Looks like Rafael Nadal is ready to lead the Spanish against Serbia in the upcoming Davis Cup tie. Here’s a video showing Rafael Nadal and Feliciano Lopez arriving at the airport (the team is playing in Benidorm, on the South East coast of Spain), golfing and hitting the clay courts:
Here’s the scoop from Rafael Nadal’s website:
SPANISH ARMADA TRAINS IN BENIDORM – March 2, 2009
Rafa Nadal and team mate Feliciano Lopez have had the first hit on the ‘Tierra Mitica’ court in Benidorm yesterday after arriving in the city early in the morning.
Rafa thinks “The court is perfect, and we are delighted to be in Benidorm, where we’ve been treated wonderfully. I feel great, just eager to defend my country”, said the world number one after training with Feliciano.
“I think we’ve had a great training session, especially for a first day. The court is real nice, the scenery is spectacular, so let’s hope all the fans back us up this weekend” was the statement in behalf of Feliciano.
Tomorrow, Tommy Robredo , David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro will join the armada for next week’s tie against Serbia which will be staged on red clay at the Parque Tematico Tierra Mitica in Spain.
Defending Davis Cup champion Spain has won its last 14 Davis Cup ties at home and its last 16 ties contested on clay. The tie marks the debut of Albert Costa as Spanish captain.
Djokovic heads a Serbian squad that includes Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic. Nadal has won 10 of 14 meetings with Djokovic, including all five of their clay-court meetings.
RAFA’S STATS: He’s 12-5 in Davis Cup competition, including a 10-1 record in singles play. He has won nine straight singles matches in Davis Cup with his last loss coming against Jiri Novak fives years ago on a carpet court in Brno, Czech Republic.
With Rafa coming back from injury and Novak Djokovic playing a great final in Dubai, I’m really interested in seeing how this tie shapes up. No doubt the Spanish are overwhelming favorites, but Novak and his compatriots should give them a good test!
Photo: AFP/Getty
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