Alcaraz, Bautista give Spain place in Davis Cup final phase

Madrid, Sep 14 (IANS) Spain assured their place in the final phase of the Davis Cup after Carlos Alcaraz and Roberto Bautista won their singles matches against France in Valencia on Friday.Alcaraz gave a solid display to assure Spain go into Sunday's tie with Australia when he beat Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-3.Humbert tried to be aggressive against the world No. 3, but in front of a home crowd, Alcaraz always looked to have his match under control.

Bautista got Spain off to a winning start, although the locally born player had to come back from a set down and a break down in the second set, before bearing Arthur Fils 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in just under three hours.

After losing the first set, Bautista looked to be heading to defeat at 5-3 down in the second set, before producing consecutive service breaks to stay in the match and then go on to victory in the third.The final phase of the Davis Cup will be held in the Spanish city of Malaga from November 19 to 24.