Nadal Will Play Singles In Davis Cup Play This Weekend

Written by: on 12th September 2013
DAVIS CUP WORLD GROUP PLAY OFF
Nadal Will Play Singles In Davis Cup Play This Weekend

epa03863276 Spanish Davis Cup Team player Rafael Nadal returns a ball during the team's training session held at Caja Magica pavilion, Madrid, Spain, 11 September 2013. Spain will face Ukrania in the Davis Cup World Group Play-off round this weekend. EPA/JuanJo Martin  |

Although Rafael Nadal admits he is tired and weary after an exemplary and unbeaten North American summer that culminated in Monday evening’s US Open title win, he is happy to be pitched into the opening day singles as he makes his Davis Cup return for Spain in the World Group play-off against the Ukraine in Madrid.

 

Nadal will be returning to the Caja Magica, where he won the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series event in May, and faces the Ukraine’s no.2 Sergiy Stakhovsky while Fernando Verdasco has been preferred to US Open quarterfinalist Tommy Robredo by captain Alex Corretja for the lead-off rubber against Alexandr Dolgopolov.

 

After flying across the Atlantic in a privately chartered jet after his New York victory, Nadal has practiced only lightly ahead of his first match in the Davis Cup since helping Spain win the title with a characteristically heroic performance against Argentina in Seville in late 2011.

 

“I have had a change of time zone after two weeks of playing at high intensity and the big thing was for me to keep on moving and to try and get the right feeling back,” he said.

 

Nadal admits he is in fine form, but tired after the demands of three consecutive triumphs in the US Open, Cincinnati and Montreal.

 

“After winning three consecutive tournaments, it’s impossible to have better feelings, but it is not a lot of time coming after a big effort,” he said. “However, I am willing to do everything possible to help the team. I am here and that means I am here to try and play.”

 

Nevertheless Nadal admits he is currently running on fumes and before leaving New York admitted he will not be able to maintain his current form for much longer.

 

“You just can’t keep this up in moments that are complicated and keep winning and winning, because no one can resist this,” he said.

 

“It’s logical, but that doesn’t mean you lose the motivation to keep fighting and to keep doing what I’ve always been passionate about: competing and competing at the highest level. I’ll try to keep on the same path. Things are surely not going to go as well as this, but I hope to be here for many years.”

Topics: , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.