Davis Cup – World Group Teams Men
Czech Republic – Spain: 11.09.2024 16:00 CEST
H2H: 6-2
1st potential matchup:
Tomas Machac – Carlos Alcaraz
Tomas and Carlos are the best ranked players for the Czech Republic and Spain. This meeting will be played indoors on hard. Machac had a solid tournament at the US Open where he reached the fourth round, losing against Draper in straight sets. So far this season, Tomas has had a solid season on every surface, which brought him closer to the top 20 in the rankings. Since Alcaraz lost against Djokovic in the Olympic Games final, Carlos could not find his best form. He was upset in New York by Van de Zandschulp in the second round.
We believe that Alcaraz will find his form here in the Davis Cup. Machac had some solid results this season, but he fumbled under pressure, once he faced the best players. Alcaraz loves to play fast tennis, so we believe that he will be able to dominate in this match.
That being said, we believe that Alcaraz will win the first match for Spain.
2nd potential matchup:
Pedro Martinez – Jiri Lehecka
Pedro and Jiri are the second best ranked players for the Czech Republic and Spain. Martinez lost in the second round of the US Open against Popyrin in straight sets. So far this season, Pedro has not had any remarkable results on the hard courts. However, he is still a top 50 player. Martinez loves to play on the clay courts, but he always underperformed on the indoor courts such as this one. Lehecka reached the third round of the US Open, when he lost against Rublev in straight sets. So far this season, Jiri has struggled with the injuries, but seems to be fully fit right now.
Lehecka is currently a better hard-court player than Martinez. We believe that his heavy hitting will prevail in this match.
That being said, we believe that Lehecka will win the first match for the Czech Republic.
3rd potential matchup:
Mensik/Pavlasek – Carreno Busta/Granollers
We expect the Czech Republic and Spain to play their doubles matches like this. Mensik and Pavlasek played two doubles matches last year together. They won both of them in three tight sets. Other than that, Mensik did not play as many doubles matches as his partner, Pavlasek. Carreno Busta and Granollers played at the Olympic Games together this year, where they lost against Ebden and Peers in the first round in straight sets.
Granollers will be the best doubles player on the court in this matchup. Carreno Busta finally came back after being injured for a long time. We believe that they are better doubles players than Mensik and Pavlasek, and that they will win this match.
Best Bet to Make
Spain has overall a better roster. We believe that their experience will prevail in this matchup. The Czech Republic has a lot of young and inexperienced players.
That being said, Spain winning 2-1 is a value bet.
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports