Spain entrusts itself to Jódar to recover Alcaraz in Bologna

The Davis Cup takes over from the US Open on the tennis calendar, and it does so with an uncomfortable eliminator for Spain. The team led by David Ferrer visits Chile with Rafa Jódar as a reference.

The tennis player from Madrid, who is making his debut in the competition, will be the leader of a renewed team that is looking for a ticket to the final phase of the competition, which will be held in Bologna from November 24 to 29. His premature defeat in the first round in New York has given him some very valuable extra days of rest in this hectic season in which he has established himself in the elite thanks to his great results.

He will play the second point of the first day against Cristian Garína player who, at 30 years old, seems far from his best version. Former world number 17, this season the results are not going with the Chilean player, who has only three victories and had to retire due to injury in the previous phase of the last US Open.

“We have a very excited team, eager to get started, and to give our best level.. We will try to start each match in the best possible way, knowing that the atmosphere is going to be difficult, but in the end you have to face these types of playoffs that make you improve a lot as a player and give you a lot of experience,” he declared in his appearance before the media after the draw.

Things will be much more difficult for Dani Mérida. The player from Madrid, number 41 in the world, will open the series at 6:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time) against the Chilean number 1, Alejandro Tabilo.

Making less noise than Jódar, Mérida has become another of the sensations of the season, always showing a poise and character that can be decisive in a competition like Davis.

“I’m looking forward to starting the qualifying round and I’m really looking forward to it.. I will try to give one hundred percent of myself and go for the game, and help the team as much as possible, because that is the goal. The truth is that I am very excited about this match,” Mérida explained.

In front of him he will have a rival who has just finished a good US Open, where only Alexander Zverev could beat him, and who in 2026 has reached the final in Rio and the semifinals in Bastad and Washington, where he was surpassed by Rafa Jódar, with whom he will meet again on Sunday in the fourth point of the tie.

Before, in the first match on Sunday, it will be the turn of the doubles match, in which Jaume Munar and Pedro Martínez will try to make their experience count so that the loss of Marcel Granollers is not excessively noticeable.

The absence of the Catalan doubles player is added to that of Carlos Alcarazwho reserves his return to the courts, after his comeback at the US Open, for the Laver Cup next week.