After helping Spain win the first two ties at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, Carlos Alcaraz elected to skip the final tie against Australia as they had already secured their spot in the Final 8.
Spain is part of Group B in the group stage of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, hosting their group in Valencia. The country was hugely favored to finish top of the group because the World No. 3 player, Alcaraz, signed up to play at the event.
The Spaniard's last event before coming to Valencia was the US Open, which went horribly for him, considering that he was beaten early. Alcaraz arrived in New York in shaky form, having played only in Cincinnati as preparation for the final major of the season.
His experience there didn’t go that well, as he lost early to Gael Monfils in three sets. It was a match Alcaraz bemoaned as one of the worst of his career, and that was clearly a bad sign for the New York Slam.
He didn’t look very comfortable in New York and was easily overpowered in that match against van de Zandschulp. Even in Valencia, Alcaraz didn’t look particularly sharp in his first match.
His first match against Tomas Machac ended in a retirement from the Czech player when the score was 1-1. When Machac wasn’t compromised, he was actually better than Alcaraz, and had he not gotten cramps, he might have even won that match.
Alcaraz also played in the doubles with Marcel Granollers in the tie against the Czech Republic, and they won that match. He then played against Ugo Humbert, beating him in two sets to help Spain secure the win over France as well.
Heading into the final day, they were tied with Australia in the fight for the top spot as both teams had won their two ties, dropping only one match. While both teams have already secured their spot in the Final 8, topping the group matters.
Whoever wins the tie will top the group, and that team will be seeded in Malaga. The seeded team technically gets an easier opponent in Malaga because it’s the second-placed team from one of the other groups.
Still, it doesn’t have to be an easier opponent, as most teams will feature some strong players who didn't participate in the group stage. For example, Germany ranked second while the United States placed first, but Alexander Zverev, who is higher ranked than anybody in the US team, is expected to play in the Final 8, despite missing the group stage.
In that sense, it’s not a guarantee that a higher-ranked team will get an easier opponent at all. The goal for all teams is to find themselves in Malaga, and whether they’re seeded or not doesn’t really matter.
It’s why Alcaraz opted against playing against Australia because it’s simply not the most important match. Spain will still try to win, but even if they lose, they won’t be too upset about it.
It will be Pablo Carreno Busta who will play against Jordan Thompson before Pedro Martinez tries to beat Alexei Popyrin. In the doubles, Spain fielded Carreno Busta with Marcel Granollers, while Australia went with experience duo of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.
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