Spain captain David Ferrer remained coy on the idea of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz coming together to play in the doubles during the Davis Cup quarterfinals. Nadal was announced to be part of Spain’s Davis Cup squad on Monday, September 23 as he makes a return to the competition after a 5-year break and joins a strong squad that also contains Alcaraz and Bautista Agut.
Seeing Nadal and Alcaraz together in the squad has raised the hopes of seeing both men back in the doubles. Fondly dubbed as ‘Nadalcaraz’, the duo worked together during the Paris Olympics and delivered some great moments before their run ended in the quarterfinals. Speaking at the press conference after the squad announcement, Ferrer said he was unsure about the reunion at the moment as there are many possibilities within the team.
Ferrer was also wary of the threat posed by the Netherlands side, who they will face in the quarterfinals.
“I don’t know. There are two months left, and everyone on the list has to compete. I couldn’t say at this moment. The good thing is that there are many possibilities to pair up in doubles depending on physical exhaustion, how the tie progresses… We have a very strong team to achieve important things, but in this format, the competition evens out a lot. They have a very good doubles team. You might have two good singles players, but if you lose one, things get much more complicated. Furthermore, it’s a very tough tournament, with the top eight players in the world,” said Ferrer, as quoted by Malaga Hoy.
Nadal initiated the idea of being in the Davis Cup squad
Ferrer also revealed that it was Nadal who initiated the idea of competing in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, if Spain had qualified. The Spain captain said that these talks with the former World No.1 took place way from day one.
“I spoke with Rafa before we started competing in Valencia and before we qualified. He mentioned the idea and his desire to be there if we had the chance to qualify. The day after or two days after achieving the pass, we talked, and his intention was to be prepared and excited to be in Malaga. It was very easy, and it was he who initiated it and wanted to be in the finals from the very beginning,” said Ferrer.
The Davis Cup quarter-finals will be held from November 19 to 21, followed by the semi-finals and the final on November 24.
Source Agencies
