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Enric Gardiner
Madrid
Viernes, 31 de enero 2025, 15:20
Spain's Davis Cup team will debut the new format this weekend (1st and 2nd February) in the tie against Switzerland. David Ferrer's men will face the Swiss in Biel, in a clash marked by the absence of key Spanish players and the youth of the Swiss team, who are trying to adapt to a scenario without Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
Ferrer had to change the team a week ago when Pablo Carreño and Alejandro Davidovich were dropped from the squad. The Asturian, after being eliminated from the Australian Open, went to play in Montpellier, needing points to climb the rankings, but fell in the qualifying round, while Davidovich ended his run in Melbourne injured, where he came back from two five-set matches.
The replacements who arrived were Jaume Munar and Martín Landaluce, joining Roberto Carballés and Pedro Martínez. Ferrer had the option to add a fifth player to the team but did not use this wildcard.
With the experience of Martínez, Munar, and Carballés, Spain will try to face a Switzerland without players in the top 100. Severin Luthi, captain of the Swiss and former coach of Federer, will count on Alexander Ritschard (123), Marc-Andrea Huesler (170), Jerome King (136), Remy Bertola (283), and Dominic Stricker (287) for this tie. Moreover, none of them are among the top 200 in the doubles ranking.
The great advantage for Switzerland will be the court conditions. The Swiss federation will use the Biel pavilion for the seventh consecutive time in their home ties. They haven't left this venue since playing in Geneva against the Netherlands in 2015. Back then, Wawrinka and Federer sealed the tie and kept the Swiss in the World Group.
In Biel, Switzerland has an indoor hard court with an altitude of over 400 meters above sea level. This is not among the highest on the circuit, as Madrid is over 600 meters, but it still gives the ball a speed that disrupts the Spanish exchanges.
One of the weapons in these conditions is Landaluce, who could debut in the Davis Cup at 19 years old. "I wasn't expecting to come," he said this week. "I was planning to train in Madrid, and knowing I was coming to the Davis Cup with all of them was a very nice feeling. It's been a very cool experience. The atmosphere is very good, I get along well with the captain, and I'm having a great time in training. I'm eager to continue these days because I'm learning a lot," he added.
The Madrid native, who won his first Challenger last season and is among the top 150 in the world for the first time in his career, passed the Australian Open qualifiers, playing his first Grand Slam match, and also reached the semifinals of a Challenger in Canberra. "I'm at a great level. Every week I'm playing better, I'm adding up, I'm growing... It's been a very cool journey. I think I'm doing things right, training well, and some very good days could come," he stated.
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