No Nadal, no problem for Spain
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Spain captain Conchita Martinez believes her team still has the armoury to beat Serbia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals this weekend despite the absence of 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
Nadal made himself unavailable for the trip to
Belgrade, where world number two Novak Djokovic leads the home
challenge, after opting to prepare for the upcoming clay court season at
home.
Spain, the five-time Davis Cup champions, are also
without the likes of Roberto Bautista-Agut, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando
Verdasco but can still call on 19th-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta and
world 24 Albert Ramos-Vinolas for the singles.
"We have a chance even though Nadal is not here," Martinez told www.daviscup.com.
"My first team is here because these are the
players who have made themselves available. I have two players in the
Top 25, we have a great team and will do everything in our power to
win.”
Key to the tie will be the fitness and mindset of
Djokovic who has been suffering from an elbow injury and has seen his
career suffer a series of setbacks since completing a career Grand Slam
at the French Open last June.
"You never know how Novak is going to come out
after a few weeks off and we just have to look at every rubber as an
opportunity," added Martinez.
Djokovic will take on Ramos-Vinolas in the tie's
opening singles rubber on Friday, followed by a clash between Viktor
Troicki and Carreno Busta.
Having missed the Miami Masters through injury,
Djokovic is desperate to kick-start a 2017 season which has seen him win
just seven matches.
"Taking into consideration the Spanish team
rankings, they are not to be underestimated at all," Djokovic told
Thursday's draw news conference.
"It's still a very good team even though their top
two singles players are not here. That’s their strength, they have 10
players they can rotate and are dangerous on any surface."
"We must take nothing for granted although some
would say it's a third-choice Spain team here. Nadal is of course their
star player but they have a long history of producing top performers and
we know we’ll have to be at our best to beat this outfit."
Djokovic led Serbia to their only Davis Cup title in 2010.
The winners of the weekend's tie will go through to a semi-final against either France or Great Britain.
Draw
Friday (from 1100 GMT)
Novak Djokovic (SRB) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
Viktor Troicki (SRB) v Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP)
Saturday (from 1200 GMT)
Nenad Zimonjic/Viktor Troicki (SRB) v Marc Lopez/Jaume Munar (ESP)
Sunday (from 1100 GMT)
Novak Djokovic (SRB) v Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP)
Viktor Troicki (SRB) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
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