The captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team says he is proud of his players’ performances after their 2-1 loss to the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) on Sunday.
Spain, who won the last edition of the Davis Cup Finals back in 2019, narrowly missed out on a place in the last eight after losing a decisive doubles match against Russia. The host nation got off to a strong start with 40-year-old Feliciano Lopez stunning Andrey Rublev 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. However, Russia battled back with world No.2 Daniil Medvedev levelling the tie with a 6-2, 7-6(3), win over Pablo Carreno-Busta. Then in the doubles Rublev and Aslan Karatsev battled back from a set down to prevail 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, over Lopez and Marcel Granollers.
Despite the defeat, captain Sergi Bruguera has hailed his team after experiencing what he describes as ‘issues.’ Their rising star Cartlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the competition after testing positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Roberto Bautista Agut, who was part of the winning team two years ago, was also forced to pull out after suffering a training accident.
“The truth is I couldn’t be more proud of my team. We have been through a lot of issues. I think we competed like animals both days,” said Bruguera.
“We won 3-0 (against Ecuador) and we lost 2-1, 6-4 in the third in the doubles. Because of that, and we are out, we still like don’t understand.’
“But my team competed incredibly both days. Today (Sunday) was excellent. I mean, I couldn’t put one bad in anything, 10 points the attitude, the compromise, how they play, the level of game of all my players. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Lopez, who made his Davis Cup debut back in 2003, shared his captain’s disappointment with them narrowly losing out of a place in the last eight due to the format. The 18-team event has been split into six groups of three. The winner of each group will progress to the quarter-finals along with the two highest-scoring second place teams.
“Unfortunately playing in this format, sometimes you do what you have to do, and you don’t get the price,” said Lopez. “This is what happened, winning 3-Love and losing 2-1 the way we lost is really rare not to qualify. This is why we are so disappointed now, especially myself giving one point to my team and then going one set up in the doubles. We were very close, but it was not enough.”
“I don’t want this to sound as an excuse, of course, because there’s no excuses when you lose in any sport, but it’s really disappointing to be out of the Davis Cup the way we are.”
As for the Russian Tennis Federation, they will take on Sweden who are the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition. The country is seeking only their third Davis Cup title and first since 2006.
