Spain-Serbia matchup in Davis Cup draw: US faces Croatia

LONDON: The draw for the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals set up a possible meeting between No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Novak Djokovic as Spain and Serbia were placed in the group on Wednesday.

Spain will host Group C, which also includes the Czech Republic and South Korea, in Valencia in September.

The United States will face two-time champion Croatia along with Finland and the Netherlands in Group D. That group will be hosted by Croatia, although the city and venue has yet to be announced.

Defending champion Canada, which won the tournament for the first time last year, is in Group A along with host Italy, Sweden and Chile.

Group B consists of host Britain, last year’s runner-up Australia, France and Switzerland.

The top two teams in each group advance to the Final 8 tournament in Malaga, Spain, in November.

Spain beat Serbia in last year’s group stage, when neither Djokovic nor Spain’s Rafael Nadal took part. Alcaraz, who reclaimed the No. 1 ranking from Djokovic this month, was in the Spain team last year but did not play against Serbia.