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VALENCIA — Carlos Alcaraz starred in singles and doubles as Spain made a winning start in the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage against an injury-blighted Czechia.
Roberto Bautista Agut secured the first point for Spain in singles with a 6-2 6-3 win over Jiri Lehecka. It set Alcaraz up to secure the win, but Czechia's Tomas Machac gifted the home team the decisive second point when he was forced to retire in the third set.
It was all the more disappointing for Machac that he picked up the injury after winning a first-set tiebreak against Alcaraz. The world No.3 was far from his best in the opening stages, spewing 21 unforced errors in the opening set, in his first Davis Cup appearance since 2022.
Machac was unable to capitalise on that lead. On serve at 2-1 in the second set, Alcaraz played one of the most absurd points of the season: combining last-ditch defending on the baseline, before charging to retrieve a short ball and then catching Machac's passing shot with a full-stretch backhand volley. He held a finger to his ear as the Valencia crowd went berserk, but on the other side of the net Machac was clutching his leg, Davis Cup reports.
Alcaraz won the next four games to force a decider, but Machac retired in the opening game; at 6-7(3) 6-1 he was struggling to move properly on the court. It was a sorry end to what could have been a thriller.
With the win secured for Spain, there were expectations for Alcaraz to be rested, but he joined Marcel Granollers on court for doubles much to the delight of the home crowd.
It was far from straightforward, but Alcaraz hit a sublime lob in the third-set tiebreak to secure Spain the comeback win over Jakub Mensik and Adam Pavlásek 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(2), cementing the 3-0 overall result.
These were Alcaraz's first matches since his shock second-round exit at the US Open: "I tried to take the positive things about my losses in the United States, it has been really tough to find, but I found it,” he said.
“Trying to not make the same mistakes about my level and in the mental side here. Trying to be a little bit more mature, to improve a little bit. I'm here with a lot of energy, excited and have motivations to keep going here, to try to be the best No.1 possible for Team Spain and get as much wins as I can as a team," said Alcaraz.