Spain continue Davis Cup preparations in Marbella

The Spanish tennis team has settled in Marbella as they prepare for their Davis Cup qualifier against Romania on Friday and Saturday (4 and 5 March) at Puente Romano's central court.

Roberto Bautista (world number 15), Pablo Carreño (16), Carlos Alcaraz (19) and Andalusian Alejandro Davidovich (43) are working at their maximum under coach Sergi Bruguera, while also waiting for Pedro Martínez (50) to join the group as Marcel Granollers' replacement.

Martínez will join his teammates on a high, as he has just won his maiden ATP Tour, finishing first in the Chile Open and leaping into the world top 50.

In Marbella, Davis Cup debutants Davidovich and Alcaraz took to the clay court to train on Monday. Davidovich, who would be playing on home soil, hasn't been guaranteed participation in these qualifiers, as it there are higher-ranked players who would play before him.

It is, however, the next step the Andalusian is expected to take following the Sydney ATP Cup and his early exit from the Dubai Open, which marked the end of the hard court pre-season.

Alcaraz arrives in Andalucía in good form, with his ATP 500 win in Rio de Janeiro under his belt and continuing the good sensations around him and maintaining the high expectations of him becoming the successor to Rafa Nadal.

Because Spain failed to defend their 2019 Davis Cup win last year, they first need to go through a round of qualifiers to confirm their participation in the group stages later on in September.

Their opponents Romania, a side that in theory should be easy to beat, have been in Marbella working on their own preparations since Saturday.

The Romanians don't have the quality of the Spaniards, with only one of their players, Marius Copil, inside the world top 300. Horia Tecau, who in 2015 was the doubles world number two, has come out of retirement to take part.

The qualifier games are set to be played across two days on Friday and Saturday. The new Davis Cup format is a best of three and it means that at least four games must be played: two singles matches on day one; while day two will hold a doubles game and another singles, as well as an optional fifth match if the teams agree to it.

The twelve qualifier winners will then progress to the finals group stages, to be played in September. They are then due to join Russia and Croatia (last year's winner and runner-up), as well as the United Kingdom and Serbia (wild cards).

In order to then make it to November's knock-out stages, teams will need to finish in the top two in their groups.

Spain's first player will take to Puente Romano's central court at 12pm on Friday, with the second singles game to be played straight after. Saturday's doubles match will start at 12pm.