Davis Cup: Carlos Alcaraz named in Spanish team but Rafael Nadal left out

Madrid: Carlos Alcaraz will play for Spain in the qualifying rounds of the Davis Cup in March but Rafael Nadal was not named in the squad announced by the Spanish tennis federation on Thursday. The 18-year-old Alcaraz joins Roberto Bautista, Pablo Carreno, Alejandro Davidovich and Marcel Granollers in the Spanish team, with Sergi Bruguera as captain. Nadal will play Matteo Berrettini in the Australian Open semi-finals on Friday but the 20-time grand slam champion has only recently recovered from a foot injury and will be selective with the tournaments he plays this year. Alcaraz, who lost a thrilling five-set match to Berrettini in Melbourne last week, was unable to play Davis Cup in November after testing positive for Covid. Spain will face Romania on 4 and 5 March in Marbella after losing to Russia in the tournament finals in Madrid. The winner of the tie will advance to this year’s finals, which will be played in four different venues that are still to be decided.