Help
7/8/10 2:53 PM | Johan Lindahl
Spain begins its Davis Cup title defence this weekend with Rafael Nadal taking a medical timeout for therapy on his right knee in hopes of being at 100 percent for the start of the summer hardcourt season.
The four-time champions face France in a Davis Cup World Group quarter-final.
No. 1 Nadal, who claimed his second title at the All England club last weekend, will be out for a week or more as he undergoes a duplicate of the procedure which put his left knee in order three months ago prior to his blazing run through the clay season.
Spanish captain Albert Costa has plenty of men to call upon for the tie, starting with No. 10 Fernando Verdasco and 12th-ranked David Ferrer joining Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez on the squad which faces off indoors in Clermont-Ferrand.
But the French, a nine-time champion in the international team competition, finds itself in injury trouble with top man Jo-Wilfried Tsonga forced to miss the tie with an injury aggravated at Wimbledon.
While Gael Monfils remains available, captain Guy Forget had to plead with Gilles Simon to reverse his decision not to play in order to give a chronic knee injury - now healed - full recovery time.
"Before Nadal pulled out the Spaniards were a lot better than us," said Forget. "Today the difference is slighter. But their team remains very strong. I just hope we can take out chances. we don't want them to get a (title) hat-trick."
Injuries will also colour the other quarter-finals on offer.
Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych has withdrawn as the Czechs fly to Chile, citing an abdominal muscle pull suffered in his run to the Wimbledon final against Nadal and saying he will rest for three weeks.
“If I have a problem, it’s this muscle,” Berdych said. “The windy conditions (in the final) contributed to it. There are so many matches but I have just one body. Nobody’s a machine to cope with everything.”
Find the latest tennis odds at Unibet.com
Tell a friend »
Scan QR code to access Unibet mobile.
Bet on Sports wherever you are and whenever you like, with Unibet's quick and simple mobile client you can place bets, check results and see live odds.
For more info about QR codes & scanners click here.
Contact us
/ About us
/ Cookies
/ Recommended links
/ Advertise
/ Sitemap
Tennistalk v1.5.0
Disclaimer © 2001-2012, Moneytainment Media Ltd - All rights reserved
