No. 1 Alcaraz to Miss Spain’s Davis Cup Finals Opener

Tennis - Davis Cup - Group B - Spain v Serbia - Pavello Municipal Font de Sant Lluís, Valencia, Spain - September 14, 2022 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz stands with teammates during the national anthem before play. (Reuters)
Tennis - Davis Cup - Group B - Spain v Serbia - Pavello Municipal Font de Sant Lluís, Valencia, Spain - September 14, 2022 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz stands with teammates during the national anthem before play. (Reuters)
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No. 1 Alcaraz to Miss Spain’s Davis Cup Finals Opener

Tennis - Davis Cup - Group B - Spain v Serbia - Pavello Municipal Font de Sant Lluís, Valencia, Spain - September 14, 2022 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz stands with teammates during the national anthem before play. (Reuters)
Tennis - Davis Cup - Group B - Spain v Serbia - Pavello Municipal Font de Sant Lluís, Valencia, Spain - September 14, 2022 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz stands with teammates during the national anthem before play. (Reuters)

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz will skip the opening round of the Davis Cup Finals on Wednesday, which is taking place only three days after the Spanish teenager won the US Open.

Alcaraz arrived in Valencia a day before Spain was scheduled to face Serbia in the group stage.

Sunday’s victory over Casper Ruud in Sunday’s US Open final saw the 19-year-old Alcaraz become the youngest man to lead the ATP computerized rankings since they began in 1973.

Albert Ramos Viñolas and Roberto Bautista Agut will line up for Spain in the singles matches on Wednesday, with Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez in the doubles.

Granollers and Bautista Agut were part of Spain’s victorious Davis Cup team in 2019.

After facing Serbia, which is without Novak Djokovic, Spain will take on Canada on Friday and South Korea on Sunday in Group B. The top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played in November in the southern Spanish city of Málaga.

Three other venues — Bologna, Italy; Hamburg, Germany; and Glasgow, Scotland — are also hosting group matches.



Saudi Arabia, Argentina Discuss Means to Enhance Football Cooperation

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia, Argentina Discuss Means to Enhance Football Cooperation

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) President Yasser Almisehal met on Wednesday with Argentina’s Ambassador Facundo Vila at the federation’s headquarters in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they discussed means of enhancing cooperation between the Saudi and Argentinean football federations.

The meeting aligns with SAFF’s football transformation strategy launched in September 2021, comprising seven pillars that include strengthening international relations.