Carlos Alcaraz guaranteed Spain’s victory over France and qualified his country for the Davis Cup ‘Final 8’ in November, while Argentina beat Great Britain and gained momentum.
After completing the second round of the group stage this Friday, and waiting for the third round to be played between Saturday and Sunday, the scenario begins to become clearer with regard to Malaga (Spain) and the final stage in November, for which the top two in each category will qualify this week.
The Andalusian city will not be without hosts Spain, who won both group stage games, against the Czech Republic on Wednesday and France on Friday. In Group B, Australia also qualified by winning the first two games against the same opponents.
Against the French, Spain did not disappoint their fans in Valencia and secured victory early by winning both singles matches.
First, veteran Roberto Bautista (36 years old, 62nd) defeated Frenchman Arthur Fils (25th) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. And then Carlos Alcaraz (3rd in the ATP rankings) defeated Ugo Humbert (18th) with a score of 6-3 and 6-3.
“Let’s go to Malaga!! Great team and great Spain!”, Alcaraz wrote on the X social network.
In the doubles match, with nothing at stake, Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Pablo Carreno and Marcel Granollers 7-6 (9/7), 6-7 (10/12), 10-8.
America and Germany move ahead
Group C was also defined in Zhuhai (China), in which the United States and Germany were classified, and Slovakia and Chile had already been eliminated.
This Friday, the United States beat Slovakia 3-0, with Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram winning the doubles match before Mackenzie McDonald and Brandon Nakashima won.
‘Team USA’s’ victory indirectly ended Chile’s slim chances of qualifying, having lost 3–0 in the first two rounds.
In Group A, in Bologna, Italy beat Belgium 2-1 and is alone at the top of the group. Belgium and the Netherlands managed to win duels in the first two rounds, while Brazil, which lost both its games, is in last place and in a dire situation before facing Belgium this Saturday.
Cerundolo and Etcheverry win
After losing to Canada on opening day on Tuesday, Argentina had an obligation to respond this Friday against Great Britain in Manchester, and they did.
Argentina, 2016 Davis Cup champions, will boost their chances of being contenders for the 2024 title in November if they beat Finland on Saturday.
This Friday, Tomas Etcheverry, 34th in the world rankings, defeated Daniel Evans (178th) 6-2 and 7-5 to open the way for the Albiceleste team against the British hosts.
Then it was the turn of Francisco Cerundolo (31st), who had to sweat a lot but won the match 7-6 (7/4) and 7-5 against the British number 1, Jack Draper (20th).
Argentina’s win was 2–1 as Máximo González and Andrés Molteni lost the doubles match against Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski.
Great Britain beat Finland 2-1 in the first round. On Sunday, they will end their participation in the group against Canada, which is leading after being the only team in the group to win its matches in the first two rounds.
