Sports

Spain Overcomes Czech Republic to Secure Davis Cup Semifinal Spot

Granollers and Martinez won clutch tiebreaks to help a Carlos Alcaraz-less Spain beat the Czech Republic and reach the Davis Cup semifinals.

Sentinel Digital Desk

NEW DELHI: Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez defeated Tomas Machac and Jakub Mensik in tiebreakers to help Spain — without top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz — rally past the Czech Republic and reach the semifinals of the Davis Cup on Thursday.

Alcaraz, the six-time Grand Slam champion, withdrew this week with a hamstring injury.

After the teams split the two singles, Granollers and Martinez clinched the quarterfinal by winning the doubles 7-6 (8), 7-6 (8) at SuperTennis Arena.

Spain will face No. 2 Germany or Argentina, which meet in the last quarterfinal on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Mensik hit 20 aces en route to beating veteran Pablo Carreño Busta 7-5, 6-4, then Jaume Munar won his first Davis Cup singles for Spain by defeating No. 17 Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4. Spain hadn’t reached the semifinals since its sixth title in 2019, while the fourth-seeded Czechs had missed out since 2014. Agencies

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