Carreño, on the front line

The already known low of Rafa Nadal, that of Roberto Bautista (abdominal injury when he was in concentration) and that of Carlos Alcaraz for his positive in COVID-19 they place Pablo Carreño on the front row of the Davis finals. The man from Gijón, 30 years old and 20th in the ATP, is the forced number one of the Selection and will play this Friday (16:00, Come on) against the best tennis player in Ecuador, Emilio Gómez (29 years old and 149th in the world) on the second shift. It remains to be seen who Sergi Bruguera designates instead of Alcaraz to open the series against Roberto Quiroz (29 and 291º), Feliciano López (104th) or Albert Ramos (45th).

Carreño takes, yes, the command in his best year. “When Rafa is there, it is normal for the weight to fall on him because he is the best player in the history of this competition. Bautista gave a very high individual level and contributed the experience that gave him winning games in the 2019 final. The leadership was his, but now is the time to take that initiative, to be number one and to help the team as much as possible, ”said the Spaniard. before the earthquake was unleashed by the positive of Alcaraz.

The man from Gijón has been champion this year in Marbella, in the ATP 500 in Hamburg and in a magical week defeated numbers one and two, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic, to claim Olympic bronze in Tokyo.

“I beat Russia’s number one, but I lost to Khachanov, who is number four now. In competitions like these, rankings are not everything. You represent your country and there are more surprises. Must play, also with Ecuador, with whom everyone gives us a 3-0 but I insist that the ranking does not count as much “, warns. The first of each group and the two best seconds pass, so a quick 3-0 against ‘Cinderella’ is essential to stay alive and fight some point against the Russian favorites, who also have Rublev (5th) and Karatsev (17th).

Carreño returns to the finals after 2019 could only play one game, against Argentine Guido Pella, who lost injured and prevented him from competing again. “I would have liked to be able to play more, to be available, but things turned out that way. I was unlucky, but now I have a great opportunity. I have had a good year and it is a reward ”, he reflected on a gift, in the form of responsibility, which now appears poisoned by the plague of casualties.