“We are a good team, with great players and different options. Everyone is ready to play and at a very competitive level.“, had said Rafael Nadal at the press conference of the Spanish team of the ATP Cup The last Sunday. Perhaps the Spaniard smelled the toast that he could not compete this Tuesday against Australia on the first day of the group stage. So it was. He had some discomfort in his lower back and after consulting with the technicians, the decision was made that he should not be part of the game.
So, Pablo Carreño, the number three in the Navy, climbed a notch and it was he and not Roberto Bautista who faced John Millman. The Castellón made one against Alex de Miñaur with the tranquility of the advantage acquired by his Asturian teammate, who boarded him to win by 6-2 and 6-4 in 77 minutes. He suffered the most against Devil, as they call him in his country of birth, but he gave a lesson in control and mentality to come back and win 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4 in a tough battle of 2:20, as Rober's captain and coach, Pepe Vendrell, advised. The two showed that Spain has a team with three players from the top-20 and Marcel Granollers, a first-rate doubles player who put the icing on the cake with Carreño on the last point (6-4 and 7-5 against John Peers and Luke Saville) to close the triumph in the series against the host in a resounding way: 3-0. In this way, only the Spaniards passed through the microphone of the Rod Laver Arena. Thursday (07:30, #Vamos), second tie against Tsitsipas Greece).
“I knew I had to leave the place to you,” Nadal said to Carreño by way of congratulations. The winner of 20 Grand Slams did not go out on the track, but on the bench he did not stop cheering and giving advice to his good friend Pablo. “What a good guy, come on,” he snapped, among other things. And after the first break in the 16th ranking, he gave him a valuable clue: “You already have the first break, now play brave. Throw dead balls backwards, which costs him there.” The effect of the tactic was not immediate, because the Aussie regained the disadvantage immediately. But that was the only blur for Carreño, who later expanded with powerful and placed parallel blows and cowed a rival who is usually a toothache for anyone, and more at home (tell Federer). Thus the first set fell from the Spanish side and in the second, somewhat more orderly, Carreño broke Millman's serve to get 3-2 and serve, at a distance that no longer decreased.
Bautista comeback
Then you had to face Bautista and things did not start well for him. Without really knowing why, he found himself 5-1 against despite the fact that he had had options to break De Miñaur's serve and in fact he managed it three times, but he gave up his serve four times in a duel of remains rather than serves. However, his feelings were not entirely bad. The comeback was a matter of patience, against an opponent who is pure nerve and who managed to get out of his boxes blow by blow. It attracted attention to see him discuss, and quite a lot by the way, on the Australian bench in perfect Spanish with his coach, Adolfo Gutiérrez, who prepares him in Alicante. A pearl that escaped to Spain and that this time suffered against a player that he surpassed 2-0 in the private balance. Bautista did almost everything well, he entered the fight aggressively and proof of it is that with a second serve he went up to the net and won the point with three memorable doubles volleys. “I'm winning the games for eggs, but I don't win the points, tell me something,” De Miñaur said, overwhelmed, to his coach. And Bautista did not give in. Big.
Results and standings of the ATP Cup.