Bautista and Alcaraz do not fail and Spain beats Korea to advance in Davis

MADRID, 18 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish tennis team defeated South Korea meeting expectations and with a plenary session that serves to access the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup to be held in Malaga, and in which they have entered as group leader after the victories Roberto Bautista against Seong Chan Hong (6-1 and 6-3), Carlos Alcaraz against Sonwoo Kwon (6-4 and 7-6) and the doubles pair (7-5, 3-6 and 6-1 ).

Carlos Alcaraz suffered more than necessary to defeat Kwon, number 76 in the ranking, who made things very difficult for him in the two sets. The Murcian needed almost two hours of play to defeat the Korean, who had his chances in both sets to turn the match in his favor, forcing the Spaniard to perform at a high level to win the match.

The world number one gave Spain the round pass in the Davis Cup, but not without suffering. He started the match better and went as far as 5-2, but an unexpected counter-break from Kwon caused the match to reach 5-4 with the Korean serving to equalise. In that game, Alcaraz was 15-40 down, and took a step forward that was one of the turning points in the duel, as he ended up winning the first set there, breaking his rival's serve, 6-4.

In the second round he had to suffer more, as Kwon broke the Murcian's serve and got to 2-4 with a break ball for 2-5. Again, it was then that Carlitos Alcaraz raised the entire public present at the Fuente de San Luis and traced the match. Although he needed a 'tie break' to win, Alcaraz gave an exhibition and closed it out with a resounding 7-1.

The Spanish tennis team began their duel against South Korea in the Davis Cup in the best possible way, with a comfortable and resounding victory by Roberto Bautista against Seong Chan Hong in two sets by 6-1 and 6-3 in a match in the one who was ahead at all times and very easily broke his rival's serve.

Roberto Bautista came out very focused and did not lose a single serve in the entire first set. Also, he broke the top three for Hong, who was not on the track for the entire first moto. Not needing to hit big winners, the Spaniard simply forced the Korean to keep up with him until he forced his misses.

Seong Chan Hong, number 467 in the world, was able to maintain the honor of not going empty in the first set by winning his last serve, but Roberto Bautista was a hammer and closed the set with 6-1. In the second the opposition was greater, with Hong pulling with pride to resist losing. If the first set lasted only 28 minutes, in the final the resistance lasted 45 minutes.

The Spaniard started the second set by breaking his rival's serve and, although he lost his immediately afterwards, from then on he recovered his good feelings and although he gave up more games, he dominated the match at all times. In the end, the result was 6-3 and served to Spain to ward off the ghosts of the matches against Canada.

The day was closed in the doubles match, in which Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez certified the plenary session for Spain against Korea by beating Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song, whom they defeated in three sets by 7-5, 3 -6 and 6-1. The Spaniards struggled to uneven the first heat and gave up the second, but in the third and final they dominated from start to finish and completed a victorious afternoon in Valencia.