The Spain team, which is due to face Romania on March 4 and 5 in the Davis Cup play-offs, will play without Rafael Nadal. The young Carlos Alcaraz has been selected. Eliminated in the first round of the Davis Cup, at the end of last November, the Spanish team is forced to play a play-off match, on March 4 and 5 in Marbella against Romania, to be able to participate in the next edition of the event. The composition of the Spanish selection fell on Thursday. Rafael Nadal is not one of them.
Young Carlos Alcaraz (18, ranked 31st at ATP) was retained by captain Sergi Bruguera, as were Roberto Bautista, Pablo Carreño, Alejandro Davidovich and Marcel Granollers. Alcaraz has just taken part in the Australian Open. He was eliminated in the third round by the Italian Matteo Berrettini, in five sets. Spain will start as favorites against Romania, who have no players ranked in the World Top 100. The winner will qualify for the 2022 Davis Cup, which will feature a new format. There will now be 16 teams split into four pools of four, with the top two qualifying for the quarter-finals. read also All about the Davis Cup