Beaten for the first time since his title in New York, the new world number 1 could not prevent the defeat of his family.
Canada overthrew Spain’s world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz on Friday in the Davis Cup group stages, while Italy and Germany secured their place in the quarter-finals. In pool B, the Spanish public, who came in large numbers to Valencia, were counting on Carlos Alcaraz, crowned with his victory at the US Open last Sunday and his status as the youngest world No.1 in history, to win the qualification.
Read alsoDavis Cup: first defeat for Alcaraz since its N.1 title and its victory at the US Open
Perhaps tired after the marathon matches disputed to win his first Grand Slam, Alcaraz lost against Félix Auger-Aliassime (13th in the world), allowing Canada to equalize despite his defeat in the first single. The Marcel Granollers/Pedro Martinez pair finally lost against the two Canadians in singles, who offered their team a good chance of qualifying by taking the lead in the group.
In Group A, Italy, after its seductive 3-0 victory against Croatia, finalist in 2021, beat Argentina without shaking from the singles, winning its qualification for the quarters in the process. All this despite a big slump from Jannik Sinner (11th) in the second set which opposed him to Francisco Cerundolo (27th) during the second single, finally won by the Italian.
Murray and Great Britain eliminated from entry
In pool C, the games are already made. If Oscar Otte (52nd player in the world) missed the point of the match and the meeting against David Goffin (62nd) during the tie-break of the second set, the German pair Kevin Krawietz / Tim Pütz, who had already won the decisive point against France on Wednesday, won with difficulty against the Belgian double. With this victory and that against France (2-1), Germany is mathematically qualified for the quarter-finals, just like Australia, which also has two successes in two games. Their opposition on Sunday will determine their final standings, with France and Belgium eliminated.
For Great Britain, the return of Andy Murray, winner of the competition in 2015 and absent since 2019 in the Davis Cup, no more than the support of the Glasgow public, will not have been enough to avoid elimination from the pools. Beaten by the United States on Wednesday in a late decisive double, Great Britain lost again 2-1, this time against the Netherlands, the pair Wesley Koolhof / Matwé Middelkoop dominating Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury 7-6 (7/0), 6-7 (6/8), 6-3. With this victory, the Netherlands ensure their qualification and that of the United States, the two teams having already beaten Kazakhstan before.