Carlos Alcaraz beat Romanian number one Marius Copil in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) in his Davis Cup debut. The victory of Roberto Bautista and that of the Murcian leave Sergi Bruguera’s team with a comfortable 2-0 scoreline against Romania, with only one point to seal the ticket to the final phase of the competition.
At around two in the afternoon and with the 1-0 scoreline between Spain and Romania following Roberto Bautista’s victory over Boitan, the number two of the Spanish team, Carlos Alcaraz , jumped onto the center court of the Puente Romano Tennis Club to experience his Davis Cup debut . The 18-year-old from Murcia faced the number one of the Romanian team, Marius Copil, who showed that he who had, retained and maintained an equal first set against the Spaniard, champion on the clay of Rio a few weeks ago.
The one who was number 59 in the ATP – now relegated to 261st place-, Copil, went all out, trying to keep his team alive in the tie. The nerves at the beginning were released, Alcaraz was letting go with the right, achieving several winners and soon connecting with the Marbella stands. With 3-3 on the scoreboard, the fans pressed, aware of the importance of the moment.
The one from El Palmar was improving with his service, he closed with an ace in the seventh game and with a blank service he made it 5-4 on the scoreboard. A double fault from Copil led to the first and only break ball of the set, an opportunity that the Murcian did not waste to win the first set in just 40 minutes of play.
dream debut
Juan Carlos Ferrero ‘s pupil took the initiative in the second set with his serve and soon found a chance to open the lead (3-1) on the scoreboard. Alcaraz confirmed the break after recovering from a setback by the Romanian, who was still willing to look for a loophole through which to get into the match. He grabbed on like a lifeline in the sixth game after lifting five break points to the Spaniard and finishing off the net to make it 4-2 on the scoreboard.
Alcaraz suffered from nerves in the game with which he was about to close the match with his service and had to lift the only two set points he conceded before having his first chance to close the set. There he did not forgive and the Murcian put the 2-0 in the series after beating the Romanian number one with a final result of 6-4 and 6-3 in just over an hour and a half of the game.
With the two victories in singles, Spain ends the first day of the series against Romania with a comfortable 2-0, with just one point to seal the ticket to the final phase of the Davis Cup 2022. The first match point for the Sergi Bruguera will be played in the doubles by the couple formed by Alejandro Davidovich and Pedro MartÃnez, in the match that will open this Saturday on the center court of the Puente Romano Tennis Club (Marbella).
