Spain will be without Carlos Alcaraz for their Davis Cup qualifier against Chile and the European outfit has been warned they are in for a tough encounter in South America.

Following a four-month layoff due to a wrist injury, Alcaraz only made his competitive return at the US Open and the seven-time Grand Slam winner went on to reach the quarter-final.

But he was always “in a difficult position” to compete in the team competition with so few matches under his belt, and Spain’s Davis Cup captain David Ferrer didn’t have much of a choice, but to omit the world No 3 from the squad.

“Carlos, until the very last minute, there were doubts about whether or not he would play the US Open, so he was in a difficult position to compete,” Ferrer said.

“Obviously, the Davis Cup was very difficult for him to be with us, so from the very start I knew that scenario was practically impossible.

“Since then, Carlos has been making good progress; he had a great US Open and hopefully we’ll have the chance to reach the finals because he’ll certainly be with us then.”

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But although Spain are the top seeds, they face an uphill battle to qualify for the Davis Cup Final 8 in Bologna, Italy.

With Alcaraz as well as world No 30 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina missing, they will have a young and experienced squad for the trip to Santiago.

The 19-year-old Rafael Jodar, who currently sits at No 14 in the ATP Rankings, is the highest-ranked player and he will make his debut in the competition alongside the 21-year-old Daniel Meida (No 41), the 20-year-old Martin Landaluce (No 62).

The 29-year-olds Jaume Munar (No 68) and Pedro Martinez (No 132) are the veterans of the team and they will play in the doubles.

Spain will no doubt face a tough test on the clay in Santiago with Chile captain Nicolas Massu ready to take advantage.

“My priority was to put Chile among the best in the world. Having an opportunity to play against Spain at home is something we have to take advantage of,” the former world No 9 said.

“It doesn’t always happen that world-class countries come here. You might have to play away for several years, so we have to make the most of playing at home.

“We’re going to approach this series with conviction. You live to face the best in the world. This generation can give much more to Chilean tennis.”

Chile defeated a Novak Djokovic-less Serbia 4-0 in the first round of qualifiers while Spain had a bye as the runners-up from the 2025 tournament.