Davis Cup: Spain's Carlos Alcaraz tests positive for Covid-19 on first day

Spain suffered another setback in their Davis Cup defence when Carlos Alcaraz withdrew after testing positive for coronavirus on the event's opening day.

The 18-year-old, seen as one of tennis' future stars, said he was "very well" but with "mild symptoms".

Spain were already without 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Alcaraz will remain in isolation while the rest of the team await further test results, a tournament statement said.

Spain play their first tie against Ecuador on Friday in Madrid.

Alcaraz reached the US Open quarter-finals in September and won the Next Gen ATP Finals title in the lead-up to the Davis Cup Finals.

"I was very excited to represent my country but sometimes things don't happen as one wants and you have to overcome it," he wrote on Instagram.

"It is a very hard stick but you will have to get up in the face of this situation and come out strengthened."

Nadal, who is missing the competition with a foot injury, said he was sending "a hug to all".

"When something like this happens, the competition takes a back seat," the 35-year-old posted on Twitter.

"The most important thing is health and I hope there are no more cases."

The Davis Cup Finals features 18 nations competing across three cities, with the semi-finals and final being held in Madrid from 3 to 5 December.

France & Croatia among winners on first day

Great Britain begin their campaign in Innsbruck on Saturday but the other two members of Group C were in action on day one, with France coming from behind to beat the Czech Republic 2-1.

They were playing behind closed doors after Austria went back into lockdown because of rising coronavirus cases.

French veteran Richard Gasquet, playing his 21st Davis Cup tie, lost 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to debutant Tomas Machac in the opening rubber.

However, Adrian Mannarino fought back to beat Jiri Vesely 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-2 and set up a decisive doubles rubber.

There was a scare for France when Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who triumphed at the ATP Finals on Sunday, lost the opening set but came back to beat Machac and Jiri Lehecka 3-6 6-4 6-3.

Meanwhile, 2019 runners-up Canada lost 3-0 to Sweden and Croatia beat Australia by the same scoreline in Turin, with both ties attended by a small crowd.

In Group B, Canada, who are without world number 11 Felix Auger-Aliassime and 14th-ranked Denis Shapovalov, lost the first rubber as Sweden's Elias Ymer beat Steven Diez 6-4 6-2.

Ymer's younger brother Mikael then beat Vasek Pospisil 6-4 6-4, before Robert Lindstedt and Andre Goransson overcame Pospisil and Brayden Schnur 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Croatia took early charge of Group D when world number 276 Borna Gojo beat Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (7-5) 7-5, despite the Australian being 215 places above him in the rankings.

Former world number three Marin Cilic then had to dig in to see off Alex de Minaur 6-1 5-7 6-4 before Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic beat De Minaur and John Peers 6-3 6-1 in the doubles.

Teams play two round-robin ties, each featuring two singles and one doubles rubber all played over best-of-three sets.

The top teams from each group and the two best runners-up qualify for the quarter-finals.

World number one Novak Djokovic will be in action on Friday when his Serbia team take on Austria.