The new number one in the world was defeated for the first time since he won his title in New York, and he was unable to avoid the loss of his family.
On Friday, Canada defeated Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 1 player in the world, Spain, in the group stages of the Davis Cup. Meanwhile, Italy and Germany both won their matches to go to the quarterfinals. The Spanish people, who traveled in huge numbers to Valencia, were anticipating that Carlos Alcaraz, who was just crowned as the youngest player to ever hold the position of world No. 1 after winning the US Open on Sunday, would emerge victorious in the qualification round for pool B.
Read also Davis Cup: first, defeat for Alcaraz since its N.1 title and its victory at the US Open
Alcaraz may have been fatigued after the long bouts he contested to win his maiden Grand Slam. As a result, he was defeated by Félix Auger-Aliassime, who is ranked thirteenth in the world. This allowed Canada to draw even despite Alcaraz’s loss in the opening singles match. In the end, Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez were defeated by the two Canadians in a singles competition. These two Canadians gave their team a strong opportunity to advance to the next round by gaining the lead in their group.
In Group A, Italy won its qualifying for the quarterfinals by beating Argentina without dropping a single set. This came after Italy’s stunning 3-0 victory against Croatia, which finished as the tournament’s runner-up in 2021. All of this occurred despite a significant drop in performance by Jannik Sinner (11th), who was competing in the second set against Francisco Cerundolo (27th) during the second single, which was ultimately won by the Italian.
Murray and Great Britain were eliminated from entry
The matches for pool C have already been decided. The German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz, who had already won the decisive point against France on Wednesday, won with difficulty against the Belgian double. This was even though Oscar Otte, who is ranked 52nd in the world, missed the point of the match and the meeting against David Goffin, who is ranked 62nd, during the tie-break of the second set. With this win plus the one they had against France (2-1), Germany has mathematically qualified for the quarterfinals, exactly like Australia, which also has two wins in their first two games and is in the same position as Germany. The outcome of their match on Sunday will determine where they finish in the standings; France and Belgium have already been eliminated.
The return of Andy Murray, who won the championship in 2015 but has been gone from the Davis Cup since 2019, combined with the support of the crowd in Glasgow, will not have been enough for Great Britain to prevent elimination from the pools. Murray was absent from the Davis Cup since 2019. Wesley Koolhof and Matwé Middelkoop defeated Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain in three sets by scores of 7-6 (7/0), 6-7 (6/8), and 6-3. On Wednesday, Great Britain was defeated by the United States in a late decisive double, and on Friday, they were defeated by the Netherlands by the same score. The United States and the Netherlands have previously defeated Kazakhstan, so both of these teams are guaranteed to qualify for the tournament thanks to the Netherlands’ victory.