Davis Cup: Nadal pulls out of opening tie

Owing to an upset stomach, Rafael Nadal has ruled himself out of playing the opening singles tie in the Davis Cup World Group playoff against India.

Rafael Nadal was scheduled to play against Ramkumar Ramanathan on Friday.

In a slight boost for India’s chances in the Davis Cup World Group playoff against Spain, Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the opening singles tie due to a stomach upset. Ramkumar Ramanathan will now take on Feliciano Lopez in the opening match of the Davis Cup tie at the DLTA Stadium later in the day.

> Read: It's David versus Goliath as India takes on Spain

The second singles of the tie will be between Saketh Myneni and World No. 13 David Ferrer, according to the draw announced by the International Tennis Federation on Thursday. On the second day on Saturday, the experienced Leander Paes will pair up with Saketh to face French Open champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.

The reverse singles will be played on Sunday.

The pulling out of Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam singles winner, is a huge dampener for the tennis fans in the capital who turned up in huge numbers to watch the Spaniard in action. India had beaten Korea 4-1 in its Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie while Spain defeated Romania with the same margin in their Europe/Africa zonal tie.

India and Spain have locked horns thrice so far in Davis Cup with the European nation leading the head-to-head record 2-1. The last time India played Spain was as far back as 1965 when it lost the away tie 2-3.