Malaga will be able to enjoy another year of the Final Phase of the Davis Cupthe most prestigious national team tournament in the world of tennis. Regardless of what happens these days in Turin, in the ATP Finals, the eight captains of the qualified teams have already published the lists of their respective teams, in which the figures of Novak Djokovic for Serbia; Jannick Sinner with Italy; Alex de Minaur with the Australian team; Cameron Norrie, the UK playerand Felix Auger Aliassime, current Davis champion with Canada.
Spain will not be able to enjoy the show and the warmth offered by the Malaga fans after losing to Serbia on September 15. Despite not having Carlos Alcaraz’s right hand or Rafael Nadal’s left hand, pending their return to action next 2024, this is a review of the big names that the capital of the Costa del Sol will receive between November 21 and 26.
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovicthe most outstanding tennis player of the Serbian national team, He arrives at the tournament as number one in the ATP ranking. Not only is he at the top of the rankings, but he also comes from celebrating his 40th Masters title on November 5. Despite the quality of the Serbian tennis player, Djokovic and his team will seek to redeem themselves after his performance in the last Davis Cup, where they failed to get into the top eight and had to settle for going to Carpena… as a spectator.
Recognized as one of the best tennis players in historyAt 36 years old, he has 97 titles under his belt and holds the record for the most Grand Slam titles in the history of tennis, with 24, surpassing prominent players such as Nadal and Murray. His career also includes six wins at the ATP Finals (it could be 7 this coming weekend in Turin), an achievement shared with Roger Federer, and the lead in Masters 1000 tournament wins.
Jannik Sinner
Italy’s star is Jannik Sinner, fourth in the ATP rankings. The Italians will seek revenge with the young right-hander after losing in the semifinals against Canada in the 2022 Davis Cup. Sinner’s objective for 2023 is clear, to bring the Davis Cup to his homeland as the culmination of a season in which he has taken a step forward, confirming himself as a candidate for everything in 2024. The Italian arrives at Carpena after establishing himself as the Italian tennis player with the most ATP titles, after winning his tenth trophy in Vienna, also winning in Beijing, winning his first Masters 1000 in Canada and having a great Wimbledon in which only Djokovic kept him from reaching the grand final.
At just 22 years old, he has already won ten titles and will arrive in Malaga in great shape, proof of this is the great victory this past Tuesday against Novak Djokovicwho had not lost a match since the Wimbledon final last summer.
Alex de Minaur
Australia’s great hope to become champion in Malaga is called Alex de Miñaur. The Australians were already runners-up in the Carpena last year and in 2023 they want to take another step, and to do so they will need the best version of the 12th ranked ATP. De Minaur will have the support of Max Purcell, number 45 in the ATP rankings, the second Australian sword.
De Miñaur is Australian but with a Spanish mother and a sporting birth in Alicante, since he started playing there when he was five years old. The Sydney-born player has already achieved seven ATP titles in his career and was introduced to the world of tennis in 2019 as another young promise after winning his first major tournament at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships. She is 24 years old and is already considered one of the names to follow in any tournament in which she participates.
Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie He is the star of a British team that also includes Andy Murray, former world number one. Norrie is currently 18th in the ATP rankings. The British reach the final draw after not qualifying in 2022. Due to the disaster of the previous year, the goal in 2023 is to make amends and show everyone that the United Kingdom is the best team of the moment.
At 28 years old, Norrie has a record of five ATP titles, he achieved the first in the 2021 Los Cabos tournament and the last in Rio on February 26 against Carlos Alcaraz in the final. The one born in Johannesburg bets everything for this Davis, since he decided not participating in the Paris Masters1000 to arrive with the greatest possible strength to their meetings in Carpena.
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Canadathe current Davis Cup champion, returns to the Costa del Sol city to revalidate her title with a name as her flag: Felix Auger-Aliassime. The future and present of world tennis passes through the 23-year-old young man born in Montreal. The Canadian team is in a worse position compared to the previous tournament in Malaga, since all its tennis players selected for the tournament have suffered a drop in the ranking, starting with Felix himself, who has had a disappointing 2023, especially after a great 2022, in which he added four of the five titles he has, in addition to the aforementioned Davis Cup at Carpena. The last title was won in Basel, thus revalidating last year’s title. Auger-Aliassime is the best ranked player in his country’s ATP, ranking 29th. a significant drop compared to the previous year, which was in sixth place.
Andy Murray, another illustrious name for the Carpena event
The United Kingdom had the opportunity to have a tennis legend and they did not waste it. The second sword of the British team in this Davis Cup will be Andy Murray, number 42 in the ATP ranking and who was number one in 2016. The 36-year-old Scot wants to put the finishing touch to the end of his career winning what would be his second Davis Cup on November 26 at Carpena.
Murray is considered one of the best tennis players of modern times, having won 46 ATP titles and three Grand Slam titles: the US Open in 2012 and two Wimbledons in 2013 and 2016. He is the second British tennis player with the most titles in this category in historyincluding two Olympic gold medals, achieved in London 2012 and Rio 2016. Murray’s ‘curse’ was to coincide in the era of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, since 16 of the 21 finals he lost in his career were against any of the three.