Just like last year, Martín Carpena Sports Palace It will mark the final point of the tennis season and host the 8th Final of the Davis Cup. In the six-day competition, which will last from 21 to 26 November, where eight teams will try to raise the ‘Salad Bowl’ that accredits the champion, fans will color the stands and surroundings of the pavilion, where a great atmosphere is expected to be created. I experienced it again last year. CanadaAs the current champion, Italy and above all Serbia related to Novak Djokovic, head out to the Costa del Sol as heavy favorites to win the title. Poster completed Finlandamazing czechia, Australia -last year’s finalist-, Holland And United Kingdom.
with disappointment for Spain’s failure to qualify for these Finals Following the fiasco in the Valencia qualifiers held in September, the presence of the world’s number one countries on the Costa del Sol, as well as the British, the Italians, Finns and Dutch also have important ‘colonies’. Residing on the Costa del Sol and No coincidence with the football World Cup, as it was in Qatar last yearinvite us to think that this new edition (the last in Malaga?) will once again be a public success, as in 2022. This was confirmed this Thursday by the deputy advisor of the General Secretariat of the Junta de Sport. Andalusia, José María Arrabal at the reception of ‘Ensaladera’: “Almost everything is sold, about 80% of the capacity is already full.” In fact, tickets for Serbia v Great Britain, the highlight of Thursday’s quarter-final, sold out a week before the celebration.
Without Kosmos – Gerard Piqué’s company– It is unknown whether the world team championship will be repeated in the future, in Malaga, which is located at the beginning of the tournament and far from the tennis circuit. This confirmed the discontinuation of the Valencia qualifiers until 2026.
- Australia: Alex de Minaur, Max Purcell, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Matthew Ebden
- Canada: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Gabriel Diallo, Alexis Galarneau, Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic
- czechia: Jiri Lehecka, Tomas Machac, Jakub Mensik and Adam Pavlasek
- Finland: Emil Ruusuvuori, Otto Virtanen, Patrick Kaukovalta, Harri Heliovaara and Patrik Niklas-Salminen
- Britain: Cameron Norrie, Andy Murray, Jack Draper, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury
- Italy: Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Arnaldi, Lorenzo Sonego and Simone Bolelli
- Holland: Tallon Griekspoor, Botic van de Zandschulp, Gijs Brouwer, Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julian Rojer
- Serbia: Novak Djokovic, Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic, Miomir Kecmanovic and Hamad Medjedovic
Great tourist attractions
Be that as it may, in just three days Carpena will experience a tennis festival once again: although it does not have a ‘local team’ or a large roster of leading namesIt’s a unique opportunity to see the best tennis on the Costa del Sol, as the upcoming rival Málaga Open in Inacua has yet to bring in the big names. We ignore number one Novak Djokovic and the Italian Jannik the Sinner (4) -Let’s be positive and assume that they will complete their participation in the ATP Finals under the most favorable conditions to come to Malaga- Other tennis players who will take part in Carpena are outside the top 10 in the ATP rankings: Alex de Minaur (12) or Cameron Norrie (18), in terms of classification, are the most prominent names among the eight final calls; Among them, the presence of the Canadian should also be emphasized. Felix Auger-Aliassime, The big hero of last year’s finals; Czech sensation who is only 18 years old Yakup Mensik; or the presence of a former world number one, Grand Slam winner and double Olympic gold medalist Andy MurrayWho knows if he will play a key role in Thursday’s tie?
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A priori, it can be thought that Anything other than next Sunday’s final between Serbia and Canada or Australia would certainly be a surprise. Novak Djokovic, who is in great form after his new display at the ATP Finals in Turin, will look to lead his country to a second salad bowl. The Balkans will play their first match against Great Britain, who do not look like a challenger despite having former world number one and two-time Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray in their squad. This seems like a threat, and a pretty serious one; The threat of Italian Jannik Sinner, who will be a hypothetical opponent in Saturday’s semi-final if the Transalpines beat the Netherlands in the quarter-final duel. He broke the Serbian team’s winning streak in a great match last Tuesday.
On the other side of the picture is the principle less attractive Canada should easily beat Finland His main racket, Felix Auger-Aliassime, has just one tournament behind him despite a mediocre season, reaching the ATP 500 in Basel just under a month ago and having only made it to the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 and four in Indian Wells. ‘greats’ of the year. However, everything points to a repeat of the 2022 final in the semi-final next Friday between the North American team and Australia, led by Alex de Miñaur. an extremely young team They will look to confirm their good feelings after their flawless qualifying rounds in Valencia, where they edged out Spain and beat them both. Alexander Davidovich, Bernabe Zapata and the company wins all their matches, as do the other two teams in their group (Serbia and South Korea).
Beyond sports
The Davis Cup Finals are not just about sports since the current single-field format was created. Last year, also Málaga welcomed more than 27,000 visitors during the competition week in Carpena. A pavilion that recorded a total of 61,956 spectators, including Djokovic, according to the organisation’s own figures, an average of more than 10,000 spectators per day. Hotels in the capital of the Costa del Sol reached an 85 percent occupancy rate during the semi-final and final weekend and 75 percent for the rest of the week. And all this took place in the middle of a much more international event, the World Cup in Qatar. This 2023, when almost all papers have been sold for days, everything indicates that success is once again guaranteed, at least on an economic level.
Quarter final match will start on Tuesday Canada – Finland (16.00) after Czech Republic – Australia (Wednesday, 22nd, 16:00) and double session on Thursday, 23rd: Italy – Netherlands (10:00) and Serbia – Great Britain (Not before 16:00). semi-finals It will be played over two days: Tuesday’s winner and Wednesday’s winner will meet on Friday, the 24th at 16:00, while the winner of Thursday’s qualifiers will meet on Saturday, the 25th from 12:00 noon. . The grand final will be held on SundayFrom 16:00.
Thus, Málaga is once again set to host the final stage of the tournament, and with the next tournament unknown, it appears that Valencia are strongly opposed to hosting the Final 8, with the dispute over ‘qualifications’ until 2026 guaranteed. or ‘see you later’, Malaga is once again the center of attention of world tennis this week. Let’s enjoy it.