USA Today via Reuters
Sep 7, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain acknowledges the crowd while leaving the court after his match against Felix Auger-Alliassime of Canada (not pictured) after being forced to retire with an injury on day nine of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
USA Today via Reuters
Sep 7, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain acknowledges the crowd while leaving the court after his match against Felix Auger-Alliassime of Canada (not pictured) after being forced to retire with an injury on day nine of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz had a breakthrough 2021 season, entering the ATP Top 50 and winning his maiden ATP singles title this year. Recently, he also won the Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy. Now, the Spaniard was looking forward to ending his season by representing his country in the Davis Cup Finals 2021. But unfortunately, he has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Sadly, Alcaraz had already made it to the venue in Madrid, Spain, his country, and started practicing. He even had two negative reports for the coronavirus before testing positive. His absence is a big blow for Team Spain as they’re already missing Rafael Nadal.
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Carlos Alcaraz ends breakthrough 2021 year with unfortunate news
As athletes in any other sport, tennis players also hold representing their country in high regard. Despite a tiresome season, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev also aim to compete in the Davis Cup Finals 2021.
Ready to take flight ✈️🏆#DavisCupFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/YJGmcGAaxy
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 24, 2021
Unfortunately, Spain’s rising star Carlos Alcaraz’s maiden Davis Cup hopes got crushed. He took to Twitter to announce the unfortunate news.
“Hello everyone, I wanted to communicate that today, I have tested positive for Covid-19, which will prevent me from playing the Davis Cup that I was so excited about,” Alcaraz wrote.
USA Today via Reuters
Aug 30, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action against Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in a first round match on day one of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
The reigning Umag champion reflected on what this competition meant for him and expressed regret about not being able to play in front of local fans.
“I’m sad about the way that I miss such an important and super special tournament for me as the Davis Cup,” Alcaraz continued. “I was very excited to be able to play and represent my country here in Madrid in front of my people.”
— Carlos Alcaraz (@alcarazcarlos03) November 25, 2021
Now, Alcaraz is looking forward to overcoming this challenge just like any other. So far, he’s going through only mild symptoms, Alcaraz confirmed.
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When will the Davis Cup Finals 2021 start?
Notably, this year’s Davis Cup Finals started on 25th November and will run until 5th December 2021. What’s more, Djokovic and Medvedev will headline this event in Madrid, Spain; Innsbruck, Austria; and Turin, Italy.
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Fans are excited to see the biggest stars competing for one last time before the holiday season. Who do you think will win this year’s Davis Cup Finals?
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