Less than two weeks after his shocking second-round exit at the U.S. Open, Carlos Alcaraz was staring at another upset when a set down in his opening group-stage match for Spain in the Davis Cup Finals on Wednesday. (More Tennis News)
This time, Alcaraz turned things around — thou𒀰gh he needed some help from 🤪his opponent.
The No. 3-ranked Alcaraz clinched victory for Spain against the Czech Republic in Group B on Wednesday when Tomas Machac retired injured with the score at 6-7 (3), 6-1 in Valencia. It gave Spain 🦄an unassailable 2-0 lead, with Roberto Bautista Agut having already defeated Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (1), 6-4, and Alcaraz then partnered with Marcel Granoller🐬s-Pujol to win the doubles in three sets and wrap up a 3-0 victory.
They were Alcaraz's first matches since losing in straight sets to Botic van de Zandsch🔯ulp — who was ra😼nked 74th — at Flushing Meadows.
Spain joined the United Stat🦹es, ꩵdefending champion Italy and Britain in gaining victories on Wednesday.
Brandon Nakashima beat Alejandro Tabilo 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (3) after Reilly Opelka defeated Cristian Garin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) to give the Amer🌳icans a winning 2-0 lead over Chile in Group C in Zhuhai, China.
Those two singles matches lasted in excess of five hours and the U.S. brought in Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram for the doubles, which they won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) against Tomas Barrios Vera and 🐻Matias Soto to seal a 3-0 sweep.
“It was truly an epic day of tennis for bothꦐ teams, everyone showed a lot of heart, a lot of guts," U.S. captain and retired doubles great Bob Bryan said. "I 🐠don't think it's ever happened in Davis Cup that all matches went to the third-set breaker . . . historic day. Just feeling very, very proud of the players.”
The U.S., which has a leading 32 Davis Cup titles but none since 2007, is bidding to reach the quarterfinals for the s🌟econd time since the Davis Cup Finals were introduced in 2019. In the qualifiers this year, the Americans defeated Ukraine 4-0 on neutral ground in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Italy didn't need top-ranked Jannik Sinner, the newly crowned U.S. Open champion, to begin its title defense with a 2-🌺1 win over Brazil in Group A in Bologna.
Matteo Berrettini beat Joao Fonseca 6-1, 7-6 (5) before Matteo Arnaldi gave Italy an unassailable 2-0 lead by beating Thiago Monteiro 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5). Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo won the doubles for Brazil, bea♔ting Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in three sets.
“It was a great, great feeling. I'ꦛve been missing this kind of feeling for so long for so many reasons," Berrettini said. “The Davis Cup, the tournament in Rome, it felt like almost a first time.”
Britain also established♒ a 2-0 advantage over Finland in Manchester, England, in Group D thanks to wins by Dan Evans and Billy Harris.
Evans beat Eero Vasaꦅ 7-6 (3), 6-2 and Harris, the guy who once lived out of a van while playing tennis tournaments around Europe, defeated Otto Virtanen 6-4, 7-6 (4).
“He (Vasa) was playing so൲🌳 freely in the first set and I did well to weather the storm and find a way to win," Evans said. “That's what you have to do in the Davis Cup.”
It finished 2-1ꦰ for Britain after Virtanen teamed with Harri Heliovaara to beat Evans and Neal Skupskꦑi 7-6 (4), 7-5 in doubles.
The four groups are playing in four cities this week to q♌ualify for the Final 8 knockout stage to be held in Malaga, Spain, in November. The top two countries in each four-team group will advance.
In opening play on Tuesday, Belgium beat the Netherlands 2-1, Australia defeated France 2-1, Germany — playing without No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev — beat Slovakia 3-0 and Canada defeated Arg🧸entina 2-1.
