Carlos Alcaraz helps Spain reach Davis Cup quarter-final

(Tennis news) Spain will take on last year’s runner up Croatia in the Davis Cup quarter-final in November after the 2019 champions defeated South Korea in the final round of the Group ties on Sunday. World number one Carlos Alcaraz and Roberto Bautista Agut won in straight sets in the singles category to progress to the last eight. Alcaraz, who recently won the US Open, was defeated by Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2 but bounced back against Kwon Soon-woo 6-4 7-6 (7-1) while Bautista Agut overcame Hong Seong-chan 6-1 6-3.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray helped Great Britain secure a 2-1 win over Kazakhstan after defeating Dmitry Popko 6-3 6-4. Great Britain had already lost to the USA and the Netherlands with Cameron Norrie succumbing to a 4-6 3-6 defeat to Alexander Bublik on Sunday. In the decider at Glasgow, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski overcame Bublik and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-4) with the match momentarily stopping at 20:00 BST with players, coaches and supporters observing a minute's silence to pay respect to Queen Elizabeth II. 

Murray, who won the Davis Cup title with Great Britain in 2015 said “I love playing Davis Cup. It's different to anything we experience playing on the tour. I only thought about it at about 5-2 today in the second set. I lost my focus a bit and felt a little bit emotional about that. Maybe that's the last time I play here or get to play for Britain in front of a crowd like that. If it is the last time, it's been amazing what they've done for our team." With Great Britain missing out on the knockout stage, the country is likely to be in the qualifying round early next year.

Murray, who has struggled with injuries featured in the Davis Cup for the first time since 2019. The 35 year old partnered with Joe Salisbury but the pair slid to a 7-6 (7-0) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 loss to the Netherlands' Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop on Friday. Speaking after that match, Murray said “Hopefully we get another opportunity to play here in the future. If I'm selected, I'll definitely, definitely be involved. Moving forwards, it's obviously not going to be easy with the players that we have. Someone like Jack Draper is improving all the time. Then obviously I don't know which way the captain will go with the doubles after the results here." 

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