Roberto Bautista beat the Romanian Gabi Adrián Boitán in two sets (6-3 and 6-1) in one hour and eight minutes of play. The one from Castellón thus achieved the first point of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Qualifiers series between Spain and Romania in Marbella (Málaga). Next, Carlos Alcaraz will jump onto the court to play his first match in the competition and face the Romanian number one, Marius Copil.
Roberto Bautista, as number one of the Spanish team, was in charge of opening the tie between Spain and Romania, which takes place between Friday and Saturday at the facilities of the Puente Romano Tennis Club in Marbella (Málaga). The one from Castellón faced the young Romanian, Gabi Adrián Boitán, 22, in search of the first point in a series in which Sergi Bruguera’s men start as favorites to seal the ticket that gives access to the final phase of the Davis Cup 2022.
Bautista, champion in Doha a few days ago, managed to open a gap on the scoreboard taking advantage of the first break ball of the match in the fifth game. The Romanian struggled to make the counterbreak , but the Spaniard saved two break points to confirm the break. In the ninth game, Bautista put more pressure on the rest and ended up breaking again to win the first set of the match, after 39 minutes of play, with a result of 6-3.
Bautista continued to dominate at the beginning of the second set, where he started taking the initiative with his service and opened a 3-0 lead with a break and confirmation game, both blank. After a timid attempt to hold on to the set, Boitan made his serve debut in the fourth game, but dropped it again in the next. After just over an hour of play, Bautista won the first point for Spain in the series against Romania. Next, Alcaraz will take to the court in what is his Davis Cup debut to try to get the tie back on track at the end of the first day.
