Spain may have made it to the final of the Davis Cup, but things are going to be rather tough for them from here on.
The biggest reason is the absence of World No. 4 Rafael Nadal, who is out with a knee injury. Spain had overpowered the U.S. without his services in the semi-finals. But then the U.S. on its part was without the services of its Davis Cup mainstay for almost a decade, Andy Roddick, who retired after his U.S. Open fourth round loss to Juan Martin del Potro.
The Czech Republic, which lost 0-5 to Spain in the 2005 final, will host the Nov. 16-18 Davis Cup final.
The Czechs would be looking to exploit the home court advantage and they have already got their strategy in place with hard courts ready for the final battle -- something that suits them but not Spain and with Nadal not there things look gloomy for Spain.
Nadal, who made himself available for a promotional event in Madrid, didn't shy away from acknowledging the fact that his keen injury had become a perpetual problem. He missed the U.S. Open and the London Olympics because of the injury.
Nadal's career had been dotted with injuries including a foot injury that too kept him out of tennis for months.
Even though the 26-year-old clay court expert began the season on a high claiming the French Open with an impressive win over the then World No. 1 Serbian Novak Djokovic, by the time the season ended he was out warming the benches with his knee injury.
Speaking in terms of appearance, Nadal has not featured in any event since his second-round loss at Wimbledon.
Spanish captain Alex Corretja said about the final tie that his players will just adapt to conditions and surface. "We'll wait and see what the opponents want and be ready for that and try to do our best," he was quoted as saying by the Davis Cup website.
David Ferrer had said that Spain would rally behind Nadal, after of their semi-final win over the U.S.
"Spanish tennis is blessed with very good players, led by Rafa Nadal, and we hope he recovers soon because he is fundamental for us," Ferrer said.
Then of course he was expecting Nadal to be fit ahead of the final. But, as things now stand the Spaniards will have to think out of the box when they take on Czech Republic in the final.
