Alex Corretja defends his decision of playing Nicolas Almagro in the final rubber – Tennis News
Spanish Davis Cup team captain, Alex Corretja, believes that he made the correct decision to pick the world number 11, Nicolas Almagro, in the decisive match of their Davis Cup final against Czech Republic.
Many Spanish fans and former players have criticised Corretja on his choice of choosing clay specialist, Almagro, for the final match. Feliciano Lopez was there with the team and he would have proved as a weapon on the fast indoor
hard courts, as his style of play is more suited to that surface.
Almagro lost to the 33-year-old veteran, Radek Stepanek, in four sets in the decisive match of the tie. However, he had put on a better show two days earlier, when he went down in a five set thriller against the Czech number one,
Tomas Berdych, in the second rubber.
Giving an interview recently, Corretja said, "I don't think I made a mistake and I don't think we lost the tie because Nico Almagro played. Having seen the way Nico Almagro played on Friday I still believe that he was the right
person to play the final rubber."
Corretja added that Almagro was the best option keeping in mind his performance at that time and no one knows if any other player would have been able to play better than him.
He went on to say, "I am a fan of Feliciano Lopez in the sense that he has given a huge amount to the Davis Cup team. He's an excellent team-mate and an excellent friend and an excellent Davis Cup player and an excellent player
on those courts but I have a huge number of reasons why I think Almagro had to play."
Spaniards were looking to capture their fourth Davis Cup title in the last five years and sixth overall. Spain was also without its best player, Rafael Nadal, who withdrew from the tie due to his knee injury.
Nadal’s absence proved costly for his team, as he would have been able to win his both singles matches. However, the 11-time Grand Slam champion is expected to be back next year and Spain would become favourite once again in his
presence.
The European powerhouse is drawn to meet Canada in the first round of the 2013 Davis Cup competition. Canada got the right to host the tie after a coin toss and now they would hold it on the synthetic hard courts in Vancouver.
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