Sometimes a face and a parade are worth a thousand words. David Ferrer gets angry when the journalist asks him why Alejandro Davidovich, the Spanish tennis player with the best classification (14th) and who would have been – a mere hypothesis, because by not showing up at the coach’s first call-up, the Malagasy ruled out a subsequent entry as the team’s fifth player – the second player in this Davis Cup after Alexander Zverev, third in the world. “Next question“Next question. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve already explained it.” Long faces until Marcel Granollers lightens the mood with a couple of jokes – “being a doubles player, some don’t even consider me a tennis player” -, before the gloomy passage of the tennis players towards the entrance of the room. Easter? No, Bologna.
Except for Pablo Carreño, who says he learned the news at night when he received a message from the captain – “telling me to get ready…” – the bloc learned in the morning of Carlos Alcaraz’s dismissal. The man from Murcia, suffering from a right ischium – an “edema” and not an “overload”, as had been communicated to the evacuees the night before, in agreement with the federal medical service – arrived in Bologna on Monday afternoon, slept and, finally, left again. A seen and an unseen. So it’s time for the meritorious again. They took the chestnuts out of the fire in February, in Switzerland, and also in September, against Denmark.
“We couldn’t see him because we went to train early in the morning,” Carreño says. “He sent us a message on the (WhatsApp) group to say hello,” adds Pedro Martínez. And Ferrer regrets it, once again resigned. Since taking office, fully aware of how things work now and missing the commitment of days gone by, he says resignedly: “It looked good, we thought it might be there, but when we saw the resonance, things changed. It is what it is.” That it’s what there is It is a Spain without number one, with a great rival at the crossroads on Thursday, the Czech Republic, and emotionally contracted by the sudden disappearance of the Murciano. Once again, a certain feeling of an orphanage.
Alcaraz was injured in the Masters Cup in Turin, although the discomfort grew until it led to final disappointment and a night’s discard. Once the photograph had been analysed, after a year it was set aside and returned to Murcia; he already has 2026 and Australia in his head, after having crossed the United States – performances in New Jersey and Miami, on December 7 and 8 – and having filmed the preseason at home. So those present hold on to mirrors. An intelligent and very sensitive boy, Munar is one of those who chooses to see the glass half full. “We would have liked Carlos to be there, of course. Now our team may look weaker, but I have faith in us. Instead of focusing on what we don’t have, let’s focus on what we have.”
And there is the same resilient group that will fight to win the seventh Salad Bowl for Spain, champion for the last time in 2019 – that triumph dedicated to Roberto Bautista – and in the face of adversity that requires a common step forward, without exceptions. FuenteovejunaDamn circumstance. Also, the reference to Mar del Plata. Some go back to 2008 in which the Spanish team beat Argentina at home, without Rafael Nadal, against the heavy artillery of Juan Martín del Potro and his henchmen. Hostility in the atmosphere.
High risk
“I couldn’t play then, but it’s one of the strongest experiences I’ve had in my entire career. David (Ferrer) was in the team and we experienced a spectacular atmosphere. Each of us proved that we are good players and in tennis anything can happen. By being together and supporting each other we can achieve anything,” says Marcel Granollers, in his second youth at 39. “Now he is our leader,” underlines Ferrer. “What I am is old…”
The fact is that without Alcaraz life is very different, but not completely. The situation repeats itself again and so it will, because tennis has changed a lot despite tradition and appearances – in substance, structurally, now packaged with the gold of the Arabs – and, with such a saturated calendar, the Davis Cup has become something complementary. Not priority. Alcaraz would have liked to sink his teeth, he said since his arrival in Turin two weeks ago, but the back of his thigh protested and in the last meeting of the night it was decided: Alcaraz, out. “The MRI was done and then we spoke with him, with Ferrero and with our doctor. We decided not to risk it because playing was a high risk,” Ferrer reasoned.
The defeat leaves Spain with four players, instead of five. “But we’ve already been there,” says the Alicante native, who took office in December 2022 in place of Sergi Bruguera, and has seen a lot of things since then: without Alcaraz upon his arrival, fired by Djokovic in 2023, by the Netherlands the following year, in a priori nice party that ended in disappointment. Once again without the Titan. Despite everything, he doesn’t lose faith.
“Not having number one, you naturally resent it,” he admits. “But if we are in these finals it is thanks to them (the aforementioned players). We accept that we don’t have it. Yesterday (this Tuesday) was a tough day, but today I saw the light again. I was taking a very high risk.” Carreño claims the collective. “With Carlos we are an infinitely better team. And, if let’s look at the classificationwe have nothing to do against the Czech Republic, but this competition is not about classification and a lot of things happen. We are dedicated to this and I think we are not doing it badly… It is true that without Carlos the level drops, but at the same time let’s not forget that we are in a competition that includes the eight best teams on the planet. We have to give ourselves some credit, right?” Life is hard without Alcaraz in Davis.
‘CLOWNWOOD’ BY MOUTET
CA | Bologna
Matchday 1 saw Belgium beat France 2-0, making the Belgians the first semi-finalists. Raphael Collingon first beat Corentin Moutet (2-6, 7-5 and 7-5, in 2h 30m) and Zizou Bergs in the second round over Arthur Rinderknech (6-3 and 7-6(4), in 1h 32m).
The first duel offered a circus anecdote, when Moutet shot a free ball under his legs and sent it into the net. It cost him a breakand in turn the set.
“What do you want me to say? That was the best shot? I’m not sure, but I’ve done it many times and people say I’m a genius when I do it. Now they’ll probably say I’m a clown. That’s how I feel right now. I think, because of the tension of the match, the emotion, that’s how I expressed it,” he decided.
On Wednesday (starting at 4pm, Movistar+) Austria and Italy will compete, who will try to defend their title —she is champion of the last two editions— without Jannik Sinner among their ranks.
