Will Nadal play or withdraw from the Davis Cup in Madrid?

Despite Rafael Nadal being on some great form this year, there have been doubts over his physical condition. The Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the Paris Masters after sustaining an abdominal injury. Immediately, his chances of taking part in the ATP Finals in London reduced drastically, but he was lucky to recover in time for the season-ending tournament.

The current world No.1 was drawn in the Andre Agassi Group alongside defending champion Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev. Unfortunately, the abdominal injury came to haunt him during his first-round robin match, where he lost 6-2,6-4 to Alexander Zverev. He appeared depressed and unable to compete against the German.

“I am disappointed, because knowing that I will not play at my 100 percent in terms of feelings, in terms of, movement, in terms of confidence or hitting the ball, I needed my best competitive spirit this afternoon, and I was not there in that way,” he said.

Miguel Nadal believes Nadal will represent Spain

Rafa’s condition might put his participation in the upcoming Davis Cup in jeopardy. However, Miguel Diaz, Spain’s Tennis Federation Chief remains hopeful that their best tennis player will be part of the team that will represent Spain in the event.

“Rafael Nadal is our number, and his withdrawal would be a very tough one, but Spain has very good players, and Rafa will do as much as possible to play,” he admitted.

How many times has Spain won the Davis Cup?

Spain will attempt to make it six Davis Cup titles this year. Nevertheless, the journey towards achieving such an impressive milestone will not be easy, considering being in the group of death alongside Croatia and Russia. But with its capacity of great players, Spain is among the favorites to lift the Davis Cup title.

Davis Cup’s new format

The Davis cup underwent some significant changes ahead of this year’s showdown. The current format involves ties in February, April, September, and November. In the February tie, 24 teams participate in home and away matches. Twelve teams are then selected to take part in the November finals. The losing teams will be relegated to Group.

The competition involves Group II-IVV matches followed by the Group I-1V ties in September. Finally, there will be the Davis Cup Finals to be played in November. Participants will include last year’s four semifinalists, 12 qualifying teams from February alongside two wild cards.

Comments and reactions

Many have weighed in on the possibility of Rafael Nadal opting out of the 2019 Davis Cup. Albert Costa, the AS Davis Cup Tournament Director, laughed off claims of being worried by the potential withdrawal of the current world number one for the upcoming tennis competition. As already mentioned, Spain’s Tennis Federation chief (Miguel Diaz) said he remains hopeful that Nadal will be part of the Spain tennis team.

Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2019

Now the world no.1, Rafael played his last match on the 11^th of November when he had to surrender to Alexander Zverev 6-2 6-4 in the R in London.

This year the Spaniard has a 50-7 win-loss record. The Spaniard clinched 4 titles in 2019 in Rome, at the French Open, in Montreal and at the U.S. Open. The Spaniard was the finalist at the Australian Open.