Pitcher of cold water in La Fonteta. The Spanish Davis Cup team lost the series against Canada (1-2) and, therefore, their access to the Davis Cup final phase, from November 23 to 27, will be decided in coin toss against the South Korea in Malaga. Roberto Bautista started off on the right foot (3-6, 6-3 and 6-3 against Vasek Pospisil), but Carlos Alcaraz’s subsequent defeats (6-7(3), 6-4 and 6-2 against Felix Augger – Aliassime) and the duo formed by Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez (4-6, 6-4…

Pitcher of cold water in La Fonteta. The Spanish Davis Cup team lost the series against Canada (1-2) and, therefore, their access to the Davis Cup final phase, from November 23 to 27, will be decided in coin toss against the South Korea in Malaga. Roberto Bautista started off on the right foot (3-6, 6-3 and 6-3 against Vasek Pospisil), but Carlos Alcaraz’s subsequent defeats (6-7(3), 6-4 and 6-2 against Felix Augger – Aliassime) and the duo formed by Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez (4-6, 6-4 and 7-5 in favor of Pospisil and Aliassime) forced Sergi Bruguera’s team to win on the last day of the group stage. Meanwhile, this Saturday (from 4:00 p.m., Movistar) the other place will be played, also at nothing, Canada and Serbia, who beat the Asians (2-1).

The Canadians have two wins, so they could take the lead in Group B. It will all come down to both respect and calculation. The Spanish team signed two days ago a plenary session against Serbia (3-0), but could not give in to an opponent in difficulty from the start: Pospisil demanded excessively from Bautista, Alcaraz accused Aliassime of fatigue and double, resolved at 00:50. and with half the stands unmanned, it succumbed to the final assault from the North American duo. It is time, then, for a final push on Sunday. In any case, the confrontation against the South Korean team does not seem to involve too many risks, since the Spanish roster is clearly superior. The item is missing.

The La Fonteta pits harangued Carlos Alcaraz with the cry of “yes, we can!”, but no matter how much the Murcian rowed and rowed, and resisted with everything until the end, there was no return backward. The most fiery version of Aliassime, a great protagonist, is something like lightning and the Canadian stopped the triumphant streak of the Spaniard, who after chaining seven consecutive victories in New York found a stop in his first intervention this week, the second in the Davis Cup.

Little to attribute to the brand new number one. He fought from start to finish, but he came up against the most incisive of Aliassime, the one who has the wind in his sails and the burning right is capable of anything. The Canadian, 22 years old and 13th in the world, is a Guadianesque player, yet to be exploited; He grows and pretends, but he is still a tennis player of moments, of flashes; some days it impresses, some days it disappoints. He still can’t find the middle ground. He appears in Valencia due to the premature elimination at Flushing Meadows – from the start he had given up the team event – ​​and on Wednesday he lost to Soonwoo Kwon, but before the big meeting he is multiplied. This time the sun has risen for him.

The Murcian: “I would play again”

Alcaraz’s debut as the new circuit chief, the youngest (19) to ever crown the ATP, was bittersweet. The Spaniard has not finished taking his pulse, nor could he beat him last year, precisely in New York, where he retired through injury (when he lost 6-3 and 3 -1). The boy is dragging more than considerable wear, after three duels in five rounds and the resumption of the final five days ago, and in the last moments he accused it. Still, he managed to snatch the first set from her and disprove the second; in the third, however, the spark wore out and after giving up serve to the first, he wasted four balls from to break that they could have evened the game.

Despite Aliassime’s effervescence, the pulse passed on a fine thread, although the Canadian knew it and was able to decide in his favor. He imposed his electricity and in the moments when his rival tried to raise his head, three other options to enter limbo, he showed that he was a player capable of addressing anyone by their first name . Alcaraz, moreover, logically weighed in on the transition: different surfaces and balls in a minimum time interval, with just a few leg workouts. The Murcian shoe burned – literally, having to change them when he punctured the support one in one of his slides – and he tried everything, but it was the night of the very inspired Aliassime.

“He did not come in the best physical or mental condition,” said the new leader of the circuit. “Even so, I think I played a good game and gave it my all. I was fine, but not a hundred percent; I went to the limit all the time,” he said. added; “But I would play again, of course. It’s the Davis Cup and I love representing Spain. I played against a Top 10 and I got it there. I can’t blame myself.”

Before the first option in the classification disappeared, Bautista, who two days earlier had already scored a point against Miomir Kecmanovic, returned to Pospisil. The man from Castellón (34) won the veterans’ match, which the Canadian (32nd and 141st in the world) closed with physical problems in the buttocks and a cramp in one hand. However, he had the possibility to have opened a gap in the final round, but he made a mistake and in the reply the Spaniard signed the to break who returned the flight. By the end of the encounter, the Canadian duo rallied and are now forcing a final push in Sunday’s resolve against South Korea.

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