The Spanish Davis Cup captain can not rely on three key players at the moment. Carlos Alcaraz, Marcel Granollers and Roberto Bautista Agut are not ready to compete in Basel at the moment and will miss the tie if their schedules do not change.
This leaves Ferrer with various issues ahead of a challenging away tie, missing his finest singles and doubles players! Carlos does not want to travel to Basel from Melbourne, especially if he achieves a deep run at the Australian Open.
He also plays at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam a week later, and the Davis Cup tie is not in his initial calendar. Marcel Granollers skipped Adelaide due to an injury, working hard on his comeback for the first Major event of the season.
Marcel plans to compete at the ATP 500 event in Dallas after Australia, which does not leave room for his Basel show up. Roberto Bautista Agut is always ready to compete in the national jersey. However, his wife and he expect their second child at the end of January.
It was Nadal’s last event in a career. He suffered a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp, wrapping up his incredible journey with only the second Davis Cup loss! Alcaraz stepped in and ousted Tallon Griekspoor to keep Spain alive.
The four-time Major winner returned to the court alongside Marcel Granollers for the deciding doubles tie. The Spaniards experienced a tight 7-6, 7-6 loss, ending their campaign in the quarter-final. Thus, Spain will have to start the 2025 campaign from the first Qualifiers round.
