Madrid, Turin and Innsbruck will host the 2021 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals, which start on Thursday 25 November. Eighteen teams are bidding to win the prestigious Davis Cup Trophy.
Each venue will host two of the six groups. The winners of these groups, along the two-second placed teams with the best records will get through to the quarter finals.
Innsbruck and Turin will host one quarter final each. Madrid will stage two quarter finals, both semifinals and the final on 5 December.
The Madrid Arena at the Caja Magica will host the Group A with Spain, Russia and Equador and the Group B that features Canada, Kazakhstan and Sweden.
Spain will defend the title won in 2019 at the Caja Magica against Canada. The Spanish team will bid to win back-to-back Davis Cup titles for the second time after the two consecutive wins in 2008 and 2009.
Spain will play without Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut, who contributed to the triumph in front of their home fans two years ago. Nadal put an end to his 2021 season due to a foot injury. Bautista Agut was forced to withdraw from the Davis Cup due to an abdominal injury. Spanish Davis Cup Sergi Bruguera nominated Olympic bronze medallist and two-time US Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta, rising star Carlos Alcaraz, who won the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals title in Milan, Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers, who reached the doubles semifinals at the ATP Finals in Turin last week with his Argentine partner Horacio Zeballos.
“Everyone is really looking forward to it. All the players I have selected are in good shape and ready to give their all. I cannot deny that playing at home is a real advantage. It gives a lot because during this type of competition the public is an important factor which can be decisive”, said Sergi Bruguera.
Alcaraz will make his debut in the Davis Cup. The 18-year-old player beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fifth-set tie-break in the third round en route to his first Grand Slam quarter final at the US Open last September and beat two top 10 players Matteo Berrettini in Vienna and Jannik Sinner in Paris Bercy. He beat Sebastian Korda in the championship match of the Intesa San Paolo Next Gen Finals in Milan.
“The relationship between the players is very good. Carlos is an unbelievably nice guy. He is very humble. I have to congratulate his parents for the job they have done for him as a person. He is adjusting very well. He is happy. He is happy. The veterans are very good friends already and Carlos is like fresh air in the team. It’s nice”, said Bruguera.
Spain is on a collision course against Russia in the top Group Stage match on Sunday 28 November at 16 local time. World number 2 Danil Medvedev leads the Russian team that also features this year’s Rotterdam champion and eight-time ATP Tour champion Andrey Rublev, 2021 Australian Open semifinalist Aslan Karatsev and Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov. Medvedev won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, his fourth Masters 1000 title in Toronto and finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals in Turin. Shamil Tarpishev has captained the Russian Federation Team for the first time in 1974.
World number 29 Khachanov lost to Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6 and to Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 before winning a decisive double match to help Russia reach the semifinals. It was the best performance for the Russian team in the Davis Cup since 2008.
“Time goes fast. Two years have already passed but of course the memories are always great and stay with you forever when you represent your country. We are a team, so, at the end of the day, whoever feels ready will play. It’s a long competition from the Group Stage until the final with a lot of matches which take a lot of energy. So we will see day by day how everyone feels. I am ready to be involved. There are lots of strong teams. Serbia with Novak Djokovic, Spain of course in our Group, Italy even without Matteo Berrettini, and USA, but we believe in ourselves”, said Khachanov.
Khachanov has known his teammates very well for a long time and the good relationship inside the Russian team has contributed to their recent good results.
“I have a lot of shared history with my teammates. I have known Danil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev from the junior times. We have been part of the same teams since a young age, we push each other, we are best friends. Aslan is a bit older but we know him and Evgeny Donskoy is like an older brother to all of us. He is a very nice guy”, said Khachanov.
Russia is chasing a national double title after the women’s team won the Billie Jean King in Prague two weeks ago. Czech Republic was the last nation to achieve this double in 2012.
“I followed the girls very closely. They did a great job. We are very happy and proud of them and I congratulated everyone personally. Now it’s our turn”, said Khachanov.
