behind, and in Split, the Netherlands and Finland beat the United States and hosts Croatia, surpassing all expectations.

The quarterfinal matches are as follows: Canada vs. Finland (Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.); Czechia v Australia (Wednesday, 4 p.m.); Italy v Netherlands (Thursday, 10:00 a.m.) and Serbia v Great Britain (Thursday, not before 4:00 p.m.).

The first semi-final will take place on Friday 24 at 4:00 p.m. and will pit the winner of Canada-Finland against the winner of Czechia-Australia, while the second will take place on Saturday 25 at 12:00 between Italy. or the Netherlands and Serbia or Great Britain.

THE eight teams will compete in knockout matches, in which there will be two singles matches and one doubles match to decide the progression to the next round.

SPECIAL ATMOSPHERE

In the 2022 edition there were six days of the Davis Cup in Malaga which were experienced in a very special way, despite the fact that Spain fell at the first opportunity in the quarter-finals. Beyond the colors of each hobby, Thousands of people attended a small tennis town built on the outskirts of the pavilion, just like what happened this year, but with some slight differences.

Since the tournament, now organized by the ITF and not by Gerard Piqué’s Kosmos company, they intend to equal, or even exceed, the 2022 edition, that of the first Salad Bowl in Canadian history, which sold out the Palacio de los Deportes in Malaga, reaching 61,916 supporters in total, or more than ten thousand per day on average, almost full.

The forecasts of the tournament organizers are good, the tournament president himself, Feliciano López, said last Thursday that almost 90 percent of tickets had already been sold. Without Spain in the fray, international tourism would be even more important.

We remember the one from the previous year for being the Davis of the domain of Felix Auger-Aliassime, that of a Spain which fought unsuccessfully with Pablo Carreño, Roberto Bautista, Marcel Granollers, Albert Ramos and Pedro Martínez – without Carlos Alcaraz or Rafa Nadal – until falling in the quarter-finals, or that of the curious support of the Australian compatriot Alex De Miñaur, son of a Uruguayan and a Madrilenian and raised in Alicante.

This year is destined to be the year of the unstoppable Djokovic, but the beauty of this tournament lies in its surprise factor and the power of the group over the individual. It won’t be easy, in terms of success, for her to also be Djokovic’s Davis when the confetti rains on the court on Sunday the 26th.