Alcaraz and Jódar, on stage in the Laver Cup from the first day: Friday’s matches

Carlos Alcaraz and Rafa Jodarthe two Spanish tennis players on the European team captained by Yannick Noahwill come into action from the first day of the Laver Cupthis Friday at O2 Arena London starting at 2:00 p.m. Spanish time.

The Norwegian Casper Ruud and the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolomember of the world team that captains Andrew Agassiwill open the competition on the hard court of the London pavilion with Jakub Mensik-Brandon Nakashima as the second game of the day.

The night session will have Spanish prominence because Jodar He will face the Kazakh in the third singles of the day Alexander Bublik (8:00 p.m.) before Alcaraz, partnering with Mensik, closes the night playing the double against Bublik and Taylor Fritz.

“I try not to be impatient,” he confessed. Jodar in London. “I am aware that this is my first year, that I have only been on the circuit for eight months, and I still have tournaments to discover. I have not even played a full year on the circuit,” commented the Madrid native, 20 years old and already world number 14.

“I am a perfectionist and I want the results to come, but at the same time I must be aware and have perspective of how much I have advanced in the last year. I am in a position where I can compete against the best players in the world. I am very grateful and very happy to be in this situation,” he highlighted. Rafa.

“I receive a lot of support from my family, from my father. They are the people who care the most about me, the ones who want the best for me. They have been there from the beginning, both in the good and bad times. Having their support means a lot to me. It gives me confidence to know that I always have their support,” said the Spaniard.

“They always tell me to be humble, to work hard every day and that there is still a lot to improve in my game. I think it’s good to have that mentality, to know that I can continue to improve,” he added. Jodarthis year the only debutant in the European Laver Cup team.

“It is different from any other tournament or competition. It is good to be in an environment with these players, share everything with them, train alongside them and play against other high-level tennis players. I take this experience as a lesson for the future,” said the Spaniard, selected by Noah and his vice-captain, Tim Henman.

“It’s fantastic to have them as captains, they bring a lot of experience and have been on the circuit for many years. It’s good to have them on the bench. They support us in every way possible, especially someone like me who is participating for the first time,” Jódar concluded.