Nadal will lead Team Spain in the Davis Cup Finals – Tennis News
World number two, Rafael Nadal, will be leading Team Spain in the Davis Cup Finals against the Argentine squad next month. The competition will be played on the indoor clay courts of the Olympic Stadium, in Seville, Spain, from 2nd to 4th December.
The ITF (International Tennis Federation) has announced the teams for the final of the Davis Cup on Monday. Besides Nadal leading his side, world number five, David Ferrer, 20th ranked Feliciano Lopez and world number 24, Fernando Verdasco, will represent the hot favourite Spanish side in the competition. Albert Costa will be along Team Spain as the team captain.
World number 11 and the former US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro, will lead the Argentine side in the final showdown of the year. He will be accompanied by the 26th ranked Juan Monaco, 29th ranked Juan Ignacio Chela and the former world number three, David Nalbandian, in the Argentine squad. Tito Vazquez will be captaining Team Argentina in the final.
Spain and Argentina are meeting for the fourth time in the Davis Cup encounters, with Team Spain winning all the prior battles to lead 3-0. The Spaniards will be having a huge advantage of playing in front of the ever-enthusiastic home crowd in Seville. With two of the most lethal clay-court players in the side, Nadal and Ferrer, the Spanish are termed as the unanimous favourites in the final of the Davis Cup.
Both sides went on head-to-head last time in the 2008 edition of the tournament being played at the Estadio Islas Malvinas in Mar de Plata, Argentina, with Spain winning 3-2 on hard courts. With three Top-20 players in the side, Team Spain is highly anticipated to repeat the similar result in the final of the event next month to lift the prestigious trophy for the fifth time. The Spaniards have been the champions at the Davis Cup on four prior occurrences, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2009.
Spain’s voyage to this year’s final has been greatly assisted by Nadal’s brilliance but after his early round exit from the Barclays ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Finals in London, the dejected second ranked super star was unsure about the coming event.
“I don't know. That's completely different conditions. I going to be for one week practicing on clay. Even if I am not playing perfect, the surface help me. Because sometimes little bit more about confidence, sometimes little bit more about the movement. I was a little bit slower than usual, but I think I was a little bit slower than usual because my mind wasn't perfect, so the reaction was late.”
Although Team Argentina will enter the contest as the underdog but with Del Potro and Nalbandian in the side, they can be as deadly as any top class player on their day.
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