Rafael Nadal ‘eager’ for Davis Cup action despite injury concerns

Rafael Nadal is “eager” to compete at the Davis Cup for Spain, says captain Sergi Bruguera.

The world number one had a tough end to the season, first having to pull out of the Paris Masters at the semi-finals stage with an abdominal strain, followed by a disappointing performance at the ATP Finals.

Nadal won two of his three matches in London last week, beating eventual winner Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, but failed to reach the semi-finals due to his loss to Alexander Zverev.

However, anyone believing he may be in Madrid just to support Spain’s other stars can be forgotten immediately.

“The truth is that he’s in a great moment,” said Bruguera on the eve of the tournament. “He is doing well and is eager to compete.”

The Caja Magica has a new hard court installed, replacing the usual clay that we are used to seeing when it hosts the Madrid Masters.

Early birds ?

?? @RafaelNadal | @pablocarreno91 #DavisCupMadridFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/O3TTEWJOEp

— Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals (@DavisCupFinals) November 18, 2019

And that, of course, is something of a concern to Bruguera.

“On clay, I can’t remember the last time Spain lost a Davis Cup tie,” he said.

“But this [hard] surface is what we usually get when we play away from home. We find it more difficult.”

Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta, Feliciano Lopez, and Marcel Granollers join Rafael Nadal in what looks like a strong Spanish line-up.

Look ahead to the rest of 2019 with our guides to every tournament on the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour. If you can’t visit the tournaments you love then do the next best thing and read our guide on how to watch all the ATP Tour matches on television in 2019. To read more amazing articles like this you can explore Tennishead magazine here or you can subscribe for free to our email newsletter here