‘Nole’, new champion of the ATP Finals, is already in the Andalusian city to face the Davis Cup with Serbia
If he wins it, Djokovic would put the finishing touch to his almost perfect year. His team will debut on Thursday against Great Britain
Less than twenty-four hours after lifting the trophy at the ATP Finals in Turin (Italy), the number one in world tennis, Novak Djokovic is already in Malaga to lead Serbia in the 2023 Davis Cup finalswith which he will debut this Thursday at 4:00 p.m. CET (3:00 p.m. GMT) against Great Britain in this Andalusian city.
He is the king of world tennis, with twenty-four Grand Slam wins and, in addition, he continues to break historical records having started this Monday his 400th week in his career as number one in the ATP ranking, but his ambition does not allow him to rest. The Serbian has already landed in Malaga to prepare for the final phase of the Davis Cup that will be held at the Martín Carpena Sports Palace from this Tuesday to Sunday. He does it less than 24 hours after beating the Italian Jannik Sinner in Turin in the final to be the player with the most titles in the ATP Finals, with seven, ahead of the six crowns of the Swiss Roger Federer.
The 36-year-old Balkan player was received this Monday afternoon by the tournament director, the former tennis player and winner of the Davis Cup with Spain Feliciano Lopez, at Malaga airport, where he arrived directly from Turin. In the Davis Cup, The Serbian has a record of 31 wins and seven losses in singles matches, a 3-3 draw in doubles and a title with Serbia, the only one for their country to date, achieved in the 2010 edition, when it was played in a very different format than the current one.
His opponent in this last final, Jannik Sinner, number four in the world and who was beaten in two sets by a double 6-3, also arrived in Malaga this Monday at night to lead one of the favorite teams to lift the Salad Bowl: Italy.
will need help
Serbia is and should be much more than Djokovic. He is accompanied by rackets on the team captained by Viktor Troicki. Laslo Djere (33 in the world), Dusan Lajovic (46), Miomir Kecmanovic (55) and Hamad Medjedovic (111).
The competition table is as follows: Canada against Finland (Tuesday, 16:00 CET/15:00 GMT); Czech Republic against Australia (Wednesday, 16:00 CET/15:00 GMT); Italy versus Netherlands (Thursday, 10.00 CET/09.00 GMT); and Serbia against Great Britain (Thursday, not before 16:00 CET/15:00 GMT).
The first semi-final will take place on Friday the 24th at 16:00 CET (-1GMT) and will pit the winner of Canada-Finland against the winner of the Czech Republic-Australia, while the second will be on Saturday the 25th at 12:00 CET (-1GMT) between Italy or the Netherlands and Serbia or Great Britain.
The eight teams will compete in direct elimination crosses, in which there will be two singles matches and one doubles match to decide the pass. Djokovic is called to be the protagonist of the world’s top team tennis tournament, but if there are places where surprises are welcome, it is the Davis Cup.
The previous year it was Canada that lifted the precious trophy for the first time in its history and this year, without Spain on the poster, but with high-level teams to take into account such as Australia or Great Britain, It does not seem so clear that the world number one is going to get his way in Malaga.