Spain announce female Davis Cup captain
Spain have announced that Gala Leon Garcia will be their new Davis Cup Captain, following the decision by Carlos Moya to step down. The change comes after Spain were relegated from the World Group, having occupied a place amongst the Tennis elite for 18 years. It is the first time Spain have opted for a female captain and comes after Andy Murray gained the headlines for appointing Amélie Mauresmo in June this year.
It represents another significant step toward the introduction of more female coaches into the men’s game and Murray has welcomed the decision on twitter:
congrats to Gala Leon Garcia for becoming first female Spanish Davis cup captain today... hopefully first of many!
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) September 22, 2014
It is undoubtedly a positive selection for integrating women into tennis coaching and as many former pro’s on both sides of the game have pointed out; there is no reason for this not to happen.
Carlos Moya did not step down without having a subtle dig at the commitment of some of the more senior Spanish players. Both Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer have been absent for Spain’s last two Davis Cup ties, losses to Germany and Brazil. This led to Moya stating the following, clearly highlighting where he had a problem:
"“If the Davis Cup returns to being a real objective for the players, then the door is always open on my part. – Carlos Moya – former Davis Cup captain“"
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Spain will participate in Europe Group 1 in 2015, receiving a bye through the first round which takes places at the start of March. They will then face the winners of Russia and Denmark in the middle of June, to decide which nation has a place in the World Group Play-Off. They will be eager to return to top of the Davis Cup ladder, as their enormous strength in depth is somewhat wasted in the lower groups. A tie with Russia is not to be taken for granted however, and Nadal and his compatriots will have to be up for the task.
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