Nadal to Skip Davis Cup Play in 2012

Written by: Staff on 5th December 2011

Nadal to Skip Davis Cup Play in 2012 |

Rafael Nadal delighted Spain’s tennis fans by winning a fifth Davis Cup since the turn of the century but then delivered them the disappointing news that he will not be playing the competition next year and doesn’t know when or if he will return.

Nadal is not alone amongst tennis’ elite in turning his back on representing his country. Roger Federer represents Switzerland on a very occasional basis, Andy Roddick took this year off from playing for the USA and Andy Murray has also recently been persuaded by a Scottish captain and several Glasgow staged ties to return to the British fold.

“Next year I will not play,” said Nadal amidst the Spanish celebrations in Seville. “Next year is a very complex year. It’s an Olympic year. I have been, for many years, one of the players that competes the most and plays the highest number of games in the year.”

Nadal maintained that there are many other leading Spanish players who could step into the team and to back up his theory world no.10 Nicolas Almagro did not even figure in captain Albert Costa’s five man squad.

Clearly the experiences of 2011 have taken their toll on Nadal. He was beaten in two Grand Slam finals by Novak Djokovic, looked exhausted and out of sorts last week in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and although he again won the French Open, had his clay court majesty put into question when he lost Masters 1000 series finals against Djokovic in Madrid and Rome.

Consequently he lost the world no.1 ranking to the Serb and continued: “I don’t want to overplay. I don’t want to have an incoherent calendar. I have not played an event that I shouldn’t play. So next year, since it’s an Olympic year, my participation in the Davis Cup is impossible. Then we will think about the future.”

Nadal missed the 2008 victory in Argentina but was part of the Spanish teams that won in 2004 against the United States in Seville and 2009 against the Czech Republic in Barcelona.

“Winning a final is always special,” he admitted. “I have more experience, but with time you acknowledge more how difficult things are. Each victory has a more special taste, because, you know, how difficult it is to do things. When you’re young, everything is new, and you don’t have the capacity to truly enjoy and comprehend the difficulty of the situation.

“But after you’ve been here for many years, you understand there are ups and downs and that you need to fight to be there all the time.”

Costa also admitted he is going to assess his own future before recommitting to the captaincy. “I’m going to think about whether I should stay or not,” he said. “The first thing is that I need to talk to the president of the Spanish Tennis Federation, and then I will make a decision.”

Argentina, by contrast, should have a full strength squad when they travel to Germany for next year’s opening round in February. And Juan Martin Del Potro, while disappointed, appreciates other chances may come in the future.

“I faced the best of Rafa today,” he said. “Despite the fact he is not at his best physical condition, for the rest of us clay court players, he is still too good. We did our best. We did everything we could and Spain won us.

“With time, and once we think about this with a cold spirit, I think both my colleagues and I must be happy that we have done a good job, not only in this tie but the whole Davis Cup here.

“We have done a good job just getting to where we are now . We were very close and we could fight Spain on their home ground.”

Topics: Davis Cup, Rafael Nadal